Newbie Question: Help me NOT build a home studio

[atoledo]

That's right. I don't really want to build a fancy home studio. Not yet, anyway. Let me explain...

I have a daughter in a performing arts high school studying vocal and musical theater. The other day she came to me and said one her classmates went into a recording studio and recorded his own rap song. She actually had a copy on her ipod and she let me listen. Technically, it sounded very good. So she asks me, her tech dad who is very good at computers yet very low on funds, if I can help her make something similar. Since I don't want to spend for time at a pro recording studio I want to setup something decent at home where she can record vocals and upload to youtube or show to her friends, etc.

I pulled out an old casio, plugged the midi to my mac, and started playing around with garageband, trial versions of software, freeware/shareware DAWs, and I can honestly say I'm getting pretty good at putting something together that resembles music. Now to add some vocals. All I have is a cheap mic from an old karaoke set. I would like to get a decent mic for her and I assume a mic pre amp (but I am totally new to all of this).

I would like to get some direction on what to buy, keeping in mind I am not trying to match a pro studio in any way, shape, or form, but just give my teen daughter something "good" she can upload to the internet, or share with her friends -- for now. Perhaps after re-juggling my finances I'll be able to expand and actually build a decent home studio.

Thank You

 

[xbxrxixtx]

Get an audio interface and a decent condenser mic and you should be good to go. You could also try a USB mic and just plug it straight to the mac and use garageband. I don't mess with USB mics, so I don't know the quality. My guess is that its not the best, but would be ok.

If she only wants to do vocals, then a small interface with an XLR input and mic pre will be enough to do the job. If there will be cases where she (or yourself) want to record more than one at a time then you may want to look into more inputs on the interface. The interface will take care of the analog to digital conversions to allow you to record directly to your computer. If you are running a mac you will want to make sure that the interface you purchase is compatible.

I have an Mbox 2 mini and it would be perfect for what you are doing. The problem is the price tag. No worries though, there are plenty that are far cheaper and do the same thing. Many of the interfaces also come with software, or you could download "audacity" for free, or a program called "reaper" that I've heard is cheap and works well. I haven't used either, but they would be good cheap/free software to get started if you need it. I'm not familiar with many other small interfaces so I can't give you specific pieces to look for, but I know there is plenty out there to choose from. Just make sure it has a decent preamp. If it doesn't you can purchase one for fairly cheap as well.

Next all you would need to do is find a quality microphone. I like the Rode NT1a, but it comes in at about $235 the last I checked. In the grand scheme of mics, its not a bad price at all. However, for a tight budget though you probably want something else. The Shure SM58 is decent in live applications, not sure about in studio. The AT2020 may be worth looking at as well. Both come in around $100. There are far more mics out there that are cheaper, so do some research and you can find a steal.

Also check craigslist and pawn shops, or any used music shops for cheaper used gear. Just research it and make sure it fits your needs.

 

[atoledo]

xbxrxixtx:

Thanks for the quick reply. I will look into everything you've mentioned.

 

[mjbphotos]

read the threads sticky-ed to the top of this section before buying anything.