Stupid questions....reaaalll newbie

[KevnMar]

First let me introduce myself guys. im from southern california, love music and sports (i play play college football) and have been rappin since i was 12 years old. i have a passion for great music and only listen to the best. almost all the music on the radio right now is crap. there is a type of music i like to get drunk and go to a club to and there is a music i want to chill and listen to when im at the crib.

my friends have been tellin me to record some stuff for the past 5 years but iv been too lazy to spend the money and figure out how to do it on a computer so thats why im here. i have a cd of a bunch of instrumentals and i want to rap over them. i just want to know what i have to buy (programs, digital recording equipment, etc.) that is probably alot of questions to ask but iv seriously been wondering how to record from my computer for a long time but iv been lazy to ask.

any1 help me out??

 

[mikeh]

Your questions are waaay overly broad to be answered easily in this forum. You would benefit greatly from spending time reading and using the search option to get a better understanding of your equipment options, etc.

Then perhaps you can ask more specific questions which would more likely get responses.

 

[mikemorgan]

These are just some key words you should be using, and you'll need some kind of each, in pretty much this order:

Microphone>>>>Microphone Pre-amp>>>> Interface>>>Computer>>>>Software Program>>>>Converters>>>>Monitor System.

The very simplest way to start is to get a USB Microphone and download a Free software program like Audacity to your computer. Get familiar with the program and how to record you voice. Then learn how to import the music you want to record your voice over. It's pretty much that simple.

 

[Soundman1000]

I'm trying to figure out how to do the same thing KevenMar. I dont know how to get a "real mic" to record my vocals onto my computer. I hope it's OK for me to piggyback onto this thread.

Thanks for the software info mikemorgan, I thought I needed a mixer to mix my voice into mp3 sound files. I was considering a USB mic, it would cut the cost for me in 1/2 but I want to get a ShureSM58. I had some fun with my new webcam but the audio really sucks and I am ready to move up

Can anyone tell me if this will work & does it connect via USB or threw my soundcard? I have a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy LS sound card & running XP on 1.66 GHz, 512MB RAM.

I think I need the "M-Audio AudioBuddy Dual Microphone Preamp with Phantom Power and Direct Box"($79.95) to interface a Shure SM58 mic into my computer(somehow).

Then, If I understand this right, then I will record my voice onto my computer using Audacity while listening to the music threw headphones (that dont leak sound). Then I use Audacity again to mix my vocals onto the music file (mp3). And Audacity will mix thoses into a nice sounding mp3 or wave file that I can burn and play in a CD player. Right??? I hope...

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Yeah kind of, the soundcard should have a line input. The mic will need gain (preamp) and then the analog signal coming out of the preamp will need to be converted to digital so the computer knows what it is (soundcard/interface).

It depends on the quality you want and of course your budget. I’ve never used a soundblaster but if you do a search you’ll see that the rep is not good, they’re not made for recording, more for gaming/multimedia. You could swap it out for a recording card, the M Audio audiophile 2496 is a solid and cheap option and then buy a pre. Or you could get an interface; an external box that connects by USB or firewire and usually has mic preamps built into it; so you plug your mic in and you’re away.

Or of course you could just buy a pre and see how you get on with the soundblaster.

Never used a USB mic but I wouldn’t have high hopes; I guess it depends on your expectations.

And you shouldn’t be using any compressed audio, mp3 is fine on your ipod for in the gym or on the train going to work but other than that you want uncompressed (wav).

Audacity is OK but I’d check out reaper, much more features, plugs etc.

 

[cusebassman]

Reaper is definitely the way to go, over Audacity.

As for recording, you don't really want to use the Soundblaster, as others have said - they are extremely low quality, and any money you spend on a microphone and preamp would be greatly diminished in return on quality.

So!

I'd say the other guy asking questions has it about right - an interface like the M-Audio AudioBuddy, or perhaps something a little higher up, would do you fine. For getting audio into the computer for a single vocalist, you only technically need one microphone input that has phantom power (in case you buy a condenser microphone), and a USB/firewire output to plug into the machine.

Then, you would take the song material you want to rap over, and place it into a track in Reaper. Enable a second track to record from the interface you have set up, and you are good to go. You would enable Record on the mic track, and Monitor on the existing audio track, so that when you hit record, you are recording your vocal while listening back to the song underneath.

As for monitoring / headphones, that's up to you as far as how much money you want to invest. You can use headphones to monitor and mix, but it is generally frowned upon, for lack of good frequency response - i.e. it is difficult to get a good, final mix that works well on various audio reproduction systems.

For the time being though, I'd say you are all right with headphones or computer speakers, as long as they are somewhat decent quality themselves.

As for microphones, the second guy I'd say should try recording some vocals with the 58 before anything else. If it works, run with it. Whether or not it will, I have no idea.

But, for decent vocal recordings at a moderate price, go into the microphone forum, and search "vocal mic", title-only. You will get a veritable cornucopia of responses such as "Best vocal under ____ dollars". Also search for "best rap mic" and I'm sure you'll get a lot of threads discussing that too. Best of luck!

 

[cusebassman]

Never used a USB mic but I wouldn’t have high hopes; I guess it depends on your expectations.

And you shouldn’t be using any compressed audio, mp3 is fine on your ipod for in the gym or on the train going to work but other than that you want uncompressed (wav).

Audacity is OK but I’d check out reaper, much more features, plugs etc.

Also agreed on these points, if I forgot to mention above.

As for buying a stand-alone preamp (which boosts your mic's signal to line-level), and then running the output to the Line-in on your Soundblaster soundcard, it could theoretically turn out all right. I know when I run a mic through my MAudio DMP-3 and run the analog output to the line-in on my powerBook, it actually doesn't sound half-bad.

However, if you are investing in a single preamp, you might as well couple it with a decent converter and just go from there - why risk buying the preamp by itself, then find out the Soundblaster turns your decent signal into nasty, staticy crap, when you could have just gone with the full package to begin with?

 

[Soundman1000]

Thanks alot Kevin DeSchwazi & cusebassman I just got REAPER but it looks like I have to do some more figuring & saving for the soundcard, Cha-ching. I see why mikemorgan sugested a USB for starters. Just went from $180 to $280 for me when I thought I was good to go. Looks like a nice setup though, thanks again. One more silly question please...

Will my 5.1 speakers plug into the dam thing? It dont look like the right holes for em, and they for dam sure arent the right colors
I'm serious, will they?