interface help needed

[banjodude]

Help!

I am a bluegrass banjo player, and I want to record my playing in order to analyze my technique and improve on it. I have been doing this using GarageBand running on an iMac G5, using the built-in mic. The result are ok, but the tone of my banjo (recorded) is not fully representative of the real tone. I also want to play around with doing some simple multi-track recording (I lay down different instrument tracks and "build up" a full ensemble sound). Since it is just me doing the playing, I will never need to record more than one track at a time.

I picked up a Shure SM57 mic, which is supposed to be a good mic for recording banjos. I understand that since this is a dynamic mic, I will need a "decent" preamp, plus a way of getting it into the computer. I am not looking for pro quality by any means (which I probably woldn't get using GB anyway), just better than what I have now. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles, just a good way of getting that mic signal into GB. A bonus would be if I could jack in an electric guitar too.

Any advice greatly appreciated. I have been going around and around on the internet, and have talked myself into "needing" all kinds of crap. Firewire, usb, tascam, m-audio... I don't know which way is up any more. I just want to get back to pickin' that banjer!

-matt

 

[dgatwood]

mic for recording banjos. I understand that since this is a dynamic mic, I will need a "decent" preamp, plus a way of getting it into the computer. I am not looking for pro quality by any means (which I probably woldn't get using GB anyway), just better than what I have now. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles, just a good way of getting that mic signal into GB. A bonus would be if I could jack in an electric guitar too.

Any advice greatly appreciated. I have been going around and around on the internet, and have talked myself into "needing" all kinds of crap. Firewire, usb, tascam, m-audio... I don't know which way is up any more. I just want to get back to pickin' that banjer!

I'd personally suggest the Presonus FireBox (or any of their other FireWire offerings). Since it uses Apple's FW-AVC drivers, there's much less question of who to blame if anything doesn't work.

 

[banjodude]

Thanks for the replys so far. I have done more thinking, and I have come to two conclusions:

1) Because I only want to record 1 track at a time (maybe 2), there is no real need to spend money on a firewire unit. USB will work fine for my stated purpose.

2) Because GarageBand only can record 16-bit samples, there is no need for my interface to do anything beyond 24-bit.

Do you gearheads agree? I have read lots of advice about getting a better unit than what I want today, because my needs tomorrow may change. But I know myself enough to know that won't happen. If I have money to blow in the future, it will be on banjo stuff, not recording stuff.

Now the question is: What is the least expensive interface that will give good results with a SM57 mic? I have no real idea of what constitutes a good preamp.

thanks...

-matt

 

[fraserhutch]

Personally, I think it's a TERRIBLE idea...... first you start off recording yourself, then yoyu hate the way it sounds. Then you record yourself a dozen other times, get frustrated at how bad it sounds, then realize your gear needs to be updated. You then get a nice mic, and maybe a better preamp, and think to yourself "hey, there's something to this.....". Next thing you know, you're scoping out AD/DA conversion, and finally you're spending all day on this BBS, investing in lottery tickets in hopes of a huge gear slutty payoff, and fantasizing about new gear. You finally realize you're hardly playing at all anymore.......

Trust me, it's hell

Friends don't let their friends get into home recording


BTW, just kidding