real newbie here who can help

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sweeney_jimbob

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right so.... im in a band and we wanna sort a small home studio to record our own tracks as it costs a bomb. we know how to record and how to use different softwares and what not but heres the dumbass question...

what basic equipment do we to get set up? like pre amps mixers and what not and what sort of thing should we go for?

and also would a mac book be ok to use or would it be recomended to get something like the mac pro?

cheers guys
 
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sweeney_jimbob said:
right so.... im in a band and we wanna sort a small home studio to record our own tracks as it costs a bomb. we know how to record and how to use different softwares and what not but heres the dumbass question...

what basic equipment do we to get set up? like pre amps mixers and what not and what sort of thing should we go for?

and also would a mac book be ok to use or would it be recomended to get something like the mac pro?

cheers guys
Click to expand...

The Boss BR recorders are decent stand alone units with some nice features. For home recording I use a BR-900CD, Digidesign M Box Mini 2 w/ProTools. I've heard some very good recordings done on a Macbook. ;)
 
My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad:

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info:
http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books:
http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) not quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and suggestions:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
thanks for the help i may struggle to get hold of a few of them books as im in the uk. but i will be completely honest i didnt think of tryin books.

will in need a pre amp mixing desk and what not or are they not essentials?

god you can tell im a real newbee but you dont learn unless u ask.
ive seen alot of usb mics knockin round would they be anygood for just practicin with garage band or would the quality be naff
 
I think USB mics are better suited for podcasting or other simple voice recordings. You will want to get some sort of interface so there is no real reason to get a usb mic. Get an interface and a "real" mic.
 
If you take a bit of time to read through the links in Tim's post you'll get a better idea of what you need.

If you want to use a computer to record you'll most likely be looking at some sort of interface which will often have mic pres built in. They come with a wide range of features, inputs, outputs, mic pres, control surfaces etc. You'll hear about soundcards and these tend to simply provide inputs which take an analogue signal and turn it into digital going into the comp (and doing the reverse coming back out). Interfaces tend to be soundcards with bells and whistles like mic preamps, DI inputs, headphone outs and often a nice neat box to manaage all of the ins/outs.

You'll need to figure out the maximum number of tracks you'd want to record simultaneously (this will dicatate the type of interface you'll need, no. of ins/outs, mic pres etc. and what mics you'll need) and your budget.

It's difficult when you don't have the gear in front of you but I would try and spend a bit of time reading and getting your head around the recording process. You should make better decisisons when it comes to buying gear if you do that.

Nothing worse than spending £100s and realising 6 months down the line that you bought a load of crap (like USB mics :D ).
 
MiamiMike said:
The Boss BR recorders are decent stand alone units with some nice features. For home recording I use a BR-900CD, Digidesign M Box Mini 2 w/ProTools. I've heard some very good recordings done on a Macbook. ;)
Click to expand...

I went from a yamaha aw16g or something like that to a BR1600 and I loooooved the BR series. It was very userfriendly and very manipulatable.
 
If you want my opinion, you are better off keeping your money, practicing your songs with your band until you can all do your parts cold, booking a studio and let them do it.

The time it will take for you guys and the money you will end up spending will be much more than just booking a studio. You can just go there and get the tracking done if you want to. The added benefit will be that you get good sounding tracks done in a properly treated room by someone who knows what he/she is doing versus trying to record yourselves in a basement/bedroom/living room and wondering why you sound like shite.

Do yourselves the favor: book the studio.

It will take time to learn how to track and mix properly. The room has to be acoustically treated. The studio will already have this. And probably a whole slew of mics you guys can't afford right now. Plus they will have good pre amps, good compressors and other effects, and the know-how to put it all together.

If you want to get into recording as a hobby, read Tim's post and study what is on those links. If you are looking for a cheap way to get your demo out, the studio is the way to go. Spending the money to at least let them track you (you can mix it yourself if you want, I wouldn't), and you will be further along in a shorter amount of time.

I'm just saying...
 
where not aiming for a demo.
we want to expand our musical knowledge we have all been gigging and recording with bands for years its all well and good beining able to play the music, and play it well but knowing the ins and outs is another thing the idea is that it will start as a hobbie and progress from there one of the lads is going to be doing an sound engineering course in a proper studio so that where not jumping in the deep end knowing absalute nothing and wasting all the money.

the ultimate aim is to eventually work with our local young people organisations such as schools youth clubs and what not to offer them a low cost recording to help them on there way with gigs and stuff. but thats going to be in the future when we can prodce something worth having

i thank you for your advice it is apppreciated and understood but we have thought about it for a while so its not a spur of the moment thing.
moneys not to much of an issue as we all work full time in very good paying jobs but to start we dont wanna blow loads of money just in case something happens.

thank you very much to everyone else whos commented youve all been super helpfull.

so far weve got a small mixer and few condensers and a drum mic kit that ive managed to get off an old friend who owns a studio and is closing down and we decided to get a new mac and weve got a mac pro G5 thats with a mate that works for a local college as a technician in the media department, re doing it all so it got max memeory and everything got it for 200 quid :)

jimbob
 
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