Newbie Questions!

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MusicMan91

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Okay, I have a BUNCH of questions to ask. Here goes:
I have a small space that I want to turn into an isolation booth so I can record there. Any ideas on how to do it? Should I use cubicle-like walls? PVC Piping?
Currently, all I have is: an Opus 3 Moog Synthesizer, an iMac, and a Dr. BOSS SP-303 Sampler. I am going to get an 8 track digitial recorder soon, as I have been using a minidisc and a very cheap mic to just record little noises to make into a song. What mic would you suggest I buy to record guitar/drums/piano and such? Also, any advice on what brand to go with on the recorder? <a href=http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/love.music?p=p.FOSMR8&z=1618057140124>This</a> is the one I have been looking at.
On my Dr. BOSS SP-303, does anyone know where I can find out how to do everything on it? I seemed to have lost the instructions somewhere, and know there are still a few thing that I do not quite get.
First off, will someone please explain signal processing to me? Do I even need one? If so, which one??
Another thing, what mixing consoles would be good? and Mastering, what console should I use there? I don't want very expensive ones here, because I am just starting so I want to remain on the less expensive end. Any suggestions on what monitors?
Thanks a lot. I am sure that once these questions are answered, they will only act as a catalyst for a sleugh of others.

Chris, your faithful Newbie.
 
Signal processing is the altering of a signal in modulation, amplitude, phase, space, or time, as you see fit for your project.

Compression, expansion (the reverse), delay, chorus, flange, reverb, etc., are the basic ways to process signal.

The recorder that you say you are buying, is it a stand alone recorder, or a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)? Are you buying a software recording suite for your Mac?

A good mixing console would be a Neve. But that is beyond your comprehension at this point. Have you done any research at all on these questions?

There are many, many topics covered in thousands of threads on this board. It would be to your benefit to use the search function and enter some key words about what you are interested in learning.

The questions that you have asked cover so wide a spectrum that you could have hundreds of answers.
 
Well signal processing looks interesting. I will research that, as I have seen some inexpensive ones. I do not know if the Fostex MR8 8-Track Digital Recorder with Built In FX is a stand-alone recorder or not. Any ideas on the isolation booth?? Again, any suggestions on monitors/mastering and mixing consoles that are more basic? I have tried to research, but other than this site, I haven't had much luck in finding any other sites.
 
The Studio Building and Design forum may have what you are looking for there.

Let's start with some basic questions for information that you haven't provided us.

1.) How much money you got? And depending upon what you want to do, I hope it's a sizable bankroll.

2.) What kind of sound quality are you after? Demo, release, screwin' around, mastering, garage band, etc. quality?

3.) What is your experience level? Any, some, competent, semi-pro, pro?

4.) Married, single, going to school, kids to support, morgage?
You'd be surprised how many home studios fold because of four out of five of those items after the fact.

I wouldn't worry about mastering anything beside the equipment you decide to buy in the near future. I think you are getting ahead of yourself and are in for a big letdown if you have no experience recording. It's not a simple as plugging in a mic and pressing the record button. It can be, but it's likely that it will sound like shit.

I don't mean to discourage you but I think your ambitions are are a little ahead of your talents at this point as far as recording. Start slow and work your way forward and learn as you go.

Use that search function.

I can't recommend any DAW, computer software or digital multitrackers. I've never used any of them.

Someone want to help me out here?????

Track? Q? Chess?
 
I see your point

I was just getting a little "too" excited. The Mixer I want to get, is located: http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/love.music?p=p.FOSMR8&z=1618119221689
I think I might get a condensed Mic, does anyone have any ideas? The quality I want at this point, is such to record a few local bands and making them even a CD is easy because my Mac accepts USB 2.0, so I could really just plug in this recorder into my Mac. My experience level would be: competent. I am going to attend these Music Industry Workshops (www.miworkshops.com) which should provide me with a lot of knowledge, as I just went to their Open House today, and was very impressed at the great detail they take to.

