I'm looking to start a home-recording setup

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Skoth

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I'm looking to start a home-recording setup. My friend and I have an experimental band that we like to create all kinds of music in: black metal, techno, soundtrack, pop, and basically whatever else we're in the mood for. But we've never had any quality songs, we always used the SoundRecorder program that came with Windows 2000 and below--which we became masters of. I'm hoping to finally get some actually good quality recordings for our often heavy and thrashy sound with my home PC. My computer specs are: HP - Tower - AMD CPU - Athlon II - Quad-core - Windows 7 - 6 GB RAM - 2.9 GHz - 750 GB HDD - With DVD Drive - AMD GPU, and I am not sure if my on-board sound card is enough for this. I have a Behringer B-1 Large-Diaphragm Cardioid Condenser Mic and a MXL USB Mic Mate for the Phantom Power. However, in spite of this, the sound quality I get still sounds similar to a cheap headset mic. I have Audacity and FL Studio 10, but would you guys recommend something as being better yet cheap? I was looking into Pro Tools and then I saw the price tag.... From what I've read, it seems like people are saying that an Audio Interface is a must have as well. I have JBL Rhythm 2.0 Powered Speakers. I know this is a lot, but if you guys got any recommendations I would really appreciate any of them! Thanks!
 
AL P said:
I`m new myself...
but for what it`s worth, I just picked up one of these, which was bieng sold for $259, but is now on sale for only $99..
I tore the internet up researching it, and have got some good feed back on the unit here on this site..
it also comes with cubebase 5le, for what it`s worth..
TASCAM US-800 USB AUDIO/MIDI INTERFACE: Shop Computer Audio Interfaces & Convertors & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend
Click to expand...

I back this 100%
I use a Tascam interface (US1800. Tons of inputs!!!) along with Cubase and love it, as do many others on this site.
As with anything in life there is a learning curve.
But it ain't too bad :D

And d00d your computer specs are the same as mine +1 :D
 
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 - $16
Amazon.com: Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies (9780470385425): Jeff Strong: Books

PC Recording Studios for Dummies - $16
Amazon.com: PC Recording Studios For Dummies (9780764577079): Jeff Strong: Books
(Wish I'd had those 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!

Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
Amazon.com: Recording Guitar and Bass: Getting a Great Sound Every Time You Record (9780879307301): Huw Price: Books
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

Home Recording for Beginners by Geoffrey Francis
Amazon.com: Home Recording for Beginners (0082039538815): Geoffrey Francis: Books

When you get a bit into it, I highly recomend The Art of Mixing by David Gibson
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mixing-Recording-Engineering-Production/dp/1931140456

A MUST READ: Kim Lajoie's "Lifesigns from studio" - FREE - http://www.errepici.it/web/download/KLBD.asp

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at Tape Op Magazine

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:
Tweak's Guide to the Home and Project Studio
Free beginner PDFs | Computer Music | MusicRadar.com
The #1 online community for musicians | Harmony Central
Tips & Techniques - Gearslutz.com

Guitar Amp Recording: Guitar Amp Recording

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: How to Configure a Recording Studio Rig

Other recording books: Music Books Plus - Missing Page - 404 Errors

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.
The poor hardware and software drivers will lead to high latency; delays in processing the audio.
Even a cheap $50 recording card with real ASIO drivers will be much better.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and user-tested suggestions that work: The Best Audio Interfaces for your Home Studio by TweakHeadz Lab
(you'll want to bookmark and read through all of Tweak's Guide while you're there...)

Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:
Sony ACID Xpress 10-track sequencer: ACIDplanet.com: Free Downloads: ACID Xpress
Audacity: Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: Wavosaur free audio editor with VST and ASIO support (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: KRISTAL Audio Engine
Other freebies and shareware: Music Software - Computer Music Resources (Hitsquad Music Software)

Another great option is REAPER at REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits
(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...
Myriad: Music Notation Software and much more... / Myriad : logiciels de musique, et bien plus...
Demo you can try on the website.

Great booklet on mic'ing techniques from Shure:
http://www.shure.com/idc/groups/public/documents/webcontent/us_pro_micsmusicstudio_ea.pdf

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, December 2010 they gave away Samplitude11LE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)

'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.'
 
Just to say that the previously mentioned Tascam US-800 was a very good deal at the original price but, because it's being discontinued, there are some amazing deals going right now. If I was starting from scratch and it suited what I needed, I'd grab one in a heartbeat.
 
TimOBrien said:
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.
The poor hardware and software drivers will lead to high latency; delays in processing the audio.
Even a cheap $50 recording card with real ASIO drivers will be much better.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my number one crux is a lack of knowledge, which is why I'm reluctant to go out and buy any equipment. I wouldn't know what to do with it (and I'm speaking from past experience!).

A relative of mine gave me an old sound card he had. It's a Creative Labs Sound Blaster PCI 512 Sound Card, but I never put it in my tower due to skepticism of it actually make a difference for the quality of my recordings. Would the sound card help with the latency? Because that is another issue I've run into besides the static-y sound that has become the trademark of my band's songs.
 
You may want to down load Reaper as your DAW though.
 
Skoth said:
Okay, forgive me for my ignorance, but, DAW? What is that?
Click to expand...

the program on your computor that your using to record, edit and mix songs/music..like AUDACITY that you mentioned in your openning thread..
"Digital Audio Workstation"
 
The fact that a brand new home recording start up says this.....
Skoth said:
I'm looking to start a home-recording setup....
Click to expand...


and this......
Skoth said:
I was looking into Pro Tools.....
Click to expand...

in the same breath is proof that clever marketing really does work. How in the world the manufacturers of Pro Tools ever got to the point where home recording newbies are trying to figure out how to buy Pro Tools is way beyond my comprehension and way above my IQ.

Go check out Reaper. It is more DAW power than you will need for several years, and it's under $100 bucks.
 
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