Mom needs Help Please...

[louietune]

I need help with a Christmas gift please.

My son is a very young, slightly new singer and he has been asked for a good demo and he doesn't really have one. He has also been asked to sing on these websites where you record your voice right on to music tracks... and he doesn't have a decent mic to do that. What would he need for this? Can he use a shure 58 on his computer?

He has a portable PA and we need a way to record his live singing to make recordings directly through the board... Is MD the way to go? His .portable PA is a Peavy Escort... we also have a 12 channel Mackie board and power speakers with effects units... but the portable is SO much easier for booking in small rooms that we've never used the bigger one. I also bought a new Tascam CD player casetter recorder in 2001 that has never worked... it just reads no disc all the time... I don't know if I should get that fixed and ad a little portable MD recorder, or what. He has been hooking up his I pod to the PA system for his background music.

What is a Microtrak 24/96 portable digital recorder? Any good?

Do MD recorders hook right up to computer now? As you can tell I need lots of help and advice... I don't know what to get him.

He has a mac laptop and a PC... I have a Mac G4. We have garage band from ilife 4, and a bunch of programs for editing. He plays around with guitar and keyboards too, and I am a song writer.

It has been years since I asked for your help and I am glad to see you are still here. I still have a Yahmaha casette 8 track recorder you recomended for my songwriting... I loved it... that and my Suzuki sequencer... that was bought back in .... um.... showing my age now!

Anyway... if you could all help me by sharing your opinions, I would really appreciate it.


A newbie's mom

 

[superspit]

... that was bought back in .... um.... showing my age now!


mmmm.....let me guess.....you're 51?

I'm sure someone here soon will spend good time on a response for you.

Regards......

 

[Dani Pace]

The easiest thing to do (cheapest too) would be to get an adapter cable and plug the pa to the computer. use the line out or monitor out from the pa, to the line in or aux in on the computer. Get a second adapter cable with RCA jacks on on end and a 1/8 stereo jack on the other and you can do the same thing with your Yamaha recorder. I have a Yamaha MT120 cassette recorder which I have used as i mic preamp into my comp and got fairly decent results. If you are looking for a nicer Xmas present go ahead and get him a decent mixer/preamp, but for a quick solution a couple of adapter cables should get you some acceptable results. BTW, Merry Christmas.

 

[2lim]

I would use that Mackie board that you have as a preamp, and get an adapter to plug the main outs to his mac laptop line in. He can then use some cheap recording program(like Reaper, look it up on google) and realluy get going then. Also, I would suggest an SM58 as a good mic for him to start with. He can use it as a live mic, and it will be useful as a studio mic.

However, if you would like to drive up to London, Ontario for a day or two, I will be happy to cut a quick demo for him, free of charge(merry christmas).


Simon

 

[louietune]

Thank you SO much!

Reply 1-

YES! How did you figure I was 51!... I am really impressed... don't these electronic things come out for a few years? Or was the suzuki a one year thing? LOL How old are you?

Reply 2 & 3-

Thank you to all of you that have helped. Some of it is a little over my head... I have to reread it and figure it out. I should just let my son do this.
I just write songs, then think I need to record in Nashville... the easy way out... so how smart does that make me? NOT VERY.

The SM58 is a definate. I thought you all would tell me to get a portable MD recorder to hook up to the portable PA... or tell me what to buy him that we don't already have... I think I even have an adaptor... I have so many things I don't even know what are. Thanks for reminding me that we have some good stuff already! I am just not a "board" type of person... It's missing the effects... so you have to have an expensive effects unit with it... which I have at least two... I know nothing about.... I miss the reverb and all in one board thing of the old small PA heads which they only give you in portable PAs today.

Reply 3-

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!!!

Hey! London, Ontario? Sounds wonderful! How far is that from Detroit, Michigan? I just may take you up on that! Our winter has been so mild, we can probably drive it. Do we bring background music? Would you like an original song? Do you worry about licensing on demo songs? Just how would you like to produce him? It's YOUR BABY! Homerecording.com's own creation!!! His website is at http://www.destinjames.com

Members advise him on his equipment, and you produce Him... I write the songs... hey.... we could have a whole support group here and not even know it! He is only 19... very humble... I think you would all like him very much! Check him out!

Mom

 

[2lim]

Hey I am only 23 and record in a spare room at my parents house.
Pretty much you guys just gotta bring whatever you want to end up on the CD. So if you have pre-recorded background music, then bring it and he can sing over it, and I will record it. If you don't have background music, then we would have to find a way to make it! I don't worry about licensing at all, because my studio is not a registered business, just a project.

