Just starting out and on a VERY low budget

D

Don Tonberry

New member
Ok, so I've just started recording not long ago and I want to try to get some better quality gear for my recordings. I'm mainly looking for a mic to record acoustic guitar/electric guitar amp (clean and very distorted)/some vocals and some decent speakers to mix my recordings.

My budget is around $100-$120 USD for these items so it's not very much because my parents don't want me to spend too much. A couple of cheap mics I was looking at are GLS ES57, OSP DL-330, Audio Technica Pro 63, and the V-Tech 1090. For speakers, I guess maybe some cheap computer speakers or something? I'm not sure on that.

So, hopefully you guys can give me suggestions on what to do. Thanks
 
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you can pick up a sennheiser e835 new for around $70..it'll do for vocals and/or micing an amp

that doesnt leave much for speakers....you may be better investing that remaining cash in decent headphones then save for monitors...or scour pawn shops for some old hifi equipment..computer speakers wont do much for you in the long run, but you can always still use the headphones once you do purchase monitors in the future

have a look in the microphone forum...there's a thread there on mics below $100...maybe it'll have other/cheaper options
 
Look at many pawn shops...I bought Yamaha NS10s for $60...they thought they were bookshelf speakers...lol.

You do see plenty of studio grade mics in them to...craigslist will have them cheap...$150 can go a long way on craigslist with everybody needing christmas money and the economy so bad...its a good time to have money to spend.
 
You say "better quality gear". What do you use now?

If you buy a microphone you'll still need some sort of interface to get the signal into the computer. My suggestion would be something like the Audio Technica AT2020 USB and a cheap pair of headphones. You can find the AT2020 USB new on ebay for around $110 w/ free shipping.
 
dastrick said:
You say "better quality gear". What do you use now?

If you buy a microphone you'll still need some sort of interface to get the signal into the computer. My suggestion would be something like the Audio Technica AT2020 USB and a cheap pair of headphones. You can find the AT2020 USB new on ebay for around $110 w/ free shipping.
Click to expand...

Right now I'm using a Presonus Audiobox USB for my interface but my mic is a Audio Technica ATR30 (SM58 clone) and it's more suited for vocals and not instrument applications.

If I get a LDC like the AT2020 would my room have a great effect on the sound being recorded? It's not really acoustically treated and all that stuff. I was thinking a dynamic would be better?

I do have a decent set of headphones in my opinion, here's the frequency response graph. But I would rather have speakers though..
2epsdn6.gif
 
ANY sensitive mic will pick up the room.
A condenser will pick up a lot of ambient noise especially if you crank it up.

Dont get a USB mic; they are mainly for podcasting and you'll get into a mess monitoring the performance. Get a real interface (see the note below on soundcards and Tweak's Guide....)


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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 - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that 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!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

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:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

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.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions that WORK: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm
(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:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (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 - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

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. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
I have already stated that I have an interface and just need to find a decent mic and maybe speakers/headphones to monitor. I'm already using REAPER as my DAW
 
Honestly id say save a bit more. That kind of budget for a mic and monitors will leave you wanting more all over again. Save up and research until you cant see straight. Researching is free and will gain you a large amount of knowledge on what you will need and what products sound like they will do what you need them to. Rushing to buy something will turn out to hurt in the long run. Good luck.
 
You already have the Audiobox which will suit your needs just fine.

I own a couple of ES57's & an SM57 and they sound VERY similar and both are built like a tank. I think that you would be fine with an ES57 then spend the rest on headphones.
 
dastrick said:
You already have the Audiobox which will suit your needs just fine.

I own a couple of ES57's & an SM57 and they sound VERY similar and both are built like a tank. I think that you would be fine with an ES57 then spend the rest on headphones.
Click to expand...

I think I'll just use my headphones that I have for now and maybe use the $120 on a mic? (or 2 cheap ones)

Is that a good idea?
 
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