newbie questions

[merko1]

this is my first post im needing some help ,was wanting to know what i will need to record some home demos (decent quality) so far i have a shure sm57 xlr to 1/4 cable and a 1/8 converter for the soundcard ,what else will i need ,pre amp ,mixer etc or could i record staight to the soundcard even though ive tried that and been getting bad qulaity sound and bad levels,also does the shure sm57 need phantom power ,ive got a alesis quadraverb being trying to use that a s a pre amp but still getting low although slightly improved levels,help would be much appreciated

cheers

 

[mjbphotos]

The Shure SM57 does not need phantom power - the problem with your sound is the soundcard itself - the ones that come with computers tend to be crappy.
You need to get a good interface - Firewire preferred, USB if you won't need to record more than 2 channels at a time.
You have not given any info on your software or hardware set ups. There are lots of threads here on getting started.

 

[Snydley]

this is my first post im needing some help ,was wanting to know what i will need to record some home demos (decent quality) so far i have a shure sm57 xlr to 1/4 cable and a 1/8 converter for the soundcard ,what else will i need ,pre amp ,mixer etc or could i record staight to the soundcard even though ive tried that and been getting bad qulaity sound and bad levels,also does the shure sm57 need phantom power ,ive got a alesis quadraverb being trying to use that a s a pre amp but still getting low although slightly improved levels,help would be much appreciated

cheers

One of your biggest problems is the XLR to 1/4 cable. That's not good enough. The SM57 is a low impedence microphone, the soundcard wants a high impedence source. You need a low to high impedence transformer adapter, the ones I've used have an XLR female connector on one end,(to plug the XLR mic cable into), and a 1/4 male plug on the other. Here's a link to one. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/68647-REG/Shure_A85F_A85F_Microphone_Matching.html
You need this to start with. This will bring the level up to where your soundcard can do something with it, and you should then be able to record through your soundcard, but you'll also need some recording software of some sort. Then it's anyone's guess as to what kind of quality your gonna have with it. You can get one at RadioShack,(yuck), if you don't have any other,(better), electronic parts stores near you.
Good Luck,
Snyde

 

[Dogbreath]

maybe so...but start with an interface.

 

[Dani Pace]

For a very minimum you will need some kind of preamp with line level outputs and any nessassary cables/adapters to hook it to the line in on your soundcard, not to the mic input. A USB interface (Mbox or something similar) will even be a lot better than the stock soundcard on your computer and may serve your needs, depending on how many inputs you need. If you plan to record a "whole band" at once you will need more inputs and a firewire interface will likely be your best bet.

For what it's worth... Whan I first started recording on computer I used an old 4 track as a preamp straight to the soundcard and Audacity as my recording software. The recordings were not great but they were a lot better than anything I could get by just using the soundcard. I'm not recomending this method, just trying to point out that it does not take much to be an improvement over just using a stock soundcard.

 

[merko1]

hi there cheers for the replies ,was thinkin about getting my self a little tascam 424mk2 to use as a pre-amp and mixer,but still not shure about how to link it up to the computer , few question
1.is there no way to conect it with 1/4 to 1/8 adpater without losing so much quality ?
2.also will be using either cubase or adobe audtion,just havin trouble getting the signal into the pc that seems to be the the biggest problem will i have to use a usb or transformer to match the impdance or would a little porta studio sort that out?

 

[TimOBrien]

My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions that WORK: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)

 

[Simbo]

The first thing we need to know is

How many tracks do you want to record at once ?

if only 1 or 2 max then USB interface will do fine .

If more then 2 tracks then you will need to do a lot of reading.

If only 2 then then grab a A/D converter with XLR inputs with USB.

I use M-Audio fast track pro, to record my kid and his friends in stereo mode, but it could be use in your case

Good luck