No low budget forum

[punkin]

Chessrock had a good trick for getting reverb out of a room that doesn't have much...hope you don't mind Chess?


https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=171113

 

[ermghoti]

Elaborate, Tool-Time-esque drum tunnel instructions

So I guess I am the only one to turn a short mic stand so the boom is horizontal, and drape a blanket over it?

 

[guitar junkie]

take a really nice resonant guitar aim your amp at it and mic the guitar up as well as the amp. you might even tune the guitar in an open tuning to ring in the key you are playing in. i use a thirty year old classical guitar for this work and sometimes i get some really woody tones out of it and it fattens up my guitar singnal alot you can hard pan the acoustic to left or right and what ever else you might like to do.

 

[guitar junkie]

dollar store headphones can make a great sounding lofi sound if you plug them in and use them as a mic i use my amp to disort the signal even more and the run a line of the amp into the board. it can be used in a lot of teh same places where you might want a "creapy" backup vocal track in rock music

 

[punkin]

So I guess I am the only one to turn a short mic stand so the boom is horizontal, and drape a blanket over it?

You're not the only one...xcept I just do it to make a fort. Get my flashlight out, favorite comic book and pretend like the wife can't find me

 

[ermghoti]

I use ALL my mic stands for that. In fact, my fort has a tower! My fort> your fort [/strongbad]

 

[Pinachi]

When setting up your mic- crank the headphones and move the mic around until its quiet

Untill someone rings the doorbell.lol,lol he he he he





Sorry couldnt help my self

 

[ahuimanu]

Thanks for the replys, so far they have made lots of sense. I started this thread with the idea of helping some novice people out, like the high school kid who dosen't have much to invest or the musician who just wants to put his (her) ideas down on recordings or music students or whatever. The ideas like ways to eliminate noise and bouncing from one machine to another are the sorts of things I am hoping for. Ways to get the most out of whatever gear we have on hand can boost a newbie's confidence and encourage those of us who have been dabbeling with this for a while. Keep the ideas comming, even the guy with just a PC and a cheapo mic wants to make the best recording possible.

Right ON!!!

 

[SonicAlbert]

i'm tired of blue bear trying to give me advice that is absolutely meaningless to me, due to the fact that i don't have the expierence and collection of gear that he does, and it's qute agrivating when he gives me negative rep all the fucking time for asking for some useable advice.

The trick is to apply the advice he's giving you to the tools that you have at your disposal. You don't need his gear list to make use of his advice. Applying the *principles* of those with more experience and gear is how we all learn.

I've learned an incredible amount from an engineer that I've never met. I've only read interviews he's given and articles he has written, but he's had a huge influence on how I mix now and how I've set up my studio.

That engineer is Michael Brauer. I read an interview with him in TapeOp a couple years ago and literally tore up my studio and rebuilt it along the principles he spoke of. Of course, I don't have his gear list, not even close. But I could still set up my own lesser gear in a sort of mini-me version of his studio.

So again, you don't really need the exact same gear as someone else, or as much of it, in order to take advantage of their advice.

 

[boomtap]

check out some tunes I recorded on my tascam 244 and some very crappy mics. these tunes are the first from a lot of 244 sessions I did with some friends (i did not play on the tracks). We eventually made an entire album, wich sounds a lot better than the tracks on this site. All done on my tascam, cheap mics and a little bit of mastering.

www.woodyandpaul.com

that's as low-budget as it gets I guess

I really like those recordings, I used to use a tape 4 track, but I could never get it that clean! That is definitly proof that a quality recording can be made for cheap. I really admire the skill of keeping things simple. It reminds me of the good old days when music was made and played not built.

 

[grn]

blue bear has great recordings, but something irks me about those electric guitar sounds... I want a great distorted guitar sound and I'm on a quest to find it. something like weezer's blue album.

 

[Dani Pace]

The best way to get those killer sounds and tones is to find the combination of guitar and amp that produces them to start with. There is only so much that can be "fixed in the mix" without getting an overprocessed sound. The clocer the original track is to sounding the way you want it, the clocer it will be in the final mix.

 

[grn]

yes, I know... but it is difficult to find in the first place.

 

[punkin]

I was hoping it wouldn't die so easily...

Any one with some ideas for recording vocals on an extreme budget?

Lets assume...no studio...appartment bedroom setting...the neighbors are away and you un-plugged the fridge. Things are reasonably quiet and you've got a cheapie mic and a portable recorder (Fostex MR-8 or similar).

What the best a low budget guy can do with it?...pile pillows up in the corner...put the mic in the corner and sing into it?...hang blankets up behind?

Common...what's the best experience you've had and how did you do it...we're talking budget here.

Ok...call it a bump.

 

[guitar junkie]

really its all a matter of what you want it to sound like i guess you could record in the Bathroom (like i do) kitchens work well also and i have been known to use a feather bed as a bass trap before! also you can play around with the mic untill you find the best spot to face it at before recording so that you get the best detail while still get less or more room sound as its only a matter of how you like it to be.

 

[dmc777]

I don't think you're going to be able to achieve the vocals you like with the mr8 alone. I don't know about the new mr8 but the pres in the older ones are too weak. You need a preamp or mixer.

 

[glimmer_doll]

I don't think you're going to be able to achieve the vocals you like with the mr8 alone. I don't know about the new mr8 but the pres in the older ones are too weak. You need a preamp or mixer.

I don't think that's the point of this thread....

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

blue bear has great recordings, but something irks me about those electric guitar sounds... I want a great distorted guitar sound and I'm on a quest to find it. something like weezer's blue album.

Think LOUD.

Then turn it up a little louder.

Then put your mic in the right place. If it isn't right, move it until it is.

Most home recording digs don't allow and amp to be turned up as loud as it needs to be so... well, sound like a loud amp on the recording.

Unfortunately, great electric guitar sound isn't something that easy to achieve on ANY budget. And there's not help for it but tweak away with the instrument, amp placement, mic placement, and the controls on the amp. In general, though, get it sounding like you want it at the amp, then do everything you can to get it to sound like that on tape.

Chris

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

What the best a low budget guy can do with it?...pile pillows up in the corner...put the mic in the corner and sing into it?...hang blankets up behind?

Nah- go easy on yourself. Open up the door to your clothes closet, stick the mic right in front of your clothes and sing into it from the doorway.

-Chris

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

And what's up with bashing Blue Bear?

Recording covers quite a range of needs, skills, and budgets. Bruce speaks from his experience because he has experience to speak from. Most budget minded folks simply don't feel like they have that much experience to speak from- even if they do. I'm not the only one who knows the closet trick.

That doesn't make Blue Bear wrong or insensitive for having a freakin gorgeous studio and a lot of experience making records with some cool toys.

And a closing tip:

Avoid corners. Any corner- even the corner where your wall meets the floor. Get your mic as close to the center of the room as possible even if it means putting the guitar amp on top of a box. This reduces the apparent volume of the room leaking into the mic.

Or put the amp on a box and point it into your closet... that'll take care of the room sound. You didn't think the closet was just for vocals, did you? Better yet- stuff it INTO the closet and close the door. That way you can turn it UP a little more before the neighbors call the cops.

Chris