Progressive Metal recording project about to start, what do I need?

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constantthought

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Hi, I'm just about to start my progressive metal project which has been in the creation stages for the past 6-7 months and I am now ready to start recording it. I need to know quite a few things actually as I don't really have a clue about what I'll need.

Price of software and hardware is not a concern btw soooo

What will be the best quality and ease to use software for recording? Also be good if I could import midi and spice it up a bit (keyboard track is already written)

What will be the most convincing sounding drums (I do not know any drummers of a high enough calibre to play what I have wrote :P)
Preferably something which I will be able to copy the midi into as I have already wrote all of the tracks in guitar pro as midi.
I have heard of Toontrack Superior Drummer 2.0 - will this make convincing metal drums?

I am buying a pod 2.0 and a Audio Technica AT2020 condenser microphone very soon and this will be my main platform for guitars, bass and vocals, will this hack the pace? and is there anything else I will need?

Mastering software maybe? O_o

my computer specs are Windows 7 ultimate
inbuilt realtek sound card :S
4gigs of ram
AMD dual core 2.49Ghz
Will these be good to go? If not what would be recommended.

Prob missed out loads of questions but I'll ask more if I come across them!
Help would be much appreciated! :)
Josh
 
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Need to know what software to order, please can someone offer some help? It has to be windows and I am stumped on what to get and what is best for what I need. I am ordering my mic and pod tomorrow and I would like to order my software at the same time if I can have some advice :S
Thanks
Josh
 
What you need to do to start off is to read some of the articles that are permanently posted at this site, which will answer many of the general questions you have. Then come back here with more specific questions.
 
Hey dude, prog metal head recording here too!!

I'm just on the middle of my recording, and even though i hired musicians, maybe i can give you some tips.

When it comes to guitars, i'd suggest to use a Shure Sm 57 mic, i'll record in a few weeks.

I already recorded vocals, using a MXL 67 mic that i bought just for this recording, and it sounded excellent!!

I have my interface, a fast track, a very simple 1 line interface that helped because i didn't recorded drums!

About the midi drums, i'm a soloist and i considered it for a long time, best bet is to hire or get real musicians unless it's a demo, i'm trying to make it indie for the moment so i'm trying to make a super production though.

I red again your post, YOU NEED AN INTERFACE, because the latency issues.

I'd like to hear what you've done so far on this recording if it's possible, send me a PM, prog metal is good!!
 
Hey man, I can give you the most help for I am doing almost the same thing. I want to start off with midi drums. Superior drummer?? YES YES YES!! Get ready to spend many fun hours with it. I do however suggest buying a instructional video cuz there is a LOT to know to get to advanced user but it's never frustrating hard at all. I also have windows 7 ultimate so hit me up with any questions or issues
 
Since you are starting out, I would suggest just doing 1 song, from start to finish. Then take what you learn on that song and do a 2nd song. You are going to learn from your mistakes on each song, so the quality of each recording with get better and better as you go.

The you'll probably want to go back and re-do those first few songs :)
 
I would avoid any of these blanket statements. Statements like "the best mic for guitars is an sm57" or "the best drum plugin for metal is superior"
If you are serious about learning and doing the best you can then don't be lazy on the research. read up on equipment review sites and learn to tell the difference between good reviews and hype. Try to get your hands on as much gear as you can test in stores.
This is especially true of vocal mics. What works for my voice might not work for yours. And I especially agree with geekd. You may want to record some less serious stuff first to get your feet wet.
 
hey mate
id recommend a decent audio interface over an internal sound card just for afford ability and diversity (just my personal opinion) as for drums i use superior or most of toontrack stuff its a great plug in to get your feet wet however when comes to the actual mixing stages ill often get drumagog out and try out other samples i have from my library. as for the pod 2.0 i'd recommend the rackmounted pod or peavey revalver it all depends on what tones you want tbh because both are definatly better then each other at certain styles however dont go near guitar rig for anything metal IMO. or go for micing up with a 57 its a cheap way to do it and you can get good tones it will just take longer.

as for someone that posted further up work with your first track all the way through and spend as much time as you can tweaking and working with it and then move on. only move on when your completely happy with it , even with that in mind you will probably return to it.
 
Also id probably recommend either reaper (because its free) or cubase 5/6 as those are my favourite choices and are easy to learn however if your on mac go with logic for mixing ive found it the best IMO
 
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