Got $300, need equipment

  • Thread starter Thread starter elliot_carver37
  • Start date Start date
those Proto J's are great...have a pair myself....but all thats gonna tell ya is your audio card sucks.....

and like Bruce said, youd still need an amp to power it $350-$400 will cover monitors only....i listened to your song at your website, i dont think think what you are doing merits monitors at this point.....
 
Gidge said:
i listened to your song at your website....
Click to expand...
Actually so did I - I think before you even worry about recording you need to work on playing and musicanship (everybody starts somewhere!), but if you start worrying about getting into recording right now, you're not going to be working on your playing and singing..........

The areas you need to focus on, IMO, are - tuning (both vocal and guitar), timing (as in rhythm), and guitar chops..... THEN worry about recording it! (ie, you want to have something actually worth recording, right?!)

Keep at it, but don't try and do everything at once... keep on doing one thing at a time making sure you get that right before jumping to the next challenge.............

Good luck...!

Bruce
 
Ok, let me remind you all that that recording was done at least 6 months ago. I have improved greatly in both areas of musicianship. Lets not worry about my first recordings, that song, in fact, is one of the worst songs on the cd, it was just one of the smallest in size. i could not upload more than 5 mb worth of material at once. Please do not judge my need in equipment based on that one track. If necessary i could send you a better track via email to see what im really like, that is if your email handler can carry 5mb worth of stuff. The first album was a cross between a demo and just a total impulse action to record something. It just felt like i needed to. Many of the songs didnt turn out as good as planned, but what could i do, i had no resources. I was recording with ONE COMPUTER mic. that was it. I know im not great, but i AM better than that one song, for sure. Like gmiller1122 said "For all the over-produced, glossy stuff out there, there's nothing like an inexpensive recording of a great SONG." I know that if my audio quality improve, i can be much better at what i do, if i never hear myself like i really sound, i will never know. I will attach one of my better songs.
 
elliot, here's another idea.

1) Audio-Technica MB4000C condenser $80 (vocals/acoustic)
2) Tascam 424 Portastudio $330 -less used on e-bay
(or 4 track minidisc multitrack $300 or less used e-bay)
ex. yamaha MD4 or MD4S
3) Shure SM57 $50 or less used e-bay
4) Decent pair of headphones $40 or less on sale
(ex. Radio Shack titanium model -don't laugh they're good!)

With some careful shopping you'd come out under $500 total.

Chris

P.S. The MB4000C takes a battery for phantom power.
You can dump tracks to the computer via the direct channel
outs on all the portastudios above BTW if you want to
mix/edit on the computer too.
 
Yes Chris, the total comes to...504.48. From music 123.com. The tascam is a b stock so the price is dramatically reduced. I already have a pair of studio headphones so thats out of the way. I dont think ebay is a viable option though, and it makes it much easier to order from one place. if it were my own money(i guess some of it its) it may be more probable. Any comments on the linup that chris proposed?

Added later:

Why couldn't I just use a regular mixer? They are available at much lower prices than the tascam(really the only decent analog recorder) and they would end up working the same way because inevidably i would be puting tracks onto my computer. This all goes back to my first post. If only there were one deffinate answer, then we wouldnt have a problem!
 
elliot, another way to go would be just to get the new Tascam US-224
controller instead of a portastudio. The website is www.tascam.com
This unit functions as a 24 bit mic pre and mini-mixer/controller.
It also comes with software and is compatible with Pro Tools Free ($300).
Now we're dropping the total to $450 or less, and the recording medium
would be superior to cassette or minidisc.
Hopefully the room you use, however, is decent enough to make a good
recording. If you have laptop computer the US-224 would be great because
you could take it to a better "room" elsewhere.
The value of the cassette or minidisc option would be that you could do that
and take it to a local studio if you wanted more help from someone with
more experience (Blue Bear is right about what he said about expectations).
Hope this helps!

