starting to record..

[rob1031]

i'm going to pick up a shure sm57 because i heard its a good mic! i'm using it for electric guitar mainly, bass, and keyboard i think. might use it for vocals.

i want to ask you guys about what i need. i am thinking to use my computer, cubase (program). i read some stuff on the site and i dont know what else i will need.

would it work if i just had the microphone? or would i need a direct box to match impedences? or something? would it be ok to just have the mic? (because i have a budget )

 

[Mark7]

i'm going to pick up a shure sm57 because i heard its a good mic! i'm using it for electric guitar mainly, bass, and keyboard i think. might use it for vocals.

No harm in trying

i want to ask you guys about what i need. i am thinking to use my computer, cubase (program). i read some stuff on the site and i dont know what else i will need.

Monitors (either active or passive plus amp), headphones, cables and stands for your mics, a pre-amp or mixer, more mics (because you can never have enough mics), more cables, some big cushions and a comfy chair.

would it work if i just had the microphone? or would i need a direct box to match impedences? or something? would it be ok to just have the mic? (because i have a budget )

Does your soundcard have balanced mic inputs? If not then you'd be better off plugging the mics into a pre (like the M-Audio DMP3) and then plugging the output of the pre into the soundcard's line in jack.

 

[ssscientist]

An SM57 was the first microphone I owned --- and I've still got it.

As far as what else you'll need, Mark covered it well. If you're on a SUPER tight budget there are tiny 6 channel Behringer mixers for around $50 that would serve as both preamp and mixer, but if you have the money then look @ the DMP3 and it's competition.

And feel free to post again w/questions as they come up.

 

[rob1031]

thanks to the replies above.
i have understood a little more..haha
i wanna ask if it is essential to have a mixer...and what does it specifically do? (cause im pretty much on a TIGHT budget..haha - student, no rich parents haha)

i am planning to record track by track.. like record one track, put into the PC, onto the program (cubase) and then record another track, then put it onto the PC on the next track, and then mix .

i heard that what a mixer does is to record a few tracks..i.e. a few instruments? wouldnt i need mroe than 1 mic for that? im actually pretty confused about this gear haha.

well my question here is basically what are the functions of a mixer and how could it help my recording?


EDIT. i found that my sound card doesnt have balanced mic inputs.. i might get a PRE. imthinking of that type of thing..behringer.. like mixer + pre.. any models you would recommend? good sound needed!haha

 

[Mark7]

A mixer is basically a junction box that routes signals to and from a recording device.

Recording mixers (as opposed to PA mixers) usually have at least 2 busses seperate to the main stereo buss (which is normally used for monitoring during tracking and to send the signal from the multi-track master to the stereo mixdown device when mixing). Busses are a way to send many signals to few tracks. For example: let's say you have a four track and you want to record a drum kit. The easiest thing to do would be to stick a single mic up, plug it into a channel on the board and then plug the output of that channel into an input on your soundcard/recorder. But, of course, even though you may get a great sound from one mic it might not be the sound you're looking for (you may want to hear more kick, but moving it closer to the kick might lessen the impact of the snare, or vice versa). By using the busses you have the option to put as many mics as you have/wish on the kit and route all, or some, of them to one or more tracks via the busses. This also means that you don't have to worry about which mic is plugged into which channel.