Just for fun - an Intro by a newbie

[Tileguy]

Hiya guys,gals ,and any that are confused
I just joined and thought i'd say Hi and give a bit of background on myself.

First off,I am in this just for the sheer fun.Ive never done any recording to speak of even though i have played the git for over 30 years and have done some writing.I thought i'd start out small and do the famous Buy cheap buy twice thing until i found out wether this was something i would really enjoy and actually have the time to do.
Sooooo,I picked up a used Fostex X18 4 tracker that was said to be in very good condition with all manuals,adapter etc.(its on its way).
Now it may be that eventually i'd like to get a bit more sophisticated about this entire recording thing but in rading around in here i realize i have sooooo very much to learn.
If some of you out there are familiar with this X18 and its capabilities,please chime in and let me know hat it can and cant do along with any tips or tricks you found with the unit.
Also,Any reccomendations on used equipment that i should be considering(to go along with my philosophy of buy cheap buy twice??)
Priorities I should consider??
Mixer? Router?Drum machine?Mics(i know shure 57's and 58's right
I have at present for equipment
Ibanez AEF-18 NT acoustic electric
Fender Strat
Line 6 spider 30
Crate 40 watt twin tube/ss hybrid
Yamaha 47 key synthesizer
Like i said, this is just for fun and while i dont mind spending some money,if i'm going to spend a chunk i would like the equipment to be able to double for small venue work down the road.
Anyhow, thats about it.
Sure glad i found this place !!!

 

[Tileguy]

Wow, a couple dozen views and nobody even says welcome aboard,Hi,Hello etc.......Tough Room!!
If this is the Newbie room,what are the rest like??
I'm a Moderator in a Professional Tile Forum where we help DIY people and other pro's in the trade.I have over 8000 replies in that forum and have helped several hundred people through thier projects saving them a ton of money.Many of these people hardly knew what a hammer was but with a helping hand managed to turn out some nice work.

Its a friendly forum because people remember why they are there.
Why are you all here??
Why are the moderators here?

I'm at the top of my trade and give back to that trade (that has been very good to me) by helping others.
Are we so far gone as a race that a simple hello takes too much effort??

Perhaps I am just in the wrong Forum? Can someone point me in the right direction?

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Hello and welcome Tileguy.

I'm here because I'm relatively new to recording (I've been doing it for about 2 years) and I have much to learn. Despite your initial experience I can assure you that this is a good place for that. Occasionally I'm able to pass on an opinion or some information for others who are also new to recording. I beleive that if you take it's good to give a little back when you can.

There are a great many people on here who are professional recording engineers and who do take time to answer people's questions, I have only been registered here a bout a year and I'm already indebted to a few of them. Very general questions will not usually get much of a response. As such a few pointers if I may:

Rather than detailing a big list of different things and asking for reccommendations on all of them you'll probably get more joy if you just concentrate on a few things at a time and post in the appropriate forums. There are seperate forums for different instruments, a mic forum, a rack forum.... you get the picture.

Also there is a wealth of information already here and the search function will often yield opinions and answers to questions that have been asked previously. Questions that are repeated regularly don't often get responses either.

Also pay attention to the stickies at the top of the mic forum, a wealth of info there on how mics work and how best to use them.

Having said all that I'll give you a starter for 10:

mixers- The yamaha MG series
Mics- the shures you mentioned are good dynamics as are the e835 and e845 mics by sennheiser. Studio Projects and MXL make fairly good, cheap condensor mics.

Try a search on 'drum machine'.

All the best with it and I hope you do (eventually) find the forum to be useful to you.

 

[Rokket]

Kevin's right. There is a wealth of information already here for you to look at. The search function will give you most of what you are looking for, as well as the FAQ at the top of the page. Most of the questions you asked have been asked here thousands of times by me, him and countless others. Some of the older members may pass on answering your questions if they get too broad. Kevin touched a bit on the mics, and just so you don't feel you have wasted your time: The X-18... I owned one for a time, and it's a cool little machine to learn on. It's got individual faders for each of the 4 tracks and a master volume. The single input is mic/line level, you can adjust the trim control. The only draw back is you can only record one track at a time, but there are ways around it (the aforementioned mg mixer). As far as drum machines, there are so many out there, it's hard to peg that one down. Cheap is good, but you already said it: buy twice.
Get your feet wet with the Fostex, then if you find, like most of us that you are hooked, look to upgrade. But remember this: home recording is a money pit, so choose wisely, and buy according to what you are going to be doing down the road vice what you are doing now (e.g. if you intend to record live drums, bass and guitar at the same time, you will need at least 12 channels for mixing).
Good luck, and welcome to the board!
Rokket

 

[Tileguy]

Kevin, Rocket, Thanks guys youve restored my faith in humanity!!
I fully understand the proverbial millionth time that questions been asked.
We actually dedicated a seperate forum called "The Library" to deal with exactly this type thing.

Still i find myself answering many of the same questions.
Part of it is time,people only have so much.
Its a bit differant here in that for many this is a hobby rather than"My only bathroom is ripped up,where do i start? "Actually a rather dramatic differance LOL
I have used the search feature and will continue to do so as time permits.
Kevin,I'll look into that Mixer,thanks.

Thanks for the heads up on the Fostex Rocket.I figured it would be a good learner but would lack many features which i might eventually desire.
The great thing is i got it very reasonable and likely can resell in a year or so to upgrade and will be far more astute in knowing what it is i want and need for my particular situation.Do you have a drum machine?

