Newbie looking for help on a new home recording setup!

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Joshuah53

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First off, It's nice to have been able to find a forum full of people who enjoy the same things I do! My name is Josh. I am currently a college student that wishes he was touring the world playing sold out shows, but I think I share that dream with plenty of people here. I'm a 20 year old musician who has been playing guitar for 6 years or so. I have played in a couple Hardcore/Metalcore bands and while I have developed some very experienced guitar techniques (i.e. tremolo picking, sweep picking, etc) basically what you would hear on a Killswitch Engage album, I have a very firm grasp of. The problem is everything I have learned on guitar has been in a heavy drop tuning and I lack any training in musical theory, so if anybody has any tips on what I should do to go back and learn the basics without boring myself to tears with simple lessons, please feel free to drop them on me!

Now that you folks know me, I'll get to the point. I am getting a nice bit of cash back from my federal grant money this semester, and I think it is time that I begin building my home recording studio. I already have a Macbook Pro, which I recently upgraded to 16gigs of ram, and I have both Garageband and Logic Pro X installed as well as the Mainstage program. What I need to know is what do I need to buy to start recording, my main focus being guitar, but also vocals (clean and screaming). I would like an interface I could plug my guitars straight into, like the Line 6 Pod Studio UX2, but am open to suggestions on that. With a budget around $700, give or take a bit, what are the essential things I need to buy to begin efficiently recording at home?
 
It's nice to see you putting that grant money towards your higher education! There are several interfaces on the market for between two to three hundred bucks that will fit your needs. Just check any of the large on line music stores. Ask around here because a lot of people have upgraded their systems and will probably sell you one for cheap. You didn't mention monitors. You'll need a decent pair of those. You can get them for between two to five hundred bucks or so. Since you probably have a room mate you might consider some decent headphones. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the input! Yeah, I meant the $700 bucks for interface, monitors, mic, cables, etc. Like I said I can spend a bit more, but I really just dont know what I should buy as a beginner recording at home.
 
read the threads at the top of this section about computer recording. Decide what the maximum number of simultaneous tracks you will want to record at one time is and narrow down your interface choices from this.
Once you spend $200 for an interface, $200 for a mic (or 2), cables, mic stand, headphones, you won't have much left for monitors.
 
Again, read all that you can here. Headphones will be great for tracking, but they will make it tough to get your mixes to translate on other playback devices.

Mjb made good points to consider. Decide what it is you need now, and in the future before you make any purchases. You will regret not doing research later...
 
Yeah, I've been researching like a mad man, haha. The only real thing I cant pinpoint is the interface. I would like to be able to plug my guitars straight into my interface instead of mic'ing my amps, but I dont know which interface is good for my purposes.
 
Any interface with a high Z input then. I have not heard much good, nor bad about the Line 6 thing. I do recall hearing something about it not being good for vocals. But that is just something that stuck in my head. It could be wrong.
 
I've read the same thing, but then I've read reviews that said the thing was perfect. I read about 200 reviews on the thing last night. It just appeals to me because my main interest as of right now is being able to record my guitar, but like i said, I am up for any suggestions and am willing to spend a bit more money if it means getting something that will last me.
 
THIS would be my recommendation. Then use guitar sims in your DAW. Then you will have more options later.
 
Okay, with that interface, if I wanted to use a program on my computer, lets say Mainstage, as an effects processor, I would just Mic my amp, then run the sound through the program?
 
Use guitar sims in DAW? God I'm a noob. Explain please? While I google. haha
 
It wont let me edit my posts, but I got what youre saying! Thanks a ton!
 
There are a s**t ton of software (VST) amp simulators out there. Some free, some not so free. But with them, you will have the choice of trying different options. With the Pod, you are kinda locked in to what it does.

You can mic an amp, or run direct into the UR22. Much more options with a true interface.
 
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