Total rookie wanna record =)

  • Thread starter Thread starter martinwcarlsson
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martinwcarlsson

New member
Hi

As the topic says I'm a total rookie at recording.
I've been playing guitar for almost as long as I've been walking but yet to record a single thing on my own. Always had other people help me but now I wanna learn on my own and thought that I'd start slow and cheap :D

What I need is some starter tips. I'm not planning on recording studio quallity just something to "scribble" ideas on and doing rough demos.
I live in an apartment witch means that I can't crank my Orange AD30 so I need something that will sound got getting a low signal but also on louder signals for those day that the neighbours are away :)

The style I wanna record is guitarbased rock, southern rock. Bands like Humble Pie, Black Crowes and maybe some pop-rock like Foo Fighters.
I like the tone I got and dont really wanna change anything just polish it some maybe.

What I had in mind was a Sennheiser E606 mic and M-Audio Fast Track Pro connected to my stock-laptop with Vista 32-bit.
What software is good for rookies, some Cubase lite version maybe?

Well, now I'm just rambling on :rolleyes:

Any help or pointers on this will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
// Martin Carlsson.
 
Are you just recording a single guitar ? or do you hope to lay down more tracks with the guitar ?
 
d-rocks choices are very good. First thing I would want to know is your computer specs.

For the quiet times, I would probably not use the amp/mic at all. A decent DI box so your guitar is straight into the computer, then use amp sims and listen on headphones or get some nearfielsd monitors as the budget allows. It is amazing what is all out there. You need to spend a couple of evenings reading and googling. Tweekheadz is always a good place to start.
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
 
Washburn100 said:
d-rocks choices are very good. First thing I would want to know is your computer specs.

For the quiet times, I would probably not use the amp/mic at all. A decent DI box so your guitar is straight into the computer, then use amp sims and listen on headphones or get some nearfielsd monitors as the budget allows. It is amazing what is all out there. You need to spend a couple of evenings reading and googling. Tweekheadz is always a good place to start.
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
Click to expand...

I use a crappy Sony Vaio VGN-AR31M with upgraded harddrives. I haven't got firewire, sadly.
DI is very handy but I've never gotten any good sound from that and I really wanna record my new Orange AD30 :)
I've tried Guitar port before and it was no fun at all. I'm one of those who need a good sound or I can't play. I just get anoyed and wanna quit.
 
moresound said:
Are you just recording a single guitar ? or do you hope to lay down more tracks with the guitar ?
Click to expand...

The plan was to record amp and guitar, bas DI, digital drums and vocals. All one by one. But since the drums are stereo I need 2 inputs, right?
 
Hello Martin! For starting out, I like this:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=32943&Category=Recorders

Why? first of all, it's a standalone recorder that can drop into a guitar case. Secondly, it gets you started recording immediately. Third, it is a perfectly good USB powered computer interface. You can plug whatever mics you want into it, or you can use the onboard stereo mics, or both at the same time. Most importantly, after you have broken the bank and upgraded to professional equipment costing thousands of dollars, you will still find uses for it. It has a considerable bank of usable effects, and comes with cubase software. What's not to love?-Richie
 
Last edited:
Richard Monroe said:
Hello Martin! For starting out, I like this:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=32943&Category=Recorders

Why? first of all, it's a standalone recorder that can drop into a guitar case. Secondly, it gets you started recording immediately. Third, it is a perfectly good USB powered computer interface. You can plug whatever mics you want into it, or you can use the onboard stereo mics, or both at the same time. Most importantly, after you have broken the bank and upgraded to professional equipment cosing thousands of dollars, you will still find uses for it. It has a considerable bank of usable effects, and comes with cubase software. What's not to love?-Richie
Click to expand...

Pretty sure my bandmate bought one of those, we've never used it though. I'll deff read up on that. Seems cheap yet a good piece of gear for my purpose.
Thanks for the help.
 
martinwcarlsson said:
Pretty sure my bandmate bought one of those, we've never used it though. I'll deff read up on that. Seems cheap yet a good piece of gear for my purpose.
Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...


Richard has surely sent you in the right direction here and you will not go wrong with his suggestion it's a great unit.
Just make sure that it's the H4n and not the first model. the first model has some bugs.
 
martinwcarlsson said:
Pretty sure my bandmate bought one of those, we've never used it though. I'll deff read up on that. Seems cheap yet a good piece of gear for my purpose.
Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

If you've got one, put it to use. As Moresound notes, its predecessor, the Zoom H4, has a couple of design flaws that prevent me from recommending it. The H4n was introduced precisely to correct those design flaws. The H4n doesn't have great preamps, but neither do any of the less expensive 2 channel USB interfaces. I've been working with the H4n now for over 6 months, and it has never ceased to amaze me. One point- it comes with a 1GB SD card. You will want to immediately upgrade to a 16GB or 32GB card. This is irrelevent if you are just using it for a computer interface, but very relevent when used as a remote recorder.-Richie
 
It is true that the H4n is a 4 tracker. It should be noted, however, that although in stereo, it supports up to 24bit/96kHz, when used as a 4 tracker, it only records in 16bit/44.1kHz. Also, most of its effects and modeling capabilities are only available in 4 track mode. It's not that big a deal, though. First of all, if the music is ending up on a CD, the advantages of tracking at high resolution and then dithering down are debatable. And- if you really want 24/96, you can just record 2 tracks at a time, like any 2 track interface, and add FX and dither down in the computer. The point is- the H4n does pretty much what any inexpensive interface does, and a lot more.-Richie
 
i'm going to pipe up a tad...

you're not going to notice the differences in bit/sample rates at this point... get the cheapest thing you can and start getting your feet wet. if you have a mac, use garageband... it's a great to get started and VERY easy to use.

yes, the more you spend, the 'better' your sound is going to be, but only if you know how to use it by working up to it.

anyways... IMO, the best thing you can do right now is NOT get overwhelmed with big high end stuff. have fun with the simple stuff and 'graduate' to the next level once you are ready. play what you got into the machine and then look into how to improve what you put down. (sonically and structurally) ...if you get overwhelmed or find high end things difficult to use, (which they usually are) there is a chance you are going to get frustrated and not want to continue.

just think... in 3 months you'll be ready for neve consoles, apogee converters and neuman microphones... just like the rest of us. ;)

s
 
haymedic said:
i'm going to pipe up a tad...

you're not going to notice the differences in bit/sample rates at this point... get the cheapest thing you can and start getting your feet wet. if you have a mac, use garageband... it's a great to get started and VERY easy to use.

yes, the more you spend, the 'better' your sound is going to be, but only if you know how to use it by working up to it.

anyways... IMO, the best thing you can do right now is NOT get overwhelmed with big high end stuff. have fun with the simple stuff and 'graduate' to the next level once you are ready. play what you got into the machine and then look into how to improve what you put down. (sonically and structurally) ...if you get overwhelmed or find high end things difficult to use, (which they usually are) there is a chance you are going to get frustrated and not want to continue.

just think... in 3 months you'll be ready for neve consoles, apogee converters and neuman microphones... just like the rest of us. ;)

s
Click to expand...

Yeah, this seems like a great idea. Something cheap and easy to use.
Anyone that would recommend Steinberg CI2? Soundcard and "controller" in 1. That seems pretty easy to use aswell and from what I've read Cubase is easier to use than Protools so that's a plus.
 
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