New home recording project

[auburncatfish]

I'm starting my second home recording project.

I've upgraded to an M-audio delta 66 with omni midiman. I use cakewalk for recording and T-racks for mastering. I play mostly acoustic singer songwriter stuff.

My question is...what are the next steps to making it sound pure and professional. What are ideal mics for this type of recording? Does the room configuration matter if I'm adding digital reverb anyway? What's the best way to record guitar? (line in or mic'ed or both or 6 simulatenous mics)

Thanks to anyone who replies to this? I'm like most people who want to most from their home studio.

Drew

 

[djc]

Search through the other forums on this stuff. It's all been covered.

 

[Paul881]

Hmmm ..... How long have you got? How big is your budget?

Next stage would be a couple of decent mics, large capacitor type. AudioTechnica's, Studio 1's Rodes NT1's NT2's AKG 2000 or 3000 etc etc.

Make sure your computer is quiet, Capacitor mikes will record a fly chomping on bacteria at twenty yards . Or record in a different room to your computer. With no phones, heating furnace/boiler etc to disturb the sound.

The modern way is to record live and add the fx later. It does matter how you record, the natural ambience still pokes through even if you add reverb later (unless you drown everything in reverb, usually a sure sign of a newbie )
Generally, I use a mic for my guitar straight into the mic input on my omni input box. They have great pre-amps, nice and quiet. Experiment positioning the mics around the guitar for the best sound, with your headphones on as you move the mic around. I usually have mine about 6 inches off the third fret, pointing towards my pick hand. Another position is shoulder height pointing down at where the neck and body junction is on the geetar. This is called the "over the shoulder" position. Sometimes, I place another mic a bit further away to catch the overall vibe of the room interacting with the guitar. And sometimes I DI the pick-up into the omni and then mix all the levels of the mics to see what sort of sound I get.

Once recorded the fun then starts with EQ'ing, Compressing, putting in delays to left and right channels to fatten the sound etc. Hours and hours of fun for all the family

This is a good site that has some decent info:
http://prorec.com/

Search for the subject of your choice. Good luck!

 

[James Argo]

www.studiocovers.com/articles.htm

 

[auburncatfish]

Mics and mics

Thanks Paul881 for the tips especially on mic placement. I never thought of an ambiance mic like you talked about.

Do you think it's worth the BULKY free space to place as many mics as you can around the guitar (6 for the delta 66) to get a "fatter" sound?

 

[Paul881]

auburncatfish posted:

Do you think it's worth the BULKY free space to place as many mics as you can around the guitar (6 for the delta 66) to get a "fatter" sound?

Personally, no. Two or maybe three at the most. (Iuse one most times) As previously posted, the fatter sound can be contrived by delaying one stereo channel by a few milliseconds plus the judicious use of EQ.

 

[auburncatfish]

mic economy

The next item I'm picking up is a microphone specifically for vocals. I've been told a shure 58 is a good value with deep bass. Apparently, pros use em all them time, but in what capacity I don't know. What's the best recording mic for value in the 200 maybe 300 dollar range? Thanks for the input friends. This is the best site I've found in years.

Drew.

 

[Paul881]

The sm58 is usually used as a live mic because it is quite forgiving in its sensitivity and is designed for the vocal range. It is not often used as a studio mic but can be. If you get close to the mic, the bass response increases significantly.

The reason most project studio'ers go for a large diapragm capacitor mic is for their uncoloured flat response, their sensitivity and presence and their abilty to be used for instruments too.

Check out the mic forum here on Home Recording for a better understanding of the different mics than I could ever give you.