Please, for the love of God, for the love of sanity, help me....

[toobroke]

I haven't got a friggin clue about recording. I have almost no extra money to spend on equipment.

Yet I am just trying to record my own acoustic and electric guitar and bass.

I have a sixty dollar cardiod microphone, but I don't know what else to get to 'boost (?)' it. Phantom power? Pre amp? Mixer? which of these do I need to get, so that I can hear my guitar on the computer (which I am recording into)?

Please, if you don't want to see me on the six o'clock news shooting people from the roof of a McDonalds with a high powered rifle; help me! I can't find the answers anywhere- and I'm on the brink! I'm gonna do it! I swear to my God!

Is that too much for one man to ask? Please, god, don't make me go insane over this.

Help me, and you are probably saving lives... you know, down the road or something.

thanks,
cole

 

[christiaan]

Start here:
www.homerecording.com

 

[maskedman72]

forget about shooting people, its not worth it.....well if your gonna do it , do it from taco bells roof.

i dont know shit about computer recording but i do know that if your mic is a dynamic you dont need phantom power. you only need phantom power if the mic is a condenser. now the second thing is you will need something to boost the signal of the mic going into the pc. a mic pre will do that.but i think you can get a sound card that will do the same thing. mabyee there is a sound card that will do that i dont know,but it seems that they make em. mabyee someone else will tell you about that. but i would say a mic pre than into the pc wiould do it.
hope that helps.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Please, if you don't want to see me on the six o'clock news shooting people from the roof of a McDonalds with a high powered rifle; help me! I can't find the answers anywhere- and I'm on the brink! I'm gonna do it! I swear to my God!

If trying to record is all it takes to make you go off the deep end, you better stay the fuck away from a recording console..........!

 

[Doug Quance]

Re: Re: Please, for the love of God, for the love of sanity, help me....

If trying to record is all it takes to make you go off the deep end, you better stay the fuck away from a recording console..........!

AMEN

 

[Beezoboy]

Also never buy a Mac then. That will be instant shooting spree right out of the box!!!

Beez

 

[Doug Quance]

Also never buy a Mac then. That will be instant shooting spree right out of the box!!!

Beez

Can I get a "Hallelujah"

 

[H2oskiphil]

If only to save lives, here's a quickie setup...

You're going to need to buy a couple of things.

1) Some sort of input/output device to get the sounds into your computer. Lots of different options-check out Musician's Friend website for ideas and prices. Absolute minimum-$50.

2) A preamp for the mic. Most have direct inputs for instruments, as well. The preamp will plug in to the I/O device, which will plug into the computer.

3) Some sort of recording/editing software for the computer. A lot of the I/O devices come bundled with software, or you can download demo versions of many different kinds of software from the manufacturer's web site. Popular manufacturers (and their software titles) are Steinberg (Cubase), Sonic Foundry (Vegas Video (don't let the name fool you-it's got a hellacious audio mixing component) and Sound Forge), Cakewalk (Sonar), Digidesign (Pro Tools), and many others.

Many I/O devices willl have preamps built into them. I use a box called the Seasound Solo EX-it has 2 mic preamps w/phantom power (to provide power to condenser mics-not really necessary for you at this point, but a nice feature to have for the future), 2 channels of line input (I can plug guitars, keyboards, electronic drums, etc. directly into the box, if I want), a whole slew of inputs and outputs for use with outboard effects and mixing consoles, and a pair of headphone outs. The Solo also comes with a PCI card that plugs into an open slot in your computer, and attaches to the I/O box via a ribbon cable.

The Solo design is a couple of years old, but works well. It would fill the need for items 1&2 listed above. Seasound is out of business, but there is an active user's group that can provide tech support-in fact, there are ex-Seasound employees still writing drivers for the units to make them compatible with new OS like Win XP. New units are still available in limited quantities for less than $200/ea from retailers that used to carry the product.

As far as software goes, I've used the Cakewalk and Sonic Foundry softtware extensively, and am a real proponent of Vegas Video. It's great mixing software, and is very easy to use, right out of the box.

