I have an equestrian...

[lala]

equestrian aka question made by person (me) who needs severe help in a major way.

OK this is going to sound incredibly blahblah on my part and any help would be appreciated... so now having said all that.

Here it goes.

I write and play my own songs, but now I want to record them and make CD's and stuff so how do I do this?

chuckle hehe hahaha laugh all you want, but please help me.
anything would be appreciated. thanks muchos amountos.

 

[cellardweller]

In response, the first question (equestrian), anyone is gonna ask is what's your price range? And what are your needs/expectations, more importantly?

 

[lala]

As far as expectations and needs go, right now I want to put my music on my computer for my own personal use. Over the next 1 to 2 years I hope to eventually get to where I can actually send my music to important people and be like "hey check this out" and all that, but the 1 to 2 years plan also goes oh so well with my slight lack in the cash. Right now I think I can get what I need to get started, but I don't know how to get started. That probably made no sense what-so-ever. sorry. what I'm trying to say about the moey is I'll work for it over the 2 year period and then I think I'll be good to go for major stuff. Thanks.

 

[Chris Fallen]

What you'll need:

microphones
preamps (amplify the mics so you can use them)
ADC (analog to digital converters, to get what you're recording onto your computer)
mulitrack mixing program (sonar, protools, n-tracks, whatever)
monitors (reference speakers you'll use to mix your tracks so they translate well on all speakers)
effects/processors (compressers, reverbs, eqs; can be plug ins or hardware)

 

[j0s1ah]

do u mean your not gonna get started for 2 years?

 

[lala]

I want to start as soon as possible, but with the lack of income that I am getting, I think it will take a while for me to get everything set up how I want it to be. In about a year or so I should be where I want to be. I say that long because to be truthful right now I have 7 dollars because I just invested most of my money into setting up a semi sound proof "area thingy" in my room complete with background, stage, and lights, so I cant do some video recording for one of my songs. Currently I don't have a stable job so I am going to look for one this week so I can get all of this started and hopefully soon I can make this work.

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

What kind of instruments will you be recording besides your voice?

Just like Chris Fallen said, you will need at least one mic. You will a soundcard (AD/DA converter), you will need reference monitors, and you'll need a program to track/edit/mix your music.

The reason we want to know how much money you're going to intially spend is so we will know what direction to steer you.

You can theoretically start recording now.

All you need is a computer (which you can obviously access ), the speakers connected to you computer, the soundcard in your computer, and some freeware/shareware.

Here is a link to a freeware/shareware site...

http://www.hitsquad.com/smm

It will be a very simple "set-up", but at least you can get started.

It is very important that once you get your hands on some money, you should get some good monitors and a new soundcard interface. Those will be two of the most important parts of your setup.

You can also get free demo versions of all of the major multi-tracking programs, from their respective sites.

Cubase

Sonar

Logic

ProTools

Nuendo

Vegas Video

N-track

etc...

I would make a small guesstimation (??? ) that you could have a good setup for about $3,000 to $5,000 dollars.

I'm sure that the other members here will expound on this topic.

Peace...

spin

 

[Michaelyu5]

Lala...
I know you said you want to put your music on your computer but I started on a 4 track Tascam for a hundred and fifty bucks with a cheap mic and I used that to make my initial tapes of ideas and songs. I still go back to that because I have software that Im still trying to figure out how to use and, at least for my level of knowledge which is pretty weak, the computer stuff is getting in the way of the artistic stuff. I've also taken my 4 track overseas and its useful when you travel. I'd look at the tape side if your really on a budget and spend 20 bucks on a book on recording at home as well as read all the posts here. Everyone here has so much knowledge to share, you can learn and spend the rest of the time writing and playing.....
good luck...I'm right there with you...trying to figure this stuff out...

 

[mallcore pop]

Nashville, right?

Look around for a local shop, if you're just doing demo work. It'll be much cheaper and much, much better (both in the short and long run).

MP

 

[lala]

For instruments: Mainly my acoustic guitar, but I also have this beat mixer thing that I made from a couple of old things lying around the house, and then some piano occassionally.

I already have this cheap vocal mic that I could use, but can I use that to record instruments too??

I have thought some about getting a four track recorder for now, but I haven't really looked into it that much. Is it better to start off like that? What are the pluses and minuses?

MP, see the thing is I don't know if all I want to do is make demos. At the moment I am not quite sure which specific direction I want to go in yet, but I know I want my stuff recorded so I think by doing it myself it would be better because if I have to pay somebody some alotted amount of money for every song, I think it would be cheaper to just go ahead and pay all the money for the equipment and then not have to pay for every time, but I will go look up some rates average them out per song and compare that cost to what it would be to do it myself and get back to you on that.