As for the items on your list, I do not have to worry about any of them. :0)

I think I will use CakeWalk for now. The question is: should I get a mixer, if so what kind? I am really hoping to create that isolation booth, so that I can start recording some local bands. Those are my two main questiosn...isolation booth, and a mixer. It might be a possibilty to get a picture and the dimensions of the space I have to do this. Will report back soon. Thanks everyone
 
Sennheiser, when I said "competent", I didn't mean you meant I had actually finished making a song, and putting it on mp3.com I ain't (correct usage as ain't is a proper contraction) confident enough to show the public what I have created yet. Anyways, does anyone know where I can find information on creating an isolation booth and what mixer I should get? Are there any articles on this site or other sites??
 
Sennheiser, when I said "competent", I didn't mean you meant I had actually finished making a song, and putting it on mp3.com I ain't (correct usage as ain't is a proper contraction) confident enough to show the public what I have created yet. Anyways, does anyone know where I can find information on creating an isolation booth and what mixer I should get? Are there any articles on this site or other sites??
Click to expand...

If you're not ready for that, then you are not ready to be recording for other musicians. You need to learn to use what ever gear you are buying first and become competent with that.

Once again, check the Studio Building and Display forum for your acoustic questions. I don't have any answers for you.

Why won't you use the SEARCH function on this site to find your answers to specific questions????

Well, here is what I will recommend to you:

TASCAM 38-8 eight track analog 1/2" machine.
TASCAM 52-NB half-track 1/4" analog mastering deck.
TASCAM XD-4D DBX Type I N/R Units.
Sennheiser MD-441 Mics. The more, the better.
Sennheiser MD-421 Mics. Same as above.
DBX Compressors
Avalon or Neve mic pre's
TASCAM 16 or 24 channel consoles. Preferably 2524, 2600, or 3700.
Lexicon outboards.
JBL Monitors, refrigerator size only.
An unlimited Gold Mastercard
Last but not least, Alsihad for when nothing else works.
 
Okay, I will use the Search Function. Just because I am a bit of a perfectionist, doesn't mean I am not ready to record for other musicians. Let's not get started on the wrong foot, though. Thank you for the recommendations, and I will take a few of them into consideration, and I think I will stick with the Fostex MR8 8-Track Digital Recorder with Built In FX. I thank you all. One more thing, if I wanted a mic for both vocal and instrumental, I would go with a condensed, but what I don't get is the whole cardiod, supercardiod, etc., etc.,. Could someone explain this to me?
 
A cardiod mic will pick up sounds from the front and some from the back.

A super cardiod mic is similar to a cardiod but the field is a bit narrower in front and will pick up less from the back.

An omni mic, will pick up sounds from all around the mic.


From the questions you've asked, I suggest you do more research on recording techniques. Get some books on recording. This will help you get a better sound at this point than a vocal booth will.
 
Actually, a super cardioid mic, while it does have a narrower pickup pattern, actually has MORE of a rear pickup node than a cardioid.

And, MM91, until you refer to a "condensed" mic as a CONDENSER mic, I'd go easy on claiming to be competent, at least in this particular field.

Also, unless you want one shot ONLY at becoming a "for hire" studio, I'd get very good at recording and mixing your OWN music or that of (free) friends, before offering to do anything for hire. Remember, all it takes is ONE person telling his friends what a bozo you are and how little you know about your own gear, to make you a leper to everyone else.

Here is a few weeks' study for you, just click on everything you don't fully understand.

http://www.studiocovers.com/articles.htm

BTW, arrogance isn't even appreciated from near-perfect hit-recording engineers/producers, it's just TOLERATED. Without those credentials, arrogance is just a pain in the ass. Not saying that I detected a full dose of same, but did get a slight sniff... Steve
 
Oh, Chris, I too was guilty of ignoring your main question - on the vocal booth, neither of the ways you mention will give you very serious isolation. In order to completely soundproof an area, you need a room with walls of extra heavy mass, that is COMPLETELY SEALED hermetically. AFTER you do that, you can break that seal with a properly baffled air handling system, and retain MOST of the sound proofing. This is quite expensive, even for a small room. Most people make compromises, either by timing your recordings/mixdowns for when other people aren't making as much noise and aren't there, or by living out in the country without neighbors/dogs disturbing the quiet.