Good luck getting started...most of us have been where you're at now, and this forum is a great place to pick up hints about equipment, techniques, and troubleshooting. There are a lot of knowledgable people hanging around, and they're very good about shaing what they know.

 

[philboyd studge]

Sell the high powered rifle and ammo and get yourself some gear, it'll be a better world.

 

[toobroke]

thanks

thanks alot guys, after reading your advice I was able to calm down just enough to stop shooting. You saved lives today. It's just too bad I read this after I already started my rampage. Just a bit sooner and you would've saved that one poor bastard... oh, well. Too bad for him I suppose, eh? Ha! I am sure that if he knew why, though, he would've understood.

thanks
cole

 

[littledog]

Also never buy a Mac then. That will be instant shooting spree right out of the box!!!

Beez

Yeah, much better for your sanity to get a "plug-in and won't play" PC.

 

[Richard Monroe]

Sorry, you might as well start blasting, because I'm going to tell you the truth here. Recording isn't free. It isn't even cheap. You *can't* do it without money!!! It's nothing personal, I've just read one too many posts from people who *just* want to make high quality recordings but have no money. Basic recording setups for what you want to do start with a Shure SM57 and a digital 4-track recorder or computer/soundcard/preamp combo. It's basically $1000 entry level. Decent project studios run $7,000-$25,000. Commercial studios run $50,000 to $250,000 or more. Deal with it. Be advised that the quest for better gear/sound is addictive, and every piece of gear you buy will show up the inadequacies of some other piece of gear. And just when you think you've got the perfect gear, you'll discover that your room sucks, and you need a building with dedicated HVAC systems and more. Reality check- Home recording is not free, it's not even cheap. Get over it.-Richie

 

[Sennheiser]

If trying to record is all it takes to make you go off the deep end, you better stay the fuck away from a recording console..........!

No shit! Time to get the level III body armor out. If you think not having any money for gear is bad , wait 'till you do have some and start buying equipment.

It only gets worse.

 

[juststartingout]

Decent project studios run $7,000-$25,000.

If you want a real inexpensive solution, just get a 4 track cassette recorder like a Fostex. It certainly isn't CD quality, but you can have some fun with it. It would allow you to play acoustic, lay down the bass and the play some lead with it. It is easy to use and doesn't involve a lot of money.

Richie is 100% correct, maybe even a little low. It all depends what you are after in the end. If you just want something to have some fun, explore some ideas and do a little writing, get a cassette. If you want to get a gazillion dollar contract from EMI, then get the gun and end it now.

 

[Randy Yell]

I would guess that you already have a computer,if it already has a cheap soundcard then you can start with that.If not and you are pretty broke you could pick up a cheap soundcard like a Soundblaster or something.Soundblasters and the like are not really that good for recording but it will work to get you started.The next thing that you need is a mic preamp to get your sound into the card.I recomend the M-Audio Audio Buddy,it's a two channel mic preamp/direct box that does a very good job for the money it cost (about $80).The next thing that you need is a recording program.Cakewalk has a variety of inexpensive programs that will do the job for you,matter of fact there might be a cheap version included with the Soundblaster card,I don't remember for sure.Everyone is right that recording is not a cheap hobby but you can get the bare bones to get started cheaply enough.actually,I'm not sure where you are located but I have a Soundblaster sitting in a closet that I'm not not doing a thing with.If you'd like send me an e-mail and maybe I can hook you up.You'd have to pay for shipping but I might hook you up either for nada or a very minimal amount.I'm sure that I have one of the basic Cakewalk programs I could send you too.That would take care of you except for a mic preamp.I'd really rather see someone using that soundcard than have it sitting in the fucking closet like it has been for the last year.Only thing don't blame me if it starts you on the road to gear lust,as people have said,recording can get very expensive.Merry Christmas!!!!

 

[DKMurphPr]

First things first.

Please update your profile to show your location so we can all stay the FUCK away from where you live.

Next, for a mic preamp get something like an Audio Buddy ($80) and for recording software get n-track (free download, $45 to register).

Or get something like a Zoom MRS-4 ($200-250).

That'll get you started. GAS attacks will cause you to spend more money on better gear as time goes by.