Starting from Scratch

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Sheri

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Hi all,
Okay, I'm a total newbie starting from scratch. I'm a singer/songwriter playing acoustic guitar (Takamine with parametric equalizer pre-amp) and want to set myself up with a recording system at home. Mostly for demos and pre-production ideas for the professionally recorded project I'll do within the next year. I don't have a computer at home.

I have two Peavey speakers from a PA system that I thought maybe I could use as speaker monitors (good idea?).

Other than that, I'm looking for suggestions on what to buy. I don't want to spend more than $800-100 for the recording unit and the microphone, and any other necessary equipment. I've looked briefly at the BOSS BR-8 (saw a used one at Guitar Center for $500), the Tascam 4-track analog, and a quick glance at a Korg.

Any recommendations on either equipment or good stuff to read that will help.
Thanks!
 
Welcome Sheri. I'm kind of new to recording but I have some ideas. Subscribing to a good magazine or two is a good place to learn about recording techniques and equipment. I like Electronic Musician magazine, as I've had a subscription for 10 years and I am finding a wealth of information in those. There are good books on recording but difficult to find. P.A. speakers are not good monitors and you will have to spend money on a power amp. Roland makes some cheap powered monitors you might find at a good store or if you can spend $500 a pair of Event PS5 or PS6 monitors have recieved good reviews. ( I own the PS6's and love them ) Don't rely on headphones for monitoring because they will fatigue your ears and longterm exposure can cause permanent hearing problems. Good large diaphragm condenser mics can be had for $200 to $250 dollars. I would not buy used mics because condenser mics are fragile and can be damaged easily....you might get a bad one and not know it. The BR8 is a great tool and can make quality demos, has effects built in, and has an easy learning curve. You might have to spend more like $1200 US to get a good set-up and you could save money buying a cassette recorder instead of a digital unit but it won't be as satisfying. Bottom line....buy powered monitors first and read all you can. Good luck.
 
I would get a Shure SM-57 ($80.00) to mic the guitar in addition to the onboard electronics on your Takemine. The SM-57 will add warmth to the Takemine and double as a second vocal mic as well. As far as vocal mics go, on the low end you could go with the dependable Shure SM-58 ($100.00). I'm not that familiar with vocal mics, but since you're looking for something just to throw ideas on and demos, you might not need a really high end mic. Let your ears decide that one. If you're going to use the PA speakers for monitors, you'll need some kind of amplifier to power them. What model are they? You could probably pick up a 2nd hand 4-channel powered mixer pretty cheap ($100-$200). Then line out from whatever recorder you get to the powered mixer. Keep in mind that the PA speakers aren't going to reflect the true sound of your recordings. Since they aren't monitor speakers, you'll be hearing an adjusted sound. Monitor speakers will show you what the recording actually sounds like, flaws and and all and will tell you what you need to fix. If you can get a good sound out of monitor speakers, then it should sound good on what ever you demo your recordings on be it boom box, headphones or home stereo. There are powered types of monitors that don't need an amp. You might want to get those instead of using the PA speakers.

The used BR-8 might be a good pick for your situation. It has a rhythm section of some kind, but I'm not familiar with how good it is. If you get a mic with phantom power, be sure your recorder can use it.
 
The only thing about the Boss Br-8 that might turn into a problem is that it records onto 100 MB Zip discs.once you get going you may find that you're using up the space on the Zips pretty fast,and they cost between $10-12 apiece.On an 8 track cassette machine like the Tascam 488mkII the sound quality won't be quite as good as the Boss,but each minute of recording time will cost less 'cause it uses Chrome Type II cassettes which if you buy in quantity are like $1.75 apiece.Cheers!
 
Thanks Everyone!

I just wanted to thank everyone for their great responses to my questions. I appreciate the help!
 
The BR-8 is great...I would recommend it highly. Even though the cost of the zip disks and the limited recording time are drawbacks, it still is an incredible value. I really can't get over the quality of the recordings since I bought mine two months ago...before this, I used a Yamaha MT3X 4-track cassette machine.

Best of luck!

P.S. - I use a Shure SM57 for acoustic guitar and vocal mic.
 
Gogogo!

Good guitar, Sheri! You do need a good mic to go with that, and the Rode stuff is probably a safe bet. I have an Octava MK-319 which also is very nice. All of these mics need phantom-power, and most portastudios doesn't have that (I don't knwo about the BR-8, but it seems NOT too have phantom power.) That means that you need an extrenal source of this. The best and cheapest is probably an ART Tube MP mic preamp.

When it comes to recording, I'm sure the BR-8 is very nice. If you are only going to record you and the guitar, it might seem a bit like overkill, but it has built in effects, mainly compressor, reverb and delay, things you would need to buy separately otherwise, which would mean you'd end up in the same price class anyway. (On the other hand, that would mean you have separate units, which makes for easier and cheaper "upgrades" when you grow out of what you have. But I'd still go for the Boss).

So, the Boss BR-8, an ART Tube MP and a good mic, like the Rode NT3. You'll also need a mic stand and a holder.
I'm sure you would be able to get this at your budget of $800-$1000, and with some experience you should be able to do really good sounding recordings. Keep discussing and asking here, and read recording mags!
 
The BR-8 seems a bit limiting to me. Even though you are recording just yourself, you may find a time where you need more than two tracks at once. I think the Korg D8 has the same limitations. A TASCAM fourtrack would be a great place to start as far as learning the art of recording, but it's limitation is that it's casette. ???? who knows- go with whatever you feel comfortable buying. But the idea would be to get something that would still be usefull down the line-hey I still use the mixer on my four track to get my headphone mix to the band, I'm actually using every piece of equipment that I've even bought- it's all plugged in somwhere :D

-jhe
 
Hey Sheri, you obviously have a computer, so the next question is, do you have any recording/sequencing software (ie. Cakewalk...). A program like such as this accompnied by a good soundcard or similar interface, and computer monitor speakers with a subwoofer will enable you to digitally record, edit and mix your demos (you can pick up speakers and soundcards at computer shows for CHEAP... ...example: Altec/Lansing powered computer monitor speakers with the subwoofer go for ~$75-100, and sound fairly good for DEMO work. No, they're not JBLs, but when you pool the $$$ together from the gigs you get from the Demo, then upgrade). A mic on the other hand might run you into a little extra scratch. I use an AudioTechnica 4050 CM5 for studio stuff. It middle of the road for what I was looking for in a mike, and I think I picked it up new for ~$600. Good luck! Tom.
 
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