From the sounds of things all you would have to do, is bring up what he normally sings over, we will put that onto the computer, then have him over dub his voice, and mix it until it sounds right!

My place is about 2.5 hours from Detroit, and if you have the backing music already done then we could easily make it a one day event!

As for the minidisc recorder, they are all but obsolete these days, it was a very short lived technology!


Simon

 

[louietune]

Okay Simon... maybe we can learn from you! What kind of computer do you use? I would love to see your set up.

He has the background music. Are you sure you have the patience to put down a vocal for a singer? You know they never think they sound okay!!! The humble ones anyway.

He will be home for the holidays from college this weekend... just let us know when a good time for you would be and give us directions... I will probably get us a motel room near you, so we can have plenty of time.

And I insist on giving you something for your trouble!

What do you mean about the MD recorders? Isn't that still the best way to get live performance recordings through your PA?



Mom

 

[superspit]

hey you guys...it'd be good to see what comes out of all this.....

 

[daav]

One suggestion: Don't buy anything. Most towns have a local studio that will charge you much less than buying gear will to record a demo and save you a ton of time and money and do better quality work than you could.

I am guessing when you said he was "asked to record a demo" that someone thinks he has some talent and wants something to evaluate to give him some sort of opportunity? Probabaly your best bet is to go ahead and get that done ina studio, get some advice and experience directly there and then buy your home recording gear when you ahve time to work it all out.

Daav

 

[VSpaceBoy]

I agree, it would be alot quicker, and cheaper, to just do it at some budget studio.


Or just use the built in mic in the laptop. Yes that won't sound as good as a studio, but it'll be good enough so they can hear what he sounds like. (assuming that this is the main objective)

 

[2lim]

Well my setup is very low budget. I use a small mixer, and a budget tube pre for all my preamps. They run into a delta 66 sound card. The program I use is N-track because it is dead easy to learn. I have a variety of low budget mics, and honestly, the rest of it is random stuff picked up from here.

I record by putting down a rythm track first(drums normally) then guitar over dubbed, then bass, then vocals last. I use some "absorbers" that I built out of rockwool for reducing reflections and such in my room. Beyond that, it is really just mixing things until they are just right, and playing around with the things that digital recording allows you to play with!


Simon

 

[louietune]

Here's where we are at now...

Did everyone have a good Christmas? I hope so.

My son sure did... but he keeps running into disappointments in his recording. Although he is more than proud of all I got for him.

Too many times he has been paid to do a "couple of songs" through the TERRIBLE PA systems they provide... so I not only got him a Shure SM58 mic... but I also got him a little Fender PD150 Passport PA to carry with him on gigs. To record, I got him an older Sharp MD722 to play with until we can figure out what how to do live recording. I am old woman who still likes my Tascam CD to cassette... but then I don't have a way to turn the casettes back into CDs... LOL (I even have some old Beta DAT tapes that I would like to turn into CDs)

I either have too old of stuff... or a lack of knowledge to monkey rig something to adapt to the new stuff...

Anyway... Here are the problems now...

The first problem was his record levels too low on the MD recorder ... and I don't know whether he got that fixed or not... but he decided he didn't like the sound of his own voice and almost quit!!! (I think I told you he was modest)

Anyway.... Then he found a fun website called singshot.com to try and record his vocals right through his computer using his new mic. All I had to give him was an i-mic adapter to convert his mic to USB... and his recordings all cut in and out and were a delayed mess!!! He blames my adapter... I blame our internet connection since we are in the sticks and only have satellite or phone modem... instead of high speed... He says he needs a sight snake cable or something... Which is another 40.00....

Anyway... we are STILL buying more stuff when I have so much already... you would think we could get a decent recording of him!!

Simon? How is your schedule the next few days? The demo would be great to have, but sitting down with someone who has put together his own studio would be exciting for him to meet.

I suppose you are all PC based... we are Mac. Does it matter?


Louietune

 

[Nick98338]

There is gobbs of stuff that will work with the MAC. But, MAC, or PC, the equipment chain is about the same. Microphone to preamp to digital interface to computer to software. You have the mic. It sounds like the MD recorder is not doing a good job as a preamp, so you need a preamp. Most all computers have a very simple digital interface built into the internal sound card. Not much versatility, but it works, and it's already there. Finally, the software. Good news here is that you can get something that works well, for free. That's the very basic stuff. There is also cabling and cable adapters to think about.

I think going to see Simon is a good idea. He can get you a decent recording done rather quickly. And, he can talk to your son about the confidence thing. Or, maybe Simon could visit you and help you setup what you need to do your own recording.