need help on home recording.. pretty new :(

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In Flames 19

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i want to get into home recording.. but i am not sure what i will need. i have had good success with recording my electric guitar (ibanez rg520qs --> gt-6 --> computer) but i want to record my drums and acoustic guitar as well. i guess i need to get a mixer that can take mics from my drums, acoustic, and an input for my electric... but im not sure whats good.. im only 17 right now.. so im not that wealthy :( need to keep the prices low but the quality high :)

here is a list of what i have right now.. what else will i need?

computer:
amd 2100+ (overclocked to 3000) with 512mb cosair 3200 ram and audigy 2 soundcard. pretty new computer.. i can get any recording software (gotta love cracks)

guitars:
ibanez rg520qs
martin d-15 dreadnought (all mahogany)
gt-6 multi effects processor
fender hot rod deluxe (40 watt all tube amp)

drums:
pearl export select (burgundy mist)
zildjian cymbals (20" a custom ride, 14" a new beats, 18" z custom rock crash)

ive probably missed a few things you guys need to know to help me... but i need suggestions on a mixer and how to set this entire thing up...
 
1) read a lot here before making any purchases

2) read some more

3) reread what you first read

4) Your computer is powerful enough

5) IF you want to record drums etc. then you need a soundcard with more than two inputs (that is what the Audigy gives you). Check out M-audio Delta 44, Delta 66 (both 4-in/4-out), or for 10 inputs, teh Delta 1010 or Delta 1010LT. Aardvark cards are pretty nice too, there are others. Read about soundcards here, and read ALOT to find people trying to do similar things

6) Need a mixer to route signals...but this depends on what soundcard you get, some soundcards have built in preamps, some don't, and a mixer is very helpful if you want to run compressors and other outboard gear on your input signals. Behringer (brrrrrr) makes budget mixers that are very flexible, Mackie is much better, but you pay for it. Remember a very important note: you need your mixer to be able to send as many discrete signals as you have inputs on your soundcard (buses).

7) A few microphones to record what you are playing. Check out the microphone forum. Condenser mics are a must, and there are some budget brands out there, Studio Projects, APex and others.

At this stage, the most important pieces are

1) soundcard with appropriate number of ins/outs
2) Mixer with the same (or more) number of discrete buses as your soundcard has and preamps for your mics. Plus phantom power for your:
3) Mics....condensers.

SOme soundcards have 1&2 built in, like the Delta Omni Studio, but this only gives you 4in/out, which may be all you need for now.

Others will say "start with a good pair of monitors", or get a great preamp right away, or other outboard gear, but I would personally advise against this, esp. if you have low budget, because most importantly you need to learn how to record onto a PC, and that means you need to have a complete system. it takes a while to learn the basics, and as you learn you discover what other gear you need. The most flexible route is to go with a decent mixer, and a minimum 4 in/out soundcard. With some soundcards (like Delta 66 or Delta 44 ) you can stack up to 4 of them in your PC, and if you can run the right drivers and the right software they will work great. Then you get more than 4 in/out

Don't overlook MIDI interfaces as well, some soundcards have them built in. You may not think you will use MIDI now, but it is very powerful to have that capability.

Then pick your poison, errr software. I use Sonar 2.2XL, and it is all I need.

and you have just contracted the worst disease on earth: Home recording: there is no cure, there is always "one more piece of gear" that you need to have the perfect setup. Say goodbye to all your money.
 
In Flames 19 said:
i can get any recording software (gotta love cracks)
Click to expand...

Do this and you will experience more problems... cracks effect the programs and don't make them run properly... save up and buy the software... some guys around here don't support people who use cracked software....

Porter
 
Re: Re: need help on home recording.. pretty new :(

Porter said:
Do this and you will experience more problems... cracks effect the programs and don't make them run properly... save up and buy the software... some guys around here don't support people who use cracked software....

Porter
Click to expand...

fine then i will a program which uses serials.. im not dumping $300 on a program that takes less than 5 minutes to download.. sorry im not that rich.. anyways.. back to my topic..

csotckdale.. thank you very much for the indepth answer.. i wish more people could post answers like you do..

i suppose i have to have a delta 1010 (or something with more than 2 inputs) to do seperate editing with each mic (am im making since?) but for now can i go mixer right into my soundcard if i want to record my acoustic? i can spend money like this but not all at one time.. i need to build up.. right now im thinking of just getting a couple of sm57's for my acoustic... and some kind of mixer? is this alright for now?
 
