drummer/vocalist/writer needs to revamp studio, need suggestions..

  • Thread starter Thread starter captainkey
  • Start date Start date
C

captainkey

New member
I've accumulated a bunch of gear and I'd like to streamline or update or whatever....
I believe I have way more than I really need, or not the right stuff....

I mainly lay down drum tracks, vocals, and some synth lines for later adding of guitar and
bass work....

heres what I have:

iMac G3
Logic Audio Platinum 5.5
Mbox/pt le
motu fastlane
bomb factory compressors
waves plugs
mdsp collection
grm tools

Roland v-drums
Roland xp-30
Mackie 1202 vlz
minimal mic collection
gretsch acoustic drums

Reason (with analog synth and drum library for NNXt)
Battery (useless with my computer, cpu hog)
Absynth
fm-7
pro 53
Recycle

all the software I have is getting in the way of me getting things accomplished...I thought
of scaling down the software and getting a better mic collection and pre's....eliminating either
the digi pt le or the Logic...I'm not sure ......I need some help
 
TexRoadkill said:
Sounds like a good plan. What's your budget?
Click to expand...


between software and other stuff I don't need or use I easily could pick $1000-$1500 in a sell off....the only real keepers are the v-drums, the roland xp-30 synth, and the acoustic drum kit...everything else could go....

I was hoping that what I could gain in a sell off would be used to revamp my setup....

I'm not making records....songwriting, and possibly recording usuable drum/vocal/synth parts for use in a more high end mix are what I'm all about...
 
If your songwriting I'd go with Logic, because it has a lot better midi features and is geared toward composing. PT is still primarily a hard disk audio program and the midi features are limited in my opinion. If you need compatibility though with other PT users, then that equation could change. Since you already have both you might want to just hang on to both.

Seems like the V-Drums are a great tool for songwriting and demos. No mics to worry about, just record straight in. It sounds good too, I've done a couple tours with a guys using V-Drums. Very handy stuff.

Maybe pick up a few mics for your acoustic set, along with some clean but inexpensive preamps like the Sytek or Rane MS-1b.

I'm not a fan of plugins myself, in large part because I don't think they sound as good as quality analog or good outboard processing in general. They also add to the complexity of the process, and often become a dsitraction when writing I've found. It's too easy to get sidetracked into tweaking some stupid plugin. I find outboard hardware (particularily analog) to be less intrusive on the creative process. So I agree with the part about simplifying your software situation.

I think it's really crucial for you to get an audio interface that can record at least 8 tracks at a time, especially since you are working with drums a lot. That means one pass or two for recording all those tracks. I like MOTU gear a lot, and I assume it is compatible with Logic. Something like a MOTU 24 I/O might be really good for you. If you go this route, then you would not really need the Mbox anymore.

Hope some of these suggestions are good food for thought!
 
Great suggestions...awesome

I'm leaning more toward going with the v-drums/midi drums for tracking all drums in studio mainly because of my recent acquistion of Reason and some really killer sample libraries....plus the ability to take live loops and turn them into Rex files in Recycle....micing my acoustic kit seems unnecessary when you have that capability.....

What prompted me thinking about all of this was a recent article by Wyclef Jean in Keyboard Mag where he said all he uses is a Roland xp-80.....
 
Everybody works differently and has to find what is most comfortable for them individually. Just because he does it doesn't mean it's the best way to work, just the best way for him to work.

I personally like to hear all the parts of an arrangement at the same time. So For that reason I have enough synths/samplers to fully work out all the parts in an arrangement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top