Home recording

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DguitaR

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Hi,
I am new to this site and am interested in "home recording", but am unsure as to where to start. Would like to use guitar and lay some rhythm tracks, etc. and then build from there using keyboard effects, drums, percussion, and voice, etc..
Would appreciate suggestions...........
Thanks
 
Buy a 4 track cassette recorder and a Shure SM57 and start recording. Total investment will be under 300 bucks and it will sound good and you will learn a lot about recording and have fun.

There are fancier options for recording, but if you are a total beginner you will have a lot more fun and learn a lot more if you buy these really simple tools. After you get a better grasp on recording and what you like and dont like you will be able to make better decision about buying more expensive gear.

Some people will look down on the idea of getting a 4 track cassette, but the truth is that its a great starting point for most home recordists and if you can not get things to sound good on a 4 track cassette its because you do not know how to record. A fancy computer will not solve that problem.
 
I agree with Ronan..Most of the guys I know started with a 4 track{me included}cassett..No menus..no futzin' around..You spend more time getting good sounds than trying to navigate a peice of gear/program..Good luck :)
 
Ronan said:
Buy a 4 track cassette recorder and a Shure SM57 and start recording. Total investment will be under 300 bucks and it will sound good and you will learn a lot about recording and have fun.

There are fancier options for recording, but if you are a total beginner you will have a lot more fun and learn a lot more if you buy these really simple tools. After you get a better grasp on recording and what you like and dont like you will be able to make better decision about buying more expensive gear.

Some people will look down on the idea of getting a 4 track cassette, but the truth is that its a great starting point for most home recordists and if you can not get things to sound good on a 4 track cassette its because you do not know how to record. A fancy computer will not solve that problem.
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Although I agree with keeping things simple when venturing into a new avenue such as recording, I feel a 4 track cassette might be a little too jurrassic for anyones needs, even a beginner these days. I would definately lean more towards something like the Roland BR series stand alone type recorders. I think having the simple onboards ie, distortions, eq's, comps, are important in the learning/tweaking process, not to mention achieving an overall decent sound quality.
 
DguitaR, whatever you do don't start off recording to a PC or Mac. I cannot agree more with the stand alone recorder suggestions. I would say skip a cassette recorder and maybe get the Fostex MR8 which has some effects you can experiment with, built in preamps, and the media is removable and simple.

Pick up maybe an SM57 and a Studio Projects B1 mic. The SM57 can be used on kick, guitar cabs, vocals, you name it. The B1 could be good for overheads, acoustic guitar, percussion etc. You could cover a lot of ground with those two mics for way under $200. You would need a $60-ish phantom power supply for the B1 condensor mic as the Fostex does not have phantom power onboard.

The Fostex is going for like $300 most places. I have a friend who uses one all the time to make very decent demo stuff. It's also portable and would enable you to setup and record anywhere! Like how a warehouse sounds? Take your mics and recorder down there and rock out.

For monitors, you could either use your home stereo (my first 2 years of recording / mixing I did on my Sony compact stereo system and still enjoy a bunch of those mixes) or a good entry level pair of monitors like Alesis or Yorkville. They will do fine for home recording.

So, for 8 tracks of recording and editing, built in effects and two mics, a pair of headphones and monitors you're well under $1,000 and have a nice simple setup that allows you to concentrate on the sound on not a steep learning curve of software etc.

My $0.02...good luck with it!

War
 
i would go for a small digital recorder and also a drum machine for you to lay your guitar tracks to. the boss dr 660 is a good choice.
 
Just be carefull with which small digital recorder you get. I started out that way, myself, and got the Korg PXR-4. Neat little box, but it was so darn hard to use because the menus were all embedded. I just could never find anything without flipping back and forth with the manual. I eventually got frustrated and shelved recording for a long time. Eventually decided to go for it again, pulled it out. And the frustration returned.

I then went out and bought Cakewalk's Sonar. Yes, there are about a bazillion things I need to learn to realize it's full potential. But I can RECORD. And PLAY around with it, and get results at least as good as what I would get on the little digital recorder. And everything is right there in easy to see drop-down menus. Thank God!! And as I get better and play more with the software and explore the various functions, more doors continue to open.

I've gotten way farther with much more ease and success with Sonar than I ever did with a little digital recorder.
 
Warhead said:
I cannot agree more with the stand alone recorder suggestions. I would say skip a cassette recorder and maybe get the Fostex MR8 which has some effects you can experiment with, built in preamps, and the media is removable and simple.

Pick up maybe an SM57 and a Studio Projects B1 mic. The SM57 can be used on kick, guitar cabs, vocals, you name it. The B1 could be good for overheads, acoustic guitar, percussion etc. You could cover a lot of ground with those two mics for way under $200. You would need a $60-ish phantom power supply for the B1 condensor mic as the Fostex does not have phantom power onboard.

The Fostex is going for like $300 most places. I have a friend who uses one all the time to make very decent demo stuff. It's also portable and would enable you to setup and record anywhere! Like how a warehouse sounds? Take your mics and recorder down there and rock out...War
Click to expand...

This whole post is great advice. Consider a Fostex VF80EX ($699) and you'll have preamps/phantom power and CD burning... The thing is built like a tank and with care should last for a LONG time. It's a great way to get into quality recording, and the results will depend almost entirely on you. Also, the Studio Projects B1 mic is excellent...
 
You are about to enter gear upgrade hell.. turn back now! ;)
 
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