For many years ,making a living has gotten in the way of making music which ive always enjoyed.Time for a change,afterall ,if its all work and no play,whats the point
Thanks again guys ,i look forward to learning alot more about this vast field(at least enough so that when i'm talking to a pro i dont sound like a complete blithering idiot)

 

[Rokket]

My drum machine is the Yamaha DD-55. It has some pretty realistic drum sounds if you mix it right. I actually had someone who listened to my stuff ask me how I managed to mic my drums because I use the Fostex MR-8 (it's digital), and it only has two inputs. It's one of the tricks and trade secrets you learn the more you get into it. But take it slow when you do. Don't try to produce the next Beatles recording your first time out. Just like tiling, you don't learn it all the first time you do it.
Good luck with your endeavors.
Welcome to the board!

 

[Dogman]

Tileguy, welcome, and don't feel you were ignored. I posted a question, and got many replies my first day, but since you didn't have a direct question us new guys can answer, you had to wait for the more informed. I've learned a lot here, mostly just from reading other peoples stuff. Some of these other guys know their stuff, and can help a ton. I've been playing for over 20 years, but only got into recording back in May, and haven't had much time to learn, so reading other tips helps me immensly.

Hope the tips help you as much.

 

[Clik]

Hi, I just signed up with this forum, so I could reply to your post. Welcome to the world of recording!!!

First off,I am in this just for the sheer fun.

Excellent strategy; maintain that attitude, and everything else falls into place.

Also,Any reccomendations on used equipment that i should be considering(to go along with my philosophy of buy cheap buy twice??)

I'd suggest being really really REALLY cautious about used gear -- as you may have already noticed, most musical equipment gets PUMMELED by the time someone gets ready to let it go.

Priorities I should consider??

Well, it's good to have "SHEER FUN" at the top of your list. Otherwise, what's the point???

 

[A Reel Person]

Hello,

I can't comment on the exact features of the X-18, as to production tips. I do know the X-18 to be a fairly low end device, with low end features. It should be funtional enough, but nothing too awesome. Functional 4-track.

I'll put my 2¢ in, that first of all, 95% of people on this board will be counseling you on buying soundcards, software, or digital stanalone all-in-one'rs, aka DAW's, but not me.

My recommendations are as follows: Besides a few mics & accessories, the best used 4-track cassette out there would be the Tascam 246. It's affordable, being a fairly old unit. Further, I'd recommend the Tascam 244, 424mkIII, 424mkII & 464 as other high end Portastudios. Buy the Tascam 424mkIII brand new in stores still, for a reasonable $300. The 424mkIII's your best value in brand new analog Portastudios. For a big boost in features and fidelity, look at the Tascam 388 reel-8-track Portastudio, (used/Ebay). A middle of the road between cassette 4-tracks and the reel-388, would be the Tascam 488mkII, cassette 8-track. Check the 488mkII out on Ebay, too. It's a pretty high value analog Portastudio.

Any of these above mentioned Portastudios would put you light years ahead of the X-18's capabilities, production value & sound quality. Each one mentioned would be complex and high end enough to support years of production service, and are by no means disposable technology, despite what the digi- guys might tell'ya.

I'm not inclined to recommend digital boxes or computer recording. Forget the computer, and forget crap like the Fostex MR8 and Tascam DP-01, which are limited in key features.

If you're somehow set on going digital, I'd recommend the Tascam 564 MD Portastudio or the Yamaha MD8. It's pretty short list. (Ebay items).

I'll admit, I'm spoiled. I cut my recording teeth on a genuine Tascam Portastudio, topline model, and anything less is inadequate. I need lots of inputs, lots of front end mixing capability, and lots of simul-track recording. The new breed of all-in-one'rs give you none of that. The topline, full featured analog Portastudio gives you all of that. Tascam 244, 246, 424mkII, 424mkIII, 464, 488mkII & 388. Stick with those, and you have it all. Trust me.

Find another member to recommend puter recording, or the new breed of digital porta-format recorders. Not me.

Bottom line is to have fun with what you have, & learn the ropes, for a while before the next key upgrade. When you upgrade, you want to make it something that will last.

 

[noisedude]

Now, I'm not going to have an analogue/digital argument with you, man.

Hello Mr Tile! The first impression I got of your post was, "woah, long newbie post, I'll come back and do it properly another time". Don't worry about people, everyone's pretty nice here and with people like Rokket sat on here all day long dishing out comliments you can go far wrong!

Second that call on a Yamaha MG ... my 10/2 is very diddy and cute, whilst mainting some quality and usability. In fact, Nick (Kevin DeSchwazi) made the right calls on the mics you should look at too.

With that in mind, my work here is done. Except a quick link to a little basic recording website I 'found' ...

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/nikkeefe/

Ooh ooh, check out this little page, it's controversial

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/nikkeefe/analogdigital.html

 

[BentRabbit]

Ooh ooh, check out this little page, it's controversial

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/nikkeefe/analogdigital.html

Oh way to go Nik... Give him a taste of controversy right from the get-go...

He'll be in the Cave before you know it now...

Welcome aboard TG!

I won't expand on too much of what the others have already said... You will certainly find a wealth of info already covered by Searching past posts... No sense reinventing the wheel.... there's plenty of folks who have already scratched their heads over the exact same issues we're scratching our heads about... It's great to come here and learn from their experiences, as well as bonding with your peers in the HR community (*sniff*... I love you guys, man!)

See you in the threads!

 

[noisedude]

Dave - it's nothing like he's gonna get once he dives in the mic forum ... whether it's an analog or digital recorder he still needs a cheap Chinese mic to put in it .. !

 

[Dogman]

Love the drummer dude.
Ed