Newbie Recording

[ILiekChocolate]

Hey. I was just waiting for sth to come up on auction on the web, when I had already lost it within 2 minutes. I play the guitar and sing, but I desperately need a way to record my tunes. I come up with something every day and I've always missed the additional options a studio could give me. It'd also be a lot easier to write music for the rest of my band, but the main reason I'm here is still vocals and acoustic guitar.

I don't know if this is to much of a bother to answer, but I don't know anything about home recording and I'd really appreciate it, if someone could tell me in a nutshell, what equipment I need to record acoustic guitar and vocals. I'm not after really high quality and high price range stuff, I think I'll get there someday by myself, but really, just to start out. Figuratively speaking - just to record some beautiful songs/demos to impress the ladies. Anyone?

 

[quickmill]

This question is more difficult to answer than you might think. Recording is about preferences and workflow and no one knows about that better than you. That being said, a person would need at least a 2 channel interface w/preamps and at least 2 microphones. If you intend to record voice and guitar simultaniously then you need to know this before choosing mics. Also some people like recording guitar in stereo w/2 mics in a stereo array while others like mono guitar while still others like recording 2 takes of the same performance. It would help to know your how you plan to do this before recommending specific equipment.

I also realize some people don't know how they want to do it until they get some equipment to play with. Therefore, 2 Cad M179's might not be a bad starting point for mics as you would always have a use for them in the future. Also a person could do worse than to have a Presonus Firestudio Mobile as a first interface. It has enough preamp gain to drive dynamics and ribbons ( a lot of interfaces do not). However there are lots of opinions that are as valid as these. You need to read as much as possible and decide what seems best to you. Don't agonize too long though, the important thing is to get something and start making music. If your music is good then practically any equipment will suffice.

Read Whitestrats' sticky on recording acoustic guitar. It's pretty informative.

Good luck, and don't sweat it too much.

 

[Washburn100]

With due respect, your question is way to vague. It's like asking can you put a high school education in a nutshell and write it down in a paragraph.

If you are interested, start doing some research and you will find all kinds of answers. Here is a great place to start:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

Good luck!

 

[miroslav]

If you just want an easy way to capture song ideas and a basic voice/acoustic guitar sing-along...I would keep it real simple and get one of them small portable recorders...something like this one:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H4N/

After that...it gets more involved and more expensive.