newbie question (please help!)

[sugarcoat]

hey everybody!

I’m an absolute beginner when it comes to home recording. I’m interested in recording
from various sources (acoustic instruments, voice, MIDI, Roland workstation, drums,
etc.). For the past week or so, I’ve been fooling around with N-Track, and - though it
may be my sound card - I’m unhappy with the processor noise coming off my computer to
the recording (i’m going through the AUX port).

So here are my questions - would an improved sound card get rid of that processor noise,
or am I forever screwed? (it’s a Thinkpad 390X laptop, which I know isn’t great to be
recording on). OR since I’m just a novice, would analog be the way to go? I’ve been
considering purchasing a Tascam 488 8-track (which is a considerable price) and a nice
Shure microphone (the small 1/8 inch crap mic I have running into the comp now also
bothers me). I have a feeling this would be the easier route for me to go, but if something
similar could be accomplished with a digital program, that’d be great too.

So any advice??? Also about the Tascam - is it possible to somehow record more than 8
tracks? (playing your finished 8 back through one track channel, maybe?). I’m thinking
mega walls of sound a la Les Paul here. And what kind of effects does it have, or do you
purchase something separately for that? reverb etc?

ANY advice ANY of you might have would be a great help to me! I’m looking to spend
no more than about $800 for everything, which I consider adequate for a beginner?
-clay mallory.

 

[Krystof01]

Starting to record can be very simple but can get quite complex. If you feel up to the challange you should go for it-better to start now rather than later. This forum is great on any problems you may encounter.

Firstly $800 isn't that much for you say 'everything'. The money will soon go. Ideally you should try and aim to use some gear and gain a bit of knowledge before actually purchasing your own. Get down to a shop and be guided through various types of recording gear. There is no reason why you should necessarily get an analoug rather than a digital though the analoug will be cheaper.

A possibility might be to buy second hand though as a begginer it may be better buy first hand as if anything goes wrong you'll be covered (you may not know what your buying second hand). Having a friend that can go along with you who knows his/her stuff is great.

You can record as many tracks as you want but as you bounce them around and put multiple tracks on a single track the sound will diminish and also become hard to remidy later.

I'm not sure on the tascam itself and the effects but with any external effects-again obviously the more you spend the better the sound.

So really it's up to you of course but I wouldn't rush into buying anything too quickly if unsure (don't want to waste your money). One of the best things though as I said is to try and mess around on say friends gear to see if you want to spend the money on recording gear-good luck.

 

[FMarkow]

Hey, Newbie - welcome to the ranks of the recording addicts. I'm not sure why you are getting noise from your Thinkpad. It could have to do with the close proximity of all the stuff crammed in there effecting the signal. Analog is cool, but you can get so much bankg for your buck in digital. If you have another PC, it is fairly easy and inexpensive to record on it. If I had 800 clams, I would not invest in a stand alone unit (like a Tascam or Roland VS880, etc). In fact, I had one, and felt fairly limited from day one. Your question, "can I record more than 8 tracks" tells me you would feel the same way. And although there are ways to "bounce" and get additional tracks, there is always a cost. With the PC and Cubasis (which is a mere 70 bucks) you can get 32 audio and 32 MIDI tracks. Plus the sound quality is superior (if you get yourself a decent sound card. The Midiman PCI card is only about $100 and it works great). On the PC you can also do all kinds of other cool things, like use ACID for drum loops, Fruity loops for drum sequencing, etc. You can easily burn cd,s etc ad infinitum. Also, check out Computer Music magazine (its an English import, but worth the $13.00 and search - try Tower). It comes with loads of free software demos of different sequencers, etc, plus lots of practical how-too articles. Its helped me alot.

Anyhow, hope this helps.

 

[Shana]

You should look into a digital recorder like the boss brg or korg d8. You can get started for under 1000$ considering you have headphones , instruments and some cables. They come with all kinds of effects for both guitar and vocals (you'd have a field day with them) ,, I personally never recorded using my computer so i cant recommend anything in that field.
G'luck