Newbie Questions

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fragglemi

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I am pretty much just getting started in this little hobby. I am going to attempt to record myself a demo, right now all I have is

Mackie 1202VLZ Mixer
2 PS6 Event Monitors
SBLive sound card
Martin D16GT guitar
2001 Collectors Edition Ovation (yah I know, but its a collectors edition and its kinda pretty)
2 SM58 Mics
Digitech Studio (reverb etc, not very nice)
Cubase VST

I want to know the best way to set this stuff up. I am going to be getting a keyboard for midi work in the near future, I am also looking at getting an electric drum kit ( I am in a town house).

What else should I look into getting? I am a one man band basically. I want my demo to sound like a full band, I can play all the above instruments to some degree. I am just a little lost in all the information out there. I have also gone through the studiocovers site. I am not totally clueless after lurking and working with this stuff for about 6 months.

I would like to eventually turn this into a professionally done studio. So I dont want to go tooo cheap, but I dont want to spend too much either. GOOD QUALITY, LOW PRICE. I think 3k us$ is probably a decent number. I can do a bit higher. I wouldn't buy it all at once, it will be over the course of a few months. :)

Thanks for all the information in advance!

Paul
 
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A better soundcard like a Delta or something and a good condensor mic would really give you more quality.
 
Any recommendations? I dont want something that is going to make me broke, but I dont want to be skimpy either.
 
good mic to start.

Hey Frag,

I'm kinda in the same boat as you except, instead of having good monitors, I spent my first chunk of money on a good condenser. The one I picked up and am satisfied with is the Rode NT1. I actually went in to buy monitors and they ended up selling me the mic instead. I do acoustic guitar and voice like your gear suggests so I'll bet it'll be a good one for ya.

milesmaxwell
 
For a townhouse gig, you'll want a good set of accurate, closed-ear headphones. Look at the Sennheiser 280's - a lot of people like the Sony 7506, but they aren't as flat response as the Sennheisers.

There are some decent reasonably price condenser mics out there, the Rodes are definitely contenders. Some of the chinese imports are pretty decent too, like the MXL V-67, the Oktava MC-012, etc. You can add a separate preamp when you're ready for an improvement to the Mackie pre's, but to improve noticeably on the Mackie pre's you'll probably end up spending at least $4-500. That would NOT be my first choice as an upgrade to what you already have.

If you get an electronic drum set, be sure and get one that has AT LEAST 4 separate outputs on the sound module. That way, you can process the kick and snare drums separately like the big boys, and still have a stereo spread for the rest of the kit. You'll want to stay away from the little pad controller sets if you can afford to - I bought one of those, a Drumkat with some extra pads for snare and cymbals, and I could never do a decent tom fill on those little tiny pads. I now have a Roland V-Custom set, with the mesh heads and their TD-8 module. The TD-8 is the least expensive module in that line that has 4 outputs. This set is killer, but by the time I upgraded to the larger kick, larger snare, dual zone cymbals and hihat, and one extra tom and a DW kick pedal, it was over $3k. Staying with the rubber pads can lower the cost - the feel is not the same, but it's still very usable. Compared to playing drum sounds into a sequencer from a keyboard, making 4-5 passes in order to play all the stuff you need, then spending several hours editing out the "impossibles" so it sounds like a real drummer played it, you'll save enough time and agravation to make even $3k look reasonable...

Speaking of which, cheap to one person is un-reasonable to another. If you can give us an idea of your ball-park budget and what currency that's in, it will help with recommendations.

Also, if you really mean it about doing "pro" work, don't even mention the word "Behringer" - there is too much of a stigma there for anyone who'll actually PAY you for your services, to not just walk away. Yeah, I know, bang for the buck, yada yada, and that's fine for personal studios on a tight budget. You did say "professionally done studio", remember... Steve
 
rode NT1

IT makes a world of difference... Without getting technical because I probably shouldn't embarrass myself, I had been recording through a 58 and it just didn't pick up the nuances of the voice. I don't like to use these subjective adjectives but really does have a very warm sound... With the built in mackie pres, vocals and ac. guitar should sound awesome indeed.
 
fragglemi said:
.... So I dont want to go tooo cheap, but I dont want to spend too much either. GOOD QUALITY, LOW PRICE :)....
Click to expand...

What is your budget?
 
I think 3k us$ is probably a decent number. I can do a bit higher. I wouldn't buy it all at once, it will be over the course of a few months.
 
another question is what peices should go where? where should I have my monitors plugged into?
 
Aside from the soundcard that Tex mentioned, I wouldn't buy anything.

You have a good mixer with mic pres and is expandable in the short term for a keyboard (if it's necessary).

If you're just getting into it, don't rush it. Mess around with your setup a bit.

Connect the monitors to the control room outs. Connect the main outs to your sound card.

This is an addictive hobby and usually causes a knee jerk reaction of getting more gear makes you sound better. If you don't know how to fully utilize the gear that you have now, you'll probably get burnt out, go broke or both. I'd dump my money into a good soundcard and go from there. No drums, no synth but maybe a better mic after the soundcard although a 58 is a really good start.
 
MULTI IN-OUT SC vs. CONDENSER MIC

Now bear in mind this is a newbie talking but, If you want to really simplify the equation, I would still get the nice mic first and then a Delta 1010 or whatever soundcard after that. My logic here being doing one or two tracks at a time with the sb live as opposed to thinking you need to optimize all the capabilities a 1010 provides.

Whatever you think though. The hardest part of all this is not worrying about the shit you've got on the desk next to you but what you're gonna do with your voice or that guitar/keyboard/kazoo in your hands.

mmax
 
Evildick said:

This is an addictive hobby and usually causes a knee jerk reaction of getting more gear makes you sound better. If you don't know how to fully utilize the gear that you have now, you'll probably get burnt out, go broke or both. I'd dump my money into a good soundcard and go from there. No drums, no synth but maybe a better mic after the soundcard although a 58 is a really good start.
Click to expand...

Well I have been in the hobby for about a year now, I just want to move farther into it. I am definately not knee-jerking. Just looking for advice on "where next?" type stuff.

Thanks!

Paul
 
Frag, you need some mics., and with the stuff you already have, your budget is do-able as you say, over time. I'd say use the pres in the Mackie initially, with plans to upgrade 2-4 channels with better pre's later. You haven't said what the instruments are, but good music played on good instruments by good people is easy to record. If you don't have great instruments, find them. Blow a significant part of that wad on good mics, and some good booms with at least one heavy duty. You probably need a power conditioner. Yep, listen to the nice soundcard people, 'cause you need one of them too. For mics, I'd say get 1 versatile large diaphragm mic and a pair of small diaphragm mics with proper shock mounts. Don't buy any mics without at least checking out the specs on at least these:Octava MC012 (2 is good) or MXL603's (ditto), and for large diaphragm, Studio Projects C1/C3, AT4033 if you can find one, and some of the slightly pricier Marshall mics (I'm not as familiar with that line) seem to work for a lot of people. As funds become available, plan for a tube mic (check out Rode NTK, SP T3) for enriching some vocals, and later, a ribbon mic or 2. Oh, and you need a couple of Shure Sm57's or better yet, 1 SM7, or you can't be a full contact home recorder. Oh my, room conditioning-At first you can't build dedicated construction, but a room that's already pretty good can profit from an Auralex roominator kit or enough carpet in the right place. Do not leave this out of your budget. Good luck, it's a hell of a hobby.-Richie
 
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