B
bradrourke
New member
Hello, all. I am truly a N00b here. Unfortunately, the more I learn, the more new I feel! I have a series of related questions, I hope folks will feel free to answer some or all. After lurking for a while, this looks like a good space (anywhere with a separate "sobriety" board can't be all bad.)
Here's the deal:
I have been doing home recording for maybe two months now, and have amassed a small pile of equipment (list will follow below). I am also learning guitar at the same time. I basically am just trying to capture my own songwriting ideas and turn them into audio files that please me. I am an old dude (40) with a real job. This is just for me and my close friends and family.
My style is...well, I guess it's alt-folk-country? Basically, I wish I were John Hiatt crossed with Son Volt. I have created a fictitious "band" called Firefly Party because I am too embarrassed to go public just yet. Here is an example of some of my latest, desperate attempts: http://www.fireflyparty.com/joe.html
Here is my pile of eq.:
1) Big, fast computer with scads of memory and disk space. It is up to whatever task I want to throw at it and has all the ins and outs I may need (firewire, usb2, optical). BUT...stock soundcard (RealTek).
2) PODxt
3) Presonus TubePre preamp
4) KRK Rockit-5 monitors
5) Shure SM58
6) American strat
7) Riffworks 1.0 and Guitarport (work with Pod)
8) Cubase SE
9) Fender 15G amp
My home setup is that my POD serves as the soundcard (via USB2.0) for my computer. Monitors plugged into POD. I plug my guitar into the POD and record that into Cubase. Usually lay drum tracks down using Riffworks once I have a soing structure down. Then turn that into a WAV and track over it in Cubase. Then, I unplug the guitar and plug the mic into the pre and then into the POD. For all this, Cubase is using the POD as the soundcard.
In order, here are the four goals I would like my pile of equipment to fill:
a) Recording my stuff in my basement for my use to satisfy this itch I have to create;
b) Going over to my buddy's house, who has a grand piano and actually knows how to play, to jam with him
c) To record some of those jams, and bring the results back on separate tracks for mixing in Cubase
d) To play live for like 20 people at a time in some sad coffee house somewhere
NOW...if you are still with me and haven't given up on this long post, here is my question:
What am I missing? Is there a missing link in my eq that I don't know about? If I could buy one thing, what would it be? I prefer to have equipment that can satisfy multiple objectives (meaning like a and b, or a and c, etc.) but if I can't have it then OK.
Now, I know that new eq can't make up for no talent, and I am not trying to do that. At least not consciously. I just want to know if I have missed anything that would stand in the way of doing the things I want to do.
So, any advice, on any front, is much appreciated. That includes things like, "Dude, your mix is awful, you should compress the ____ and boost the ____;" or "Hey, first thing you gotta get is _____...it changed my life!" or "Go back to your day job, you fool."
However, if your advice is "Learn to play and sing," I am working on that!
Thanks for any help you may give to this sensitive, tortured soul.
--Brad
Here's the deal:
I have been doing home recording for maybe two months now, and have amassed a small pile of equipment (list will follow below). I am also learning guitar at the same time. I basically am just trying to capture my own songwriting ideas and turn them into audio files that please me. I am an old dude (40) with a real job. This is just for me and my close friends and family.
My style is...well, I guess it's alt-folk-country? Basically, I wish I were John Hiatt crossed with Son Volt. I have created a fictitious "band" called Firefly Party because I am too embarrassed to go public just yet. Here is an example of some of my latest, desperate attempts: http://www.fireflyparty.com/joe.html
Here is my pile of eq.:
1) Big, fast computer with scads of memory and disk space. It is up to whatever task I want to throw at it and has all the ins and outs I may need (firewire, usb2, optical). BUT...stock soundcard (RealTek).
2) PODxt
3) Presonus TubePre preamp
4) KRK Rockit-5 monitors
5) Shure SM58
6) American strat
7) Riffworks 1.0 and Guitarport (work with Pod)
8) Cubase SE
9) Fender 15G amp
My home setup is that my POD serves as the soundcard (via USB2.0) for my computer. Monitors plugged into POD. I plug my guitar into the POD and record that into Cubase. Usually lay drum tracks down using Riffworks once I have a soing structure down. Then turn that into a WAV and track over it in Cubase. Then, I unplug the guitar and plug the mic into the pre and then into the POD. For all this, Cubase is using the POD as the soundcard.
In order, here are the four goals I would like my pile of equipment to fill:
a) Recording my stuff in my basement for my use to satisfy this itch I have to create;
b) Going over to my buddy's house, who has a grand piano and actually knows how to play, to jam with him
c) To record some of those jams, and bring the results back on separate tracks for mixing in Cubase
d) To play live for like 20 people at a time in some sad coffee house somewhere
NOW...if you are still with me and haven't given up on this long post, here is my question:
What am I missing? Is there a missing link in my eq that I don't know about? If I could buy one thing, what would it be? I prefer to have equipment that can satisfy multiple objectives (meaning like a and b, or a and c, etc.) but if I can't have it then OK.
Now, I know that new eq can't make up for no talent, and I am not trying to do that. At least not consciously. I just want to know if I have missed anything that would stand in the way of doing the things I want to do.
So, any advice, on any front, is much appreciated. That includes things like, "Dude, your mix is awful, you should compress the ____ and boost the ____;" or "Hey, first thing you gotta get is _____...it changed my life!" or "Go back to your day job, you fool."
However, if your advice is "Learn to play and sing," I am working on that!
Thanks for any help you may give to this sensitive, tortured soul.
--Brad
