Cheap recording solution!?

  • Thread starter Thread starter fuzzdillon
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fuzzdillon

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I recently bought a Porta02mkII 4 track recorder (still in the box). I have a small budget, maybe $300. I already own a SM57 microphone and plenty of instruments, but I have recently decided to start recording. Can anyone give me some advice on what to use. I am not that savvy when it comes to complex systems, so the idea is cheap and simple and the quality does not have to be great. Please help me figure out all of the parts I need to start recording cheaply.
 
Aside from actual instruments, you have everything you need to get started right now.

I started with less than that 20 years ago, and I'm still just barely treading water! :D

Above all, have fun!
 
tnjazz said:
Aside from actual instruments, you have everything you need to get started right now.

I started with less than that 20 years ago, and I'm still just barely treading water! :D

Above all, have fun!
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+1. Okay, you need a mic cable and a cassette tape.
 
a good set of headphones would'nt hurt. it always helps to be able to hear what's actually being recorded. a good set of cans will help you do that.
 
Posting what's basically the same question in two or more forums is called 'crossposting'.

Pick the most appropriate forum for your question and post once. Crossposting is a waste of everybody's time --- including yours.
 
ssscientist said:
Posting what's basically the same question in two or more forums is called 'crossposting'.

Pick the most appropriate forum for your question and post once. Crossposting is a waste of everybody's time --- including yours.
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ragging every person that crossposts is called "getting on my nerves" :D . it's a newbie thing and it happens.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
ragging every person that crossposts is called "getting on my nerves"
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Linking tweekheadz every chance you get is getting on MY nerves.

There's some good, some bad and some outright wrong info on that site, especially as far as midi goes.

And it's never too early to learn a little BBS etiquette.
 
ssscientist said:
Linking tweekheadz every chance you get is getting on MY nerves.

There's some good, some bad and some outright wrong info on that site, especially as far as midi goes.

And it's never too early to learn a little BBS etiquette.
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Man, I've only recommended that site a couple of times to newbs. There's some decent info there, especially for anyone that's just getting into all this stuff. Since when is etiquette part of this BBS anyway? :D

What wrong information have you found at tweakheadz? Did you inform the ummmm,,,tweakhead? I really don't know who runs that site. If you found some bad info there then you should let them know so that it gets corrected.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
If you found some bad info there then you should let them know so that it gets corrected.
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I looked and looked and looked for 20 minutes for some contact info but finally 'gave it up as a bad job' as my father says.

Here's just one example:

"122 Local Keyboard (on/off) You might actually crash your keyboard if you use this one."

This is from a list of continuous controllers, and it's just plain wrong. You need to turn your local control off to break the connection between the keyboard and the sounds inside if you're going to be using the keyboard with a computer or for that matter, ANY type of external sequencer.
 
K.

I'll get right on that.
 
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home recording w/ porta 02

hello i use a porta 02 to record my band in my living room .. i use 2 sm 57 mics and hang them from the sealing witch is vaulted so they are prety high up above everything.. i use adaptor cables to plug the mics into the porta 02..and i am suprised how good a recording i can get... ive also used a jvc tapedeck w/ 1/4 mike inputs and adjustable mike levels w/ the same mics and cables.. and ive got great results.. we play loud enoug to keep up w/ the drummer as long as we keep the mike levels out of the red and our volumes are balanced well it works for me... some of the recordings ive made i want to put on a cd to use as a demo...
 
fuzzdillon said:
I recently bought a Porta02mkII 4 track recorder (still in the box). I have a small budget, maybe $300. I already own a SM57 microphone and plenty of instruments, but I have recently decided to start recording. Can anyone give me some advice on what to use. I am not that savvy when it comes to complex systems, so the idea is cheap and simple and the quality does not have to be great. Please help me figure out all of the parts I need to start recording cheaply.
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when you say you have plenty of instruments, does that include a guitar processing unit? for years, i ran guitars, vocals, and even drums (bass usually sounded better plugged directly in) through a cheap zoom multi-effects unit just to get reverb, distortion, chorus, etc.

a multi-effects board is pretty versatile, acting as an affordable preamp for anything and everything, and for 300 you can get a line6 pod xt for guitar, which has some pretty nifty direct recording technology built in. if you already have something like that, then i'd say put the 300 towards good headphones (sony mdr series or sennheiser hd series are available for less than half that) and a decent condenser mic. the akg c1000s goes for 200 new (got mine used, you probably could too), and is a clear, crisp, versatile mic--when short on gear, i've used it for vocals, acoustic guitar, drum room mic--now it's my hi-hat/roto mic. good luck getting set up! you're in for years of dissatisfaction and sleepless nights! welcome to the world of home recording!
 
cheap home recording

last night i recorded our bands pratice again... and again i got great results.. just by hanging 2 mics in the room.. after we recorded the first song of the night we played it back just to check the levels and the bass was to loud [ he is the new guy] after a few adjustments we were jamining and recording..however when you record like this all background noise [ like my dog barking ] ends up on your tape... good luck
 
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