If you have a clothes closet available, you can move just enough of the clothes aside to make room for a mic - this usually works fairly well. I've heard a couple of albums done this way, and it's hard to tell once the rest of the instruments are in the mix. It would probably not work as well for a light mix, such as vocal/guitar.

You can get some degree of isolation, and noticeable reduction in flutter echo, by making a frame from PVC pipe and draping moving blankets over it. The advantage here is portability - also, if you don't GLUE the PVC, you can take it apart and store the pieces in a much smaller area. This method will cut down on things like computer/hard drive noise, and will take some of the highs out of other sounds in the room, but will NOT completely eliminate them.

The movable office partition trick should work about the same, since the better versions of these partitions are designed to cut down on background noise. Just remember, unless a space would float indefinitely (no cracks) it's NEVER going to be sound PROOF - it can, however, sound good... Steve
 
Thanks very much, and for sensing a hint of arrogance, lol I am sorry that is not how I wanted to appear. Once again, I am competent in certain areas but entirely clueless in others. And I am planning on doing a bunch of the first local bands that I record for free, so there is no pressure and I can really just experiment, be creative, and get to know my equipment better. The reason I am having the studio foam overhang a little on the cubicle-like walls, is so that there won't be cracks where the cubicle would normally meet the wall. Should I get the Auralex foam?? Or go with something a little cheaper??
 
Everybody is new at any endeavor when they first start - the trick is to get smart enough to ask questions, without alienating the sources. That's why I brought that up as gently as possible BEFORE it became a war...

I'd save some $$$ and go to

http://www.markertek.com

for foam. And yes, overlapping the foam may help a little, but remember - if it won't float, it won't stop sound. Foam only slows things down a bit, and only at mid/high frequencies.

I'd forget the carpet if you haven't already done it - it will only muffle highs in the space, causing you to make too many EQ adjustments to compensate.

Two books I can recommend that will be invaluable to you if you continue on this path: Master Handbook of Acoustics, by F. Alton Everest, about $25 on Amazon.com, and The Mixing Engineer's Handbook, by Bobby Owsinski, forget the price but also available at amazon. If you can only afford one, get the Bobby Owsinski book. I say that only because in your situation you won't be able to do many of the things mentioned in the Acoustics book.

The earlier comment on the Fostex digital recorder doesn't make sense to me - if you are planning on running Cakewalk, why not go with Sonar 2.3XL, add a second 7200 RPM hard drive to your computer, and do everything in the computer? The money you save on the hard disk recorder will buy other, more necessary gear such as 2 or 3 good mics, a multi-input sound card, maybe a small Mackie mixer, etc.

Keep studying til you figure out how things go together and what's necessary vs. what's just "chrome plating" - the money you save will be your own. You'll find that if you ask people's opinions on specific gear, you'll usually get it from people who've actually USED the stuff. This is much more useful for buying decisions than magazine reviews (not necessarily un-biased due to advertising revenue)

Also, when you say, "I'm gonna buy an Ersatz model 29", instead of "What do you think about the Ersatz model 29, you'll only get replies from the more strong-willed among us, whether pro or con. Or, you'll get smart-ass comments, such as "good for you. So what?" See what I mean?

Anyway, think about the Sonar thing - It could give you more for less, even though it will be a steeper learning curve than just the Fostex. (Hey, if you're looking at Cakewalk you're already talking computer, so why not take advantage?)

Keep at it... Steve
 
Based on doing the reading I have done, and the review from a friend of mine who has the Fostex, I think I won't do much computer-wise, and stick to hardware. Thanks for the markerek site, and now I am thinking of a Soundcraft.
 
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