Simple Home Recording

[Narelle]

I'm new to this home recording, but all I want to do is to record relaxing children's bedtime stories onto cd with gentle music behind the voice (flute, organ, harp etc perhaps even animal sounds/bells or whatever is appropriate to the story). Animal sounds etc. not essential, but soft relaxing music is.

I want to use my own voice which already sounds appropriate for the project, but also do this as professionally-sounding as I can from using my laptop because I want to sell them later.

So what software should I buy or download for this for straight voice recording and soft music? I'm not looking for rock-band or electrical sounds, nothing like that. Just simple soft sounds and quality voice recording. What microphone should I buy? Any other tips? Sorry for being so basic but I just want to keep it simple since I'm far from being an expert at this.
THANKS FOR YOUR VALUED HELP!

 

[gecko zzed]

I note that you want to be able to sell these later, so that adds a level of complexity and expense that you may not have anticipated. To get very good quality in the short term, you are better off going to a studio and forking out money to them. There is every chance that doing this will work out to be cheaper than setting up something yourself and trying to get the same level of quality.

However, if you are keen, and are prepared to make a simple start, there are some basics that you need.
1 A reasonable microphone. A good standby is a Shure SM58, which you can get in Australia from between $150 to $300, depending on how sharp your shopping skills are (all these prices are in $AUS, because that's where I am). A better standby is an AKG 707, which is (in my view) a better, more rounded, sounding mike, and is around about the same price.
If you are seeking first class quality, then you pay first class prices accordingly accordingly.

2 An interface to connect the mike with the computer. Reasonable and cheap ones are readily available. Some possibilities include:
Lexicon Alpha $199
M Audio fast track pro $329
Edirol UA4FX $313
Tascam US122L $323
Edirol UA25 $408
Presonus Inspire $408
Tascam US144 $299
E-MU-0202USB $199
(I'm not sure how current those prices are, but they givfe you an idea of the price ranges).

3 An audio application to record into, and to mix your recorded narration with the background music and sounds. Many of the interfces shown above come bundled with an audio program (e.g. Cubase or similar), and they are sufficient to do what you want. If they don't, there are free downloadable programs around.

I'm not sure where you are going to source your background music and sounds. If you want to create this yourself, that opens up another level of complexity, because you will then need the means to do it. If you intend to use pre-exisitg music, then you will have to deal with copyright issues.

I expect others will chip in with their suggestions and recommendations.

 

[blake6976]

As simple as it gets

For what you are planning to do you can go to google and look for Audacity. It is a 100% free recording software that gives you multiple tracks. there isn't much of a help guide included but it is fairly simple to use and you can find forums online. As far as the mic goes, you can find fairly good ones at guitar center for under $100. you'll want to buy a pop filter. or you can make a fairly good one using a wire coat hanger shaped into a circle with a panty hose pulled over it. you'll need a quarter inch to eighth inch jack adapter to plug the mic into the computer. As far as the voice recording goes. you'll want to record in a quiet room that does not create a lot of echo. One last tip...DO NOT use the sound processor that is on your motherboard as it will create a good amount of fuzzy static during recording. An external usb sound card is best but i have found that a normal PCI internal sound card works quite well and is generally cheaper. All you need to do is plug the mike into the line in jack on the sound card and off you go.

 

[Narelle]

Thank you

Thank you for your detailed reply, I've found it very helpful x

I note that you want to be able to sell these later, so that adds a level of complexity and expense that you may not have anticipated. To get very good quality in the short term, you are better off going to a studio and forking out money to them. There is every chance that doing this will work out to be cheaper than setting up something yourself and trying to get the same level of quality.

However, if you are keen, and are prepared to make a simple start, there are some basics that you need.
1 A reasonable microphone. A good standby is a Shure SM58, which you can get in Australia from between $150 to $300, depending on how sharp your shopping skills are (all these prices are in $AUS, because that's where I am). A better standby is an AKG 707, which is (in my view) a better, more rounded, sounding mike, and is around about the same price.
If you are seeking first class quality, then you pay first class prices accordingly accordingly.

2 An interface to connect the mike with the computer. Reasonable and cheap ones are readily available. Some possibilities include:
Lexicon Alpha $199
M Audio fast track pro $329
Edirol UA4FX $313
Tascam US122L $323
Edirol UA25 $408
Presonus Inspire $408
Tascam US144 $299
E-MU-0202USB $199
(I'm not sure how current those prices are, but they givfe you an idea of the price ranges).

3 An audio application to record into, and to mix your recorded narration with the background music and sounds. Many of the interfces shown above come bundled with an audio program (e.g. Cubase or similar), and they are sufficient to do what you want. If they don't, there are free downloadable programs around.

I'm not sure where you are going to source your background music and sounds. If you want to create this yourself, that opens up another level of complexity, because you will then need the means to do it. If you intend to use pre-exisitg music, then you will have to deal with copyright issues.

I expect others will chip in with their suggestions and recommendations.

 

[Narelle]

Thanks

Just want to say thanks for your good response. I appreciate the advice

For what you are planning to do you can go to google and look for Audacity. It is a 100% free recording software that gives you multiple tracks. there isn't much of a help guide included but it is fairly simple to use and you can find forums online. As far as the mic goes, you can find fairly good ones at guitar center for under $100. you'll want to buy a pop filter. or you can make a fairly good one using a wire coat hanger shaped into a circle with a panty hose pulled over it. you'll need a quarter inch to eighth inch jack adapter to plug the mic into the computer. As far as the voice recording goes. you'll want to record in a quiet room that does not create a lot of echo. One last tip...DO NOT use the sound processor that is on your motherboard as it will create a good amount of fuzzy static during recording. An external usb sound card is best but i have found that a normal PCI internal sound card works quite well and is generally cheaper. All you need to do is plug the mike into the line in jack on the sound card and off you go.

 

[mshilarious]

For what you are doing, I'd look at a USB mic (MXL, Blue, a few others offer them), and use the internal soundcard output into headphones. Most of the sounds you want I imagine you want to synthesize rather than record acoustic sources, but you could go either way. Your internal sound will have a bank of sounds called "General MIDI", they are very basic, but they include most of the sounds you want, and with judicious use can be very acceptable for your purpose.

The key is to get a good quality voiceover, which the USB mic will provide. You might want to get a small keyboard controller (25 key USB controllers are cheap). I would also recommend Audacity, although I haven't seen it in a few years, so I don't remember how it handles MIDI (synthesized sounds).

 

[Narelle]

Thank you

Thanks for helping me with your advice, I really do appreciate it.

For what you are doing, I'd look at a USB mic (MXL, Blue, a few others offer them), and use the internal soundcard output into headphones. Most of the sounds you want I imagine you want to synthesize rather than record acoustic sources, but you could go either way. Your internal sound will have a bank of sounds called "General MIDI", they are very basic, but they include most of the sounds you want, and with judicious use can be very acceptable for your purpose.

The key is to get a good quality voiceover, which the USB mic will provide. You might want to get a small keyboard controller (25 key USB controllers are cheap). I would also recommend Audacity, although I haven't seen it in a few years, so I don't remember how it handles MIDI (synthesized sounds).

 

[TimOBrien]

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!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

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 and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/

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) and 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/smm

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...)