Total Beginner

[richpace]

Me and the boys have a weekend band. We'd like to record ourselves without
getting crazy into expense. Guitar, Bass, Drums, Hammond Organ, Alesis QS 7.1.
4 vocal mics. I know this is very general, but any suggestions on how to get started.

 

[Monkey Allen]

My tip would be to sit down with a beer or two and read a shitload of posts on this forum...I'm not being obtuse...there's a lot of good stuff here.

 

[danny.guitar]

What's your budget?

You can get by a lot cheaper with multi-tracking (recording some things separately).

 

[richpace]

What's your budget?

You can get by a lot cheaper with multi-tracking (recording some things separately).

Hi,
$1000.00

 

[richpace]

My tip would be to sit down with a beer or two and read a shitload of posts on this forum...I'm not being obtuse...there's a lot of good stuff here.

Good advice. What would be the best forum to review?
Thanks

 

[ridgeback]

Hey Rich. Watch the Newbie page (no offense), Other Equipment page, Recording Techniques page, lightly observe the Mic Page , and otherwise browse around. Out of all the forums I surf, this one is one of the most laid back but don't fool yourself. There are some really smart people here who know their shit. If you're just getting started on the first foot, feel free to PM me by clicking on my name. It's a whirling dirvish of shit out here but for 1K we can get you recording at a basic level.

 

[TimOBrien]

My obligatory standard reply that I keep in Wordpad:

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info:
http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books:
http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html


Plenty of software around to record for free to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/

Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com

 

[dzara 4]

If none of you are experienced I would highly suggest taking your money and

buying studio time but if you really want to do it yoursel I would suggest

getting a aw2400 or another type of all in one deal if you dont want to spend

much cash. That where I started about two years ago . since then I invested

in a DAW and have spent way too much money on mic pres, converters,

nice mics, and other stuff. Watch out you might get addicted like I did.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

(spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$)

Absolutely. Don't just go out and buy stuff first only to find out later that you wish you had gone another direction. I'd bet my next gig that 8 out of 10 people on this board - including myself - have suffered that trap early on.

Like the concensus has said thus far, get some basic study under your belt first before you purchase. You don't have to become an expert or anything like that, but just get to the point where you can understand some basic options (there's a few different *general* ways you can go at the $1000 level) and weigh them agianst your current specific needs as well as potential planning for expansion (if any) in the future. It can make all the difference between getting some real productivity out of your initial purchases and having them wind up on eBay or in the basement after just a couple of sessions .

G.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

My obligatory standard reply that I keep in Wordpad:

Having seen this reply several times, I am forced to ask: Is this first line here also kept in Wordpad, or do you manually type that in each time before pasting the rest?

 

[TommyJ1112]

Off hand, why do you want to record your band?

I think that is the first question that needs to be answered. Or another way to think about it, is "what do you hope to get out of recording yourselves?"

If your goal is to record yourselves as a rehearsal/songwriting tool in order to test out new ideas, then that is one thing.

If your goal is to create high-quality recordings of your band in order to sell at gigs, or send out as demos (to get more gigs!) then you have to take a more long-term approach and understand that there is a significant learning curve involved here, not only in knowledge about audio engineering and mixing, but also in training your ears, learning about all the different types of gear out there as well as what they are used for.

Essentially, what I'm trying to say is that the more professional of a result you are looking for, the greater investment of time, study, practice, and money is going to be required.

So if you are needing a moderately professional sounding recording of your band soon, then your best bet would be to find a moderately priced but competent studio to record in.

I'm not trying to dissuade you guys from getting into recording, I am just making sure you've thought about what your goals are before you spend a bunch of money!