I moved this someone advised it.

[thehook]

hope this makes sense ot everyone. If not feel free to ask questions.

I am going to be recording roots music. This includes folk music, blues, ballads and originals. I play acoustic guitar,banjo,harmonica and some fiddle. First I would like to say that I am not looking for an overproduced sound that is found in most 'country' music today. I feel that gets away from the point and captures things that are not real. But I would like my recordings to be clear and full of life. Not on low low grade equipment.

I am looking to put out a demo by summer to move around a little bit and give to friends. I think for the most part I will record guitar and vocals up front then add other things like the harmonica, banjo ect. I was wondering would it be wise to record the vocals and guitar tracks seperately or what if any differences could be heard sound wise.

I have been told that if I want to record seperate sources at the same time I would need a mixer and at least two mics. This gets me into the setup question which for the most part is what I am concerned with. I am looking for recomendations for products that are both inexpensive and get quality results. A basic system that will get a well recorded demo out there.
would I need a preamp for any mics I get in order to get a useable signal?

Are there mics that would work well for both acoustic instruments and vocals?

Lastly I may be interested in tube preamps I hear that got good sound and lively and full. Any one know anything about any of these?

$500 budget for starting but I got a comp so all I need is some decent mic/s maybe a mixer depending maybe a pre depending and maybe some monitros or headphones. Looking for the best bang for buck type of thing at the moment.

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

That is a slim budget man. You can forget about "full and lively" recorded sounds IMHO, but you can aim for almost decent in that lofi way.

Get a used Mackie 1204 VLZ mixer for like 150 bucks.

Get 2 used SM57's for about 60 bucks each.

Get a used Rode NT1 for about 150 bucks.

Try to find a used AKG D112 for about 100 bucks.

 

[Carter]

hope this makes sense ot everyone. If not feel free to ask questions.

I am going to be recording roots music. This includes folk music, blues, ballads and originals. I play acoustic guitar,banjo,harmonica and some fiddle. First I would like to say that I am not looking for an overproduced sound that is found in most 'country' music today. I feel that gets away from the point and captures things that are not real. But I would like my recordings to be clear and full of life. Not on low low grade equipment.

I am looking to put out a demo by summer to move around a little bit and give to friends. I think for the most part I will record guitar and vocals up front then add other things like the harmonica, banjo ect. I was wondering would it be wise to record the vocals and guitar tracks seperately or what if any differences could be heard sound wise.

I have been told that if I want to record seperate sources at the same time I would need a mixer and at least two mics. This gets me into the setup question which for the most part is what I am concerned with. I am looking for recomendations for products that are both inexpensive and get quality results. A basic system that will get a well recorded demo out there.
would I need a preamp for any mics I get in order to get a useable signal?

Are there mics that would work well for both acoustic instruments and vocals?

Lastly I may be interested in tube preamps I hear that got good sound and lively and full. Any one know anything about any of these?

$500 budget for starting but I got a comp so all I need is some decent mic/s maybe a mixer depending maybe a pre depending and maybe some monitros or headphones. Looking for the best bang for buck type of thing at the moment.

Wow for $500.00 you wont get much, a good mixer and a LD condenser will just about suck that up! look at rode, akg, mlx for LD condensers, and also look at the yamaha MG series mixers.

There are alot of tube preamps out there do a search and you can get some recomendations there. You really need to up your budget to get two mics a mixer and a seperate mic pre, you can always use the mic pre in the mixer to save on cost.

 

[mikeh]

As a general rule you want to use a large diaphram (LD) condensor mic for vocals. While many people like a small diaphram (SD) condensor for things like accoustic stringed instruments, I have gotten many good results with a LD mic.

The AT4033 is a very commonly used mic in bluegrass applications (where the whole group is working one mic) and a pair of 4033s can provide some very good stereo recordings (the 4033 can also function well as a studio vocal mic)

While you may be able to find a used 4033 in the $200 range, I think they still tend to run more in the $300 plus range.

$500 is a very low budget if you plan to buy mics, a mixer and a pre. However, MXL, Rode, Otava and a few other companies have relatively decent condensor mics in the $100 range. You can pick up a small 4 channel mixer (the Yamaha MG series is popular) for about $200 plus. THis would only leave about $100 for a pre - which puts you in the Art Tube MP range - although even though it has a tube, I've read that it is not really a "tube pre". Candidly, if you could come up with even $200 or $300 more you would have so many more options.

Keep in mind (and if you are a player, you hopefully already know this) - when it come to recording accoustic instruments - in particular something like a violin (or I suspect you would call it a fiddle) - the sound quality of the insturment (and the performance) and the sound of the room are more important than the electronis used to capture the sound. A violin needs several feet to develop its tone (most engineers alow anywhere from 6' - 15' when recording a violin)