Chris
 
Well, I can see how the 244 would help by bypassing my audio card, but for what i am hoping for, i think it would be over doing it, perhaps too much. I know i can probably borrow a mic from my church so that is a plus at this time. As far as a room goes, if my dad builds his workshop like he wants, ther will be a nice room in my basement that i can modify a bit to be a little recording studio. I was doing a little bit of shopping around and experimenting witht things and i came to this:

Echo echmia24 (comes with cool edit pro and accepts rca imputs)
Behringer MX602A mixer
Behringer ECM8000

And cable for the mic. A vocal mic will be had by way of my church and i should have everything covered, right? I know i am probably really getting on everybody's nerves but what can I do?
 
If you plan to record into your computer, then you could buy a preamp like the Audio Buddy ($80) instead and save the $$$ from the Tascam.
 
So how about this????

Echo mia
Behringer EMC8000
M-audio Audio Buddy

Yea, no?
 
I'd say Yeah, but I'm not pretty sure about the ECM 8000, for I have heard it can pick up a lot of noise from the room and therefore you need a very good non-reflecting room. I'd prefer a Marshall V67g (about $100-150) or a Marshall 603s.
 
After reading the FAQ's on the main part of this site it seems as though i do not necessarily need a new audio card. I did not know about the whole "from line out to line in" thing. I just dont justify the the results, im sure it would be better, but 200 dollars on just one piece of the whole is not too apealing. Maybe in the future. The ECM8000 got the boot, and the Shure SM57 is supposed to be super versital so the 8000 is replaced by the 57. One point i failed/forgot to mention that since i get this grant through my school, i wont be owning the equipment, i mearly get to choose what we get and then i get to borrow it. I may just end up spending my own cash on this one, but the budget still stands at 300.
 
Tom, Why don't you tell us the "rules" for spending the money? Schools and grants are very picky, and since this gear is not yours to keep, certain things like Software and soundcards might no be allowed.

A Shure 57 is a no-brainer if you want a decent mic for cheap. A little mixer like a Spirit F1 or Folio might be a nice buy for you AND the School.

I listened to your tune. I am not trying to critizice, just educate, since I am a College Music Professor (and Pro Player):

The Gear only does so much, and it takes a long time to learn. Concentrate on the Music, especially the intonation. Don't worry about fancy sound cards or Monitors: Just get a cheap and simple way to record, and do it ALL the time. Fancy doesnt matter right now.

Listen to Bruce's advice, he knows his shit bigtime:
The areas you need to focus on, IMO, are - tuning (both vocal and guitar), timing (as in rhythm), and guitar chops..... THEN worry about recording it! (ie, you want to have something actually worth recording, right?!)
Click to expand...
Good luck , our young friend, we were all there before, and it takes some thick skin to be a musician, so do not take anything personally.
 
The 424 that chess is referring to is the MK3,...

and BTW, I would not recommend buying "B-stock" from musiciansfriend, or any other venue. "B-stock" is usually "scratch & dent", or worst case, something some other buyer returned as possibly defective.

Chess referred to Minidisc Porta's, but he didn't mention the Tascam 564, IMO, specifically because he did not want to seem like he was tooting his own horn, if you know what I mean.

It's okay chess, you can mention the 564 as one of those Minidisc Porta's, that you have one, and you like it.

[There's no reason to be democratic around here!]/DA;)
 
elliot_carver37 said:
Ok, let me remind you all that that recording was done at least 6 months ago. I have improved greatly in both areas of musicianship. Lets not worry about my first recordings, that song, in fact, is one of the worst songs on the cd
Click to expand...

Please, disregard the fact that that song exists, i am better than that. I know im not the best singer, but i have improved and will improve. its not the singing that matters right now in my mind. If you really want a decent song of mine, i will email you it.

Lets pretend its not grant money from here on out. I am going to take the money more like a loan, I use it to buy what i need/want, and then buy it from the school. Now im not sure this will work, but its just a proposition.

