Help with a first time setup as a gift

[missboss]

please bear with me as i am not involved in much when it comes to vocal recording. i am looking to get my boyfriend started with a very simple home recording set up. he is buying himself a new imac in the upcoming weeks and i want to buy him a few things so he can record some vocals at home. besides the obvious mic, headphones, and software, what items would be imperative for me to get him at this time. once im sure that hes going to REALLY be AVIDLY recording then i dont have a problem adding or upgrading things, however i dont want to buy total garbage and waste money. ive tried to do as much reading as i can but im afraid for someone not at all involved it just seems far too complicated to me. i dont want to make uneducated purchases and just trust the people in the stores to give me the best advice. he will be recoding vocals only (mostly hip hop and r&b) and either using samples from other sources or potentially creating his own beats, but i guess thats another system all together, someone please help me make a semi informed decision. also i am not really looking to spend more than $300-$500 absolute maximum. thank you in advance!

 

[TetraFish]

The only items you really missed where an audio interface and possibly studio minitors. With any audio interface you have to either connect headphones to it or the prefered method would be monitors, but those are something you can add at a later date (good christmas idea). Monitors are specialized speakers that don't add any "color" to the sound so you can hear what the recording actually is without a bunch of outside influences. With monitors the sky is the limit and probably don't fit into your budget right now, like you said you don't want to buy crap. I think you should be able to get a pretty decent setup for $300 (excluding the monitors). Like you said creating beats etc. is a whole different story.

Here's one example of a USB audio interface that would certainly do what you want it to do.

http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=53

It's USB.
It has two inputs.
Should handle any mic.
Has MIDI ins and out for connecting to keyboards, drum module etc.
Comes with recording software that will work with mac.

In Canada they're about $200.00


I know very little about mics, Take a look at this thread.

"Mics under $100"
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=302579

Of course you can spend a lot more and a mic is something that can last a lifetime. So if you can comfortable spend the whole $500 maybe splurge a little on the mic.

 

[Armistice]

A quality lava lamp is a recording essential...

But seriously, the interface is the missing piece - this means you don't use the inbuilt soundcard of the PC and can control all the input and output possibilities that arise.

What Tetrafish said...

 

[stevieb]

Gee, I'd think a usable anywhere gift card would be the best way to go, this time 'round. I normally detest giving or receiving gift cards, but this may be the exception. He can do his research, decide what works best for his needs, and then shop around for what is the best value for him.

 

[TimOBrien]

My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and user-tested suggestions that work: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm
(you'll want to bookmark and read through all of Tweak's Guide while you're there...)
Another good article: Choosing an audio interface - http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep08/articles/audiointerfaces.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Sony ACID Express (free 10-track sequencer): http://www.acidplanet.com/downloads/xpress/
Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)