Newbie studio set up help?

[jazzzione]

I will use mainly percussion instruments (conga, bongo, and timbale) to record via mic. I will do all the playing --so one track at a time. I will purchase a drum machine down the line. Now I think I can record at least 8 tracks on this setup.

I have ordered Cakewalk Home Studio 2004. I will also order M-Audio 2496 Audiophile sound card, and Behringer UB1204FX Pro Eurorack. I will use SM 57 mics. Now is this all that I will need? Thanks

 

[guttadaj]

Ha!! There's always something else you'll "need".
But that should be a good start for ya. With HomeStudio, you'll be able to record as many tracks as you like separately. Keep in mind though, that with that software and with the Audiophile soundcard too, you'll only be able to record up to 2 mono tracks (using L/R channels for separate tracks) or 1 stereo track at the same time. With the percussion you say you'll be recording, it probably won't be an issue, since it's not a full kit where you might want different drums to be on their own track. So, if you wanted to mic a conga with one mic near the skin and another down near the bottom or something like that, you would still be able to put each of those signals on a separate track so you can always tweak the blend later on in the mixing process. I don't know the best way to mic this kind of percussion, but I'm sure you'll have fun playing around with that.

 

[jazzzione]

Would this system support a four mic set-up?

 

[mshilarious]

Would this system support a four mic set-up?

Yes, but since you can only record two tracks at a time, you'll have to mix the four mics down to two channels on your mixer during recording. This gives you fewer options during mixdown.

I think that is only a slight disadvantage though. It does force you to really listen and learn to your mic placement & mix during recording, which is a little tricky since you are also performing. However, once you learn how to get the sound, you'll be fine.

If you are going to be recording a full drum kit, I'd recommend looking at getting a setup that can support recording 4 simultaneous tracks.

 

[guttadaj]

It'll actually support as many mics as you can get plugged into your mixer, but it's not going to give you 1 HomeStudio track per mic. You're still looking at 2 mono tracks. So, doubt you'd want to do this, but, just as an example, if you wanted to put a few mics up at the skin and blend them all on your mixer's left channel and put a few mics down near the bottom and blend them all on your mixer's right channel, you could record 1 track for "skin mics blend" and 1 track for "bottom mics blend" in HomeStudio at the same time. Or if you have a bunch of mics set up across a bunch of congas or something like that, you could blend and pan them to your liking in the mixer and get a good sounding stereo mix, then just record 1 stereo track.

 

[jazzzione]

Okay I see. I am not looking to record anyone else but me. But I need to add as many tracks as possible to record all of my instruments. So I guess the question is will this set up allow me to do that. Record at least eight tracks?

 

[boingoman]

Yes. You can record as many individual tracks as you want with Home Studio.

 

[jazzzione]

Thanks again Boingoman. Sounds like I am headed in the right direction. Small budget, looking for great sound. Of course, the sound coming from me, is always great.

 

[jazzzione]

Well I dropped a few bucks today. I got a mackie dfx6, 2496 audiophile card, sm 57 mic, some cables,-- now just waiting for my cakewalk software to arrive. Thanks to all for the help.