David, Quick and Cheep. Exactly what im looking for. I just dont want to do analog (which kinda hinders me). Here is what im looking at now(again):

Midiman Audio Buddy OR Behringer mixer
Shure SM57
Cable, stand

It wouldnt surprise me if you guys give up on me soon, but i cant give up, its not in my system, i want it too bad. Thanks.
 
After countless hours of research, perhaps analog isnt that bad, on the fly recording, quick and dirty and utimately can be put on computer. The one question i have is, if you want to change the mix(volumes of certain tracks or eq) after you recorded, would you have to record a totaly new take? Im getting tired of looking for new lineups but here is yet another

Tascam 414
Shure 57
Cable & Stand

I would be fed up with myself if i were you guys. Thanks for helping so much.
 
Elliot, now you're back on track.

For ~$300, that is basically what you'd get, a 414, SM57 and stand.

I would say, that if you can afford to kick in another $50, the 424mkIII would be a substantial step up in features, that you may not appreciate at first, but will appreciate more later.

Currently the 424mkIII sells for $329 at GC, [and not for B-stock either].

Also, not like I need to plug Guitar Center, but I've seen SM57's on sale, including stand and cable for ~$80, [sale-priced].

You just don't get much in discrete component gear and trick soundcards for $300.

You're right about the press-n-go convenience of the simple analog Portastudio.

Sure, I'm biased, but I would not recommend you do anything I would not do myself,... [many times over!]

PS: Make sure the 414's a mkII,... the latest & greatest.
 
just get a mixer and some mics

i was in the same spot a couple of months ago and went on down and got some ECM8000's some SM57's and all ready had my R-11's. i borrowed a mixer and went mics, mixer, straight into my POS sound card. so far its nothing too great because for the most part i don't know EVERYTHING, but like everyone said just keep reading and keep trying. the first time me and my band recorded i just threw everything up and went with it. now i've read alot more and we spend time with mic placement and i slave at my comp for hours tweaking tracks. just get what you can and just go man. best way to learn is by doing it. i bought my own mixer this morning from GC and i'll be getting at SP B-1 soon. hopefully i'll have some recordings up in the next couple weeks. we'll see what i've learned.
 
elliot, you could go to Guitar Center, tell them you want them to price
match www.zzounds.com/a--2676837 on the Tascam 424 MKIII and since there's
no shipping charge for orders over $200, $330 is all you'll pay for it
"out the door". Works the same for the Shure SM57 (or anything else).
That should save you the money otherwise spent on sales tax.
Reel is right that the 424MKIII is way more desirable than the 414.
If your budget can stretch $80 for the Audio Buddy, the recording
quality will go up substantially. The 424 series is quite capable of helping to
make very fine recordings. In fact a lesser known advantage of cassette
based multi-tracks is that they tend not to pick up the typically poor
sound quality of the home recording environment like digital does!

Chris

P.S. Reel, the Yamaha MD4 seems to run $75-100+ less than the
Tascam 564 on e-bay. If he could score a 564 for the same price, that
would be awesome. (best 4 track minidisc IMNSHO)
So sayeth proud owner!
 
Re: Elliot, now you're back on track.

A Reel Person said:
.... I would say, that if you can afford to kick in another $50, the 424mkIII would be a substantial step up in features, that you may not appreciate at first, but will appreciate more later.....
Click to expand...

I agree with you A.R.P
 
Unfortunately threr is no guitar centers within a 50 or maybe even 100 mile radius of my home. Sixforty, I was going to do that to begin with, but since i decided that i would like to convenience of portable audio recording of analog, that that was the way to go. As for the audio buddy, i think i will just stick with just the 424(mkIII). So it looks to me like we have come to a decision, i sure hope so, I will see the coordinator of this whole thing today and find out what i can do as far as using the grant as a loan. Thanks for everything, you have all been a HUGE help.
 
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