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guitarjesus

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I want to record my own music. I play guitar and bass.

I have a computer, and heard I can do all of this at home.

What equipment do I need?
 
guitarjesus said:
I want to record my own music. I play guitar and bass.

I have a computer, and heard I can do all of this at home.

What equipment do I need?
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Hey jesus,
What equipment do you already have? That's a very open ended question you posted...Everyone could give a different answer and they'd all be right.

Here's a start though...

#1. Computer (specs vary but definitely need good processing power)
#2. Software (there are TONS of options)
#3. Sound card (bare minimum is 16 bits, again TONS of options)
#4. Outboard gear...you name it, you can use it...

I'd suggest perusing the tons of recent threads, your question is asked quite often.

kt
 
GJ,

I was recently in your shoes. Might I recommend the Tascam US-122.

http://www.tascam.com/products/computer_recording/us122/index.php


It's a USB device that has 2 mic inputs that include phantom power (which is nice if you don't have a microphone preamp), 2 line level inputs, midi in's and out's, and outputs for headphones, or to a monitor of some kind (like your home stereo receiver).

Comes with a copy of the Cubasis software.

This is my first experience with this (just got it Monday) and found it all very easy to use.

I also picked up a Marshall 603s microphone, which I use to record everything (in my case thats acoustic guitar and vocals). The old salts in here will probably laugh at me but I was amazed at the sound quality of it all.

Of course, I'm coming from recording on the mic that came with my PC so I don't have much to compare it too!

Hope this helps,

J7B
 
I have some software that came with the computer. And I tryed recording electric guitar with the mic that came with the computer. But, when I want to play it back it takes so long to crunch through the recording. What can I do to help that?
 
It is a Dell 400 Pentium II

64MB RAM

Hard drive in the GB range

Sound card is pretty good, I can't remember the name of it or the software. But it seems pretty good.

My other question is. Is this the way to record, or do I need other equipment like a better mic, something to plug my guitar into, a bass into.
 
You're computer is pretty dated. If you can't afford a new one, at least increase the RAM to as much as the PC will hold.

If you want to do any kind of decent recording, you'll want to invest in a better sound card or USB device, and possibley a microphone. You'll be able to plug your guitar straigt into the the card, or mic your amp.

Might be kind of frustrating with that old PC of yours though.
 
You're processor is barely capable but is probably able to do 16 tracks or so at 24/44.1, maybe a few more at 16/44.1. You need WAY more RAM. At a minimum, 256 megs. 512 would be mo betta.
 
TRack rat

All that aside, I will get more ram.

Is it ok to mic my amp, or is it better to plug right into the computer.
 
If you can get ahold of a decent mic (shure sm57 is a decent mic, but there are definately others) then mic it.
 
For optimum results, you need a mic preamp of some description and a decent mic, be it a dynamic or condensor. Yes, I'd mic the amp.
 
Just going to jump in on the mic'ing amp vs. DI, there is no right answer to that one... it totally depends on the sound you want to get, and what equipment you end up buying and what kind of amp you have.

Bottom line is you'll need to try both, and play with lots of settings, and setups until you get the sound you want.

good luck

regards.
Rich
 
Good answer JAZZ. What do you play?

I am going to get the Aardvark Q10 and run with it. I live in Windsor, Ontario across from Detroit. I play Guitar. I like Blues, Rock, Jazz. Anyone want to jam?
 
If it were me I'd get the M-Audio DMP3 preamp:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...4138996252/g=home/search/detail/base_id/59730
You can get these from Guitar center for $119. You get two excellent mic pres, phase switch, phantom power, lo cut filter, and a DI.

The Shure SM57 mic:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...4138996252/g=live/search/detail/base_id/35414
You can get these anywhere for $80. A workhorse. Good on vocals, cabs, percussion.

And a copy of N-track Studio:
http://www.fasoft.com/what_is.shtm
I think this costs around $50. Supposed to be very good for the price--good enough to have its own forum on this BBS.
 
I just went to the TASCAM site, and found some system requirements for the US-122 USB interface/Cubasis vst that come with it, I don't know how many tracks it will give you, but it should run on your system.

US-122 is about......... $200
Shure SM-57 mic......... $80
Cubasis vst included.. $Free

this looks like it might be a good setup to start recording with.

info...

CUBASIS VST PC
Processor (Intel Pentium II or AMD Duron)
RAM (128 MB RAM, 192 MB for Windows 2000 and Windows XP)
Operating System (Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP)
Sound Card (MME-, DirectX- or ASIO-compatible soundcard)

System Requirements
PC (Windows)

Minimum requirements: Pen-tium
II - 266 MHz (or equivalent) pro-cessor
running Windows 98 (Second
Edition) or Windows Me (Millennium
Edition), Windows 2000 or Windows
XP, 96MB RAM.

Recommended: Pentium II
300MHz processor with 128MB RAM
or better (these requirements are for use
with Cubasis VST. Other applications
will have different requirements. Consult
your application’s manufacturer for fur-ther
information).

If you are interested in this setup, go to the TASCAM website, then to the US-122's page, click on the manual, then read about the compatible USB host controllers, it will show you how to check your's for compatibility.
 
So the sound card is built into the unit?

Could I record a Band, guitar, drums, bass, Singer in real time with this?
 
Not with the us-122, it only handles 2 inputs at a time. You would want a similar device with more inputs, or record your band 2 tracks at a time.
 
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