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southstreetsong

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Hey All, My name is Vinny. I'm a singer/songwriter thinking of finally biting the bullet and setting up a home recording studio. I have recorded 3 cds at a studio but think I can get good results on my own- granted I know what I am getting myself into, and what I am doing. So........my question is: what do I need and how much will it cost me? I play/sing/record acoustic based alternative folk. I have an old(er) Compaq PC with an AMD Sempron, 160gb hard drive, 2 gig of memory, and 3 USB ports. The front 2 say USB 2.0. The processor says 3100+AMD Sempron Processor (whatever that means). I have an acoustic, mics, cables, percussion stuff, shakers, etc.... Any help is greatly appreciated. I have been reading up on posts and there is a TON of information here. A little overwhelming but the bottom like to me is $$$ and quality. If I can achieve comparable song quality to a real studio and can save myself $$ in the long run, I am interested. Thanks a lot.
 
Software and a USB audio interface are the first things on your shopping list...

Keep your expectations real. Recording equivalent quality to a "real" studio is usually many steps along the newbie path...

Get your system up and running, record stuff, listen, ask questions and improve.

Good luck..
 
Thanks for the input - no pun intended. I don't have really high expectations right away but I have participated in much of the recording/mastering processes on my prior recordings. I just want a feel for what equipment is good and suitable for my needs as a solo guy. I also wanted an idea of $$$ savings if I go this route. Thanks again.

Addendum- I am thinking pairing up the Focusrite Sapphire 6 with the newest Reaper software. It seems like more than I will really understand and use fully, but a lot of bang for the buck. In reading up on this it seems that mic pre-amps are pretty important. I looked at a Behringer AI at a much lower price than the Focusrite, but it didn't seem to have as many features - features I would use and that would make better recordings. Does it matter so much about the AI quality compared to software? I mean, if I get a cheap but well-rated AI and awesome software, can I spare getting a higher-end AI? Basically, I am looking for as much as I can get for under $200 or so. As I have been looking, it seems like it is actually possible. Again - I am doing acoustic based stuff, faiirly simple and straightforward. I wont be doing more than one track at a time. Mainly guitar, bass, keys, vocals, hand percussion, drum machines.
 
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When it comes to your audio interface, money does make a difference - if you have crappy A to D converters, no amount of software is going to fix the bad sound.
Biggest decision maker is how many tracks you want to be able to record separately at once - you say one track at a time, but you reference keys and drum machines, both of which could have stereo outputs. There are many choices for 2-track interfaces, read all the reviews and search for comments on particular models here.
Note that your computer is probably on the low side of performance, but will do for starting out. A 160G hard drive is not all that large (I have 2/3 of my 500G drive full after a couple of years), and 2G RAM is just adequate for recording.
Reaper may seem like it has 'too much' for you, but you will find, over time, that you want more and more of the features it offers!
 
Right So far I can see

Instruments - Check
Mics - Check
Preamps - Probably will be built into your AI
AI - I use the M-Audio Firewire Solo, works well for me. (Bare in mind that you won't be able to dual mic the acoustic)
PC - Check
DAW - Reaper seems a good choice. I use Mixcraft but Reaper has a massive following.
Monitors - This was the biggest thing for me. I found that the better I can hear the better I can mix.

Buying secondhand will probably get everything on the list that you need within your budget, all except the monitors....don't ever scrimp and save on your ears. Its like trying to paint with the lights off.
 
Wow. A lot of great feedback. I am looking seriously at the Focusrite Sapphire 6 and Reaper combo. The Focusrite gets lots of good reviews on other sites (sorry, I haven't gotten to that portion of this site yet). It has a lot of features including good mic pre-amps. I can also get it for $159. After that the lowest I see it for is $ 189 and up. It has 2 inputs but thats all I need. When I say 'one track at a time' I mean one instrument at a time. Usually, I will do the guitar to a click track and build around that. I didn't know that keys would require (2) tracks at once- being stereo. Yes...I do have a lot to learn. But, I ma getting a lot of help here and this is really encouraging. I have Klipsch speakers that are really good. Hopefully, they will work.

3 things that come to mind so far are drum machines/loops, mastering, and file sharing. For instance, my friend with his 'real' studio uses Adobe Audition. If I do my stuff with Reaper, can I bring what I have to him if I want to say, do my vocals at his place? Or, master my stuff at his studio? Does Reaper have drum beats and the ability to add extra drums/cymbals in places? Does it have mastering capabilities with diferent compression settings? Can you use compression with individual tracks as well as the whole song? Can you use multiple tracks for one instrument to broaden the sound?
 
I use solely midi for the keys, so I don't require inputs for that.
 
See I know nothing about MIDI. As I am getting more info on this it seems like this is going to cost more and be harder than I am thinking. Hard to say just yet.
 
southstreetsong said:
See I know nothing about MIDI. As I am getting more info on this it seems like this is going to cost more and be harder than I am thinking. Hard to say just yet.
Click to expand...

Neither do I. Been avoiding it for years.

For drumming, it's very easy and you don't need to know jack about MIDI itself really - when I say "easy" I mean in terms of using Reaper to make drum tracks. Programming drums that sound decent and real is another matter entirely.
 
Ive used a srum machine at my friends studio, with a pad and such for fills. It sounded pretty good I think. But, if its possible, maybe I can do other stuff and transfer files to my friends to have drums put down.
 
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