starting a studio...keeping the plan simple

[pewing33ny]

I started my ultimate studio thread and it kinda sucked in that i was asking too much and trying to be too complicated. I studied up alot more on the subject and am in more of a direction so here is my situation.

Instruments I'm going to record are vocals, backup vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, electric bass, drum set (snare, toms, bass, cymbals, hihats nothing crazy) synthesizer (think van halen) acoustic piano and maybe some violin and trumpet. I have about $1,000 US to spend. I already ordered a nice new laptop thats comin next week.

Right now all I really have is a shure sm57, a couple stands, and a few misc. xlr stereo and mono 1/4 inch cables. (i was a backup singer in a band) I know this isn't much so

I'm only recording 1 instrument at once and the most mic'ed up instrument will be the drums which I will prbably have 4 mics on them (bass drum, snare, and stereo overhead mics for toms/cymbals)

I was probably going to get one of the beringer eurorack mixers with or a cheaper mackie with 4 xlr inputs.
im thinking
Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro
Mostly because you guys suggested it on the gear page...just wanna double check

Then I'm still unsure about audio interface for my laptop. The most I'm doing was 4 mic'ed drumset so i just need something for
mixer--->audio interface--->laptop

<b>I first was thinking firewire but I don't have that much data getting sent into my laptop so will USB be fast enough?</b>

i have no idea which one to get. I'm thinking of getting one of the quattro usb interfaces. I'm not sure which one to get. I don't use midi.

Monitering for now is going to be just headphones. Probably sony 7506 or 7509.

Also I'm not sure what software I need. I don't need alot of effects. I need some compression (for everything, i heard drums i'll need a seperate compressor outside my laptop, do I?) and some reverb. I don't need a million tracks but 8 should be good.

As you can tell I'm a newbie at this and I just wanna get some good clean rock and roll on a cd. Not alot of effects just something that sounds good. So what do you guys think i should do? I know that engineer talent and room enviroment are big factors but gear does have something to do with it and any gear advice or any in general would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ambi]

Sounds like you're on the right track. You just need a soundcard with 4 inputs that is either one of those little cards that go into laptops, usb or firewire. They should all be fine.

The mackie is definatly a good choice over the behringer. You could also check out getting two M-Audio DMP3 preamps. They're better quality than the mackie pre's, and i think a similar price for two. But it would be wise for you to decide if you need the features of the mixer, and check prices. It might be handy to have the mixer.

For mics, you have a 57 for the snare, guitar cabs and bass, get a pair of SD condensors which you could use for accoustic guitar, piano, drum over heads, other instruments, etc.. The marshal MXL 603s are a good bet. I'm not sure about kick drum mics, maybe a shure beta 52? I don't know a lot about kick drum mics unfortunatly. You'll also want a Large Diaphram condensor mic for vocals and other mono recordings of instruments or whatever you want, or as a room mic for the drum kit, etc... Studio projects b1 or c1, AT 4040, marshal v67 (i think that's the model). Something like that.

I don't know if the quatro is 4 inputs or not, you might want to look into that.

Softwear is kind of personal taste, it all does esentially the same thing, just in different ways. But of course a program like Logic Audio or Pro Tools or Cubase SX would do a lot more than ACID. Ntrack, cake walk, i think there are some others. Fairly cheap, good, i think some even have free versions you could use for a while.

Buy some decent cables for all of it. If you have money left over save up for monitoring speakers. They are extremely important. Headphones will do you for a while, but they won't get you very far in terms of a finished product ready to distribute.

 

[pewing33ny]

Sounds like you're on the right track. You just need a soundcard with 4 inputs that is either one of those little cards that go into laptops, usb or firewire. They should all be fine.

The mackie is definatly a good choice over the behringer. You could also check out getting two M-Audio DMP3 preamps. They're better quality than the mackie pre's, and i think a similar price for two. But it would be wise for you to decide if you need the features of the mixer, and check prices. It might be handy to have the mixer.

For mics, you have a 57 for the snare, guitar cabs and bass, get a pair of SD condensors which you could use for accoustic guitar, piano, drum over heads, other instruments, etc.. The marshal MXL 603s are a good bet. I'm not sure about kick drum mics, maybe a shure beta 52? I don't know a lot about kick drum mics unfortunatly. You'll also want a Large Diaphram condensor mic for vocals and other mono recordings of instruments or whatever you want, or as a room mic for the drum kit, etc... Studio projects b1 or c1, AT 4040, marshal v67 (i think that's the model). Something like that.

I don't know if the quatro is 4 inputs or not, you might want to look into that.

Softwear is kind of personal taste, it all does esentially the same thing, just in different ways. But of course a program like Logic Audio or Pro Tools or Cubase SX would do a lot more than ACID. Ntrack, cake walk, i think there are some others. Fairly cheap, good, i think some even have free versions you could use for a while.

Buy some decent cables for all of it. If you have money left over save up for monitoring speakers. They are extremely important. Headphones will do you for a while, but they won't get you very far in terms of a finished product ready to distribute.

with the software i don't care about midi capabilities because i don't use midi at all. so im guessing the quattro 4x4 will be fine since im not using midi.

 

[fragglemi]

I am in the same boat as you, but I already have the Monitors (PS6's) and a Mixer (mackie 1202 pro). I am looking to start actually building my studio, which will be ina 12 / 22.5 foot space.