How's it going everybody? I'm new to all of this so let me give a brief background about what my plans are and then help me with how should I go about doing it.
Firstly, I'm an MC, rapper, whatever you wanna call it. I've been rapping recreationally since I was like 16 and I've been obsessed with hip-hop since I was a knee-high, but I've just recently decided to take this seriously and put out some material of my own because I feel like I have something to offer.
Anywho, I'm looking to put together a decent home studio, nothing outrageous, because I'm 21 and inbetween semesters at college. I want to be able to put together an album/mixtape from home and I have a general idea of what I need but I need some guidance. I don't know how big of a difference there is between recording vocals and layering them over beats and recording live instruments.
Computer wise, I have a decent PC that would probably get the job done, but I just ordered a Dell Studio 17 laptop that should be here in about 2 weeks. As far as interface goes, I'm thinking Firebox since that seems to be a unanimous choice around here. As far as a microphone, I could use some help because I'm not well versed with all the specifics (i.e., condensers, etc.)
I'm not very comfortable with the mixing and editing part but I feel that I need to learn because I don't want to have to rely on someone else doing it for me. From what I've read, N-Track seems to be the most simple but if anybody has any suggestions, please feel free.
Also, I have a variety of sources for beats. My friend who's a music major has a Yamaha Motif and produces beats on there, and then I also have a few producers I've met online that use programs like Reason, etc. for production, as well as other studio instrumentals. My question is, is there any special software/hardware that I'll need to be able to use all these different sources? (i.e., some sort of software to change filetypes, etc.)
I'm sure I'll have many more questions in the coming days and weeks, so I appreciate all the help in advance. Thanks.
Firstly, I'm an MC, rapper, whatever you wanna call it. I've been rapping recreationally since I was like 16 and I've been obsessed with hip-hop since I was a knee-high, but I've just recently decided to take this seriously and put out some material of my own because I feel like I have something to offer.
Anywho, I'm looking to put together a decent home studio, nothing outrageous, because I'm 21 and inbetween semesters at college. I want to be able to put together an album/mixtape from home and I have a general idea of what I need but I need some guidance. I don't know how big of a difference there is between recording vocals and layering them over beats and recording live instruments.
Computer wise, I have a decent PC that would probably get the job done, but I just ordered a Dell Studio 17 laptop that should be here in about 2 weeks. As far as interface goes, I'm thinking Firebox since that seems to be a unanimous choice around here. As far as a microphone, I could use some help because I'm not well versed with all the specifics (i.e., condensers, etc.)
I'm not very comfortable with the mixing and editing part but I feel that I need to learn because I don't want to have to rely on someone else doing it for me. From what I've read, N-Track seems to be the most simple but if anybody has any suggestions, please feel free.
Also, I have a variety of sources for beats. My friend who's a music major has a Yamaha Motif and produces beats on there, and then I also have a few producers I've met online that use programs like Reason, etc. for production, as well as other studio instrumentals. My question is, is there any special software/hardware that I'll need to be able to use all these different sources? (i.e., some sort of software to change filetypes, etc.)
I'm sure I'll have many more questions in the coming days and weeks, so I appreciate all the help in advance. Thanks.