Re: Re: Re: need help on home recording.. pretty new :(

In Flames 19 said:
fine then i will a program which uses serials.. im not dumping $300 on a program that takes less than 5 minutes to download.. sorry im not that rich.. anyways.. back to my topic..
Click to expand...

You don't need $300 for audio software. Check out N-Track, which is only $45. The price difference in software has nothing to do with the quality of audio.
 
recording tip for ur home studio on low money

ok, to that that said it effects ur sound if u get cracks... thats hte dumbest thing i have ever heard, wats it gonna do, make all the tracks have flanger??, give me a break... ok, to the studio kid, i am in hte same situation as u... i got a behringer mixer for 300... and im lookin at the delta 66... im 15, so im poor too... nady makes affordable mic sets for drums ..hope i helped
 
Re: recording tip for ur home studio on low money

lbcstudios said:
ok, to that that said it effects ur sound if u get cracks... thats hte dumbest thing i have ever heard, wats it gonna do, make all the tracks have flanger??, give me a break...
Click to expand...
You're young, so you get some leeway for being stupid... :rolleyes:

Here's a chance for you to learn something....

Besides being illegal, cracked s/w gets affected because the cracks introduce code inconsistencies that affect the performance of the s/w (as in continual crashes, slow performance, poor compatibility with other drivers on the system).... ged'dit?????

Ok - you can stop listening and go back to being stupid again.............

:rolleyes:
 
i never asked a question about how a crack can affect software.. geez o flip..
 
My comments weren't directed at you... they were for the tyke who's post I quoted...
 
Re: recording tip for ur home studio on low money

lbcstudios said:
ok, to that that said it effects ur sound if u get cracks... thats hte dumbest thing i have ever heard, wats it gonna do, make all the tracks have flanger??, give me a break... ok, to the studio kid, i am in hte same situation as u... i got a behringer mixer for 300... and im lookin at the delta 66... im 15, so im poor too... nady makes affordable mic sets for drums ..hope i helped
Click to expand...

If you read my post I never said that it effects the sound.... I said that it can make the programs not run properly.... read before you comment.

As for recording software... I take it your parents would buy it for you? .... if no and you were serious you would save your pocket money for a few weeks and buy the software... something like N-tracks which is entry level AND will still make good quality recordings.. as was previously mentioned in this post!!

Porter

BTW, lbcstudios, what software do you use? Is it a cracked piece of software?
 
I guess being young and poor (with a screaming fast computer and a broadband connection) makes it OK to be a thief. :rolleyes:

If you're going to be a thief, you're being kinda stupid to advertise it. I don't have much sympathy.

None of the pro audio software is serial only. They all require cracks. They are all much less stable then their legit counter parts. Have fun reinstalling your OS after multiple hard crashes. Have a good, up to date virus scanner running ALL the time, and back up your hard drive every time before running the program.

I'm speaking from experience. I used a cracked copy of Cubase for a while so I wouldn't have to worry about the dongle while I was travelling. I was using a cracked version of software that I had purchased. I record on my laptop and was travelling a lot at the time. Lose the dongle and you're screwed, so I thought I'd try out a dongle cracked copy.

The first version had a nasty virus embedded in it that launched itself periodically while the program was running. How nice of the honest and friendly crackers! The second installed clean, but it sucked compared to the legit version- simple editing tasks caused crashes and I had to click through random error dialogs constantly. The third version ran really sweet, but my system went down hard several times and one of my system files was corrupted. I had to reformat and reinstall. And I bought a cord lock to connect the dongle to my laptop so I wouldn't have to worry about losing it while travelling.

Enjoy your cracked software. And don't say you weren't warned.
 
Man I wish i was too "poor" to own a MARTIN when i was 17.
 
well.. i got poor by spending all my money on this kind of stuff :)

its a cheaper model martin.. but sounds better than most of the $1000 guitars i played...
 
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