vocal onto cd

[sinecera]

I am brand new to home recording..I need to take a performance track cd and add a vocal to it. What is the minimum equipment, besides computer, that I need and how to do it. I'm looking at a M-Box and a large dia condensor mic.

 

[Steenamaroo]

first up, welcome to HR.

am i right in saying you only want to record vocals?

the minimum that you would need is

USB microphone
computer
software
headphones/speakers

a usb microphone will eliminate the need for a separate interface like the mbox.




if you do want to go down the road of separate interface and mic, i would not recommend any kind of mbox unless you have a specific reason for wanting to use protools.

if you don't know, you can't use protools without digidesign/maudio hardware (eg mbox) but you can use an mbox with other software.

IMO there's no point doing the later, cos typically, digidesign gear is overpriced in comparison with equivalent gear from other manufacturers.


have a browse through the appropriate sections to learn about interfaces/mics etc


also have a look for info about the free software that's out there. I know reaper is free,and i think audacity is too.


gd luck.

 

[sinecera]

thanks
would i be able to play the cd track in the drive, sing the vocals, and it would lay the vocals in a file for me to burn onto another cd. I hope i'm explaining this good. I will be doing more in the future, but right now just wanting to take a performance cd and ad the vocal to it and burn to another cd.

 

[Steenamaroo]

ok, to do that, what you need is audio recording/editing software.

what you do is copy the song from the cd, onto your computer, preferably into wav format.


you then drag/import this into your audio recording software onto a stereo track.


you add a new track and record your vocals, so when you hit play,,,both tracks playback together.

when you like the recording, the software will have an option to bounce or render the whole thing to one wav/mp3 file..

this combines music and vocals giving you your finished track.

does that help any?

 

[sinecera]

yes, it helped. thanks.

 

[TimOBrien]

My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

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/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

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

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions that WORK: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm
(you'll want to bookmark and read through all of Tweak's Guide while you're there...)
Another good article: Choosing an audio interface - http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep08/articles/audiointerfaces.htm


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

Sony ACID Express (free 10-track sequencer): http://www.acidplanet.com/downloads/xpress/
Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)

 

[austinm08]

No offense, Tim, but I don't believe sinecera needs to purchase and read thirty books on how to set up equipment or do all these other things.

Anyway, like Steena said, you could just easily grab Reaper or Audacity and find a decent mic (1. USB mic, or 2. USB/firewire interface + mic) and you'll have everything you need.

 

[dastrick]

No offense, Tim, but I don't believe sinecera needs to purchase and read thirty books on how to set up equipment or do all these other things.

QUOTE]


Education is hardly ever a bad thing.

 

[austinm08]

No offense, Tim, but I don't believe sinecera needs to purchase and read thirty books on how to set up equipment or do all these other things.

QUOTE]


Education is hardly ever a bad thing.

He just wants to record a vocal over accompaniment tracks. He didn't necessarily ask for links to loads of beginner recording books.

I just think if it was me, I would rather have a more "personal" response pertaining to my needs and not a cookie-cutter reply based on general needs of an average "newbie". I might also take slight offense in being called a "newbie" and in receiving such a cookie-cutter reply in the first place.

Whatev.

 

[dastrick]

thanks
I will be doing more in the future...

The additional info should come in pretty handy in the future.







And if you take offense to being called a newbie, then you have bigger issues in life than how to record vocals onto a cd.

 

[sinecera]

I have now downloaded reaper. Thanks for the responses. And thanks for the links, Tim. I have been gathering info on all the equipment needed for a full home studio. Will be building one at my home in the spring. Those links will definately help. Right now i'm just wanting to lay a vocal down and place it on a cd as a demo. My finished cd will be done in nashville in sept/oct at soundkitchen

 

[austinm08]

I stand corrected -- sinecera found the post useful!

Good deal. Well, good luck with everything, sine. There's always help here if you need it.

 

[grimtraveller]

I stand corrected -- sinecera found the post useful!

And it's a big person that can admit that publically. Props to you !

 

[austinm08]

And it's a big person that can admit that publically. Props to you !

There's too much arguing on forums. Everyone always has to win... it's refreshing to see people admit that they're wrong. I'd rather have peace.

 

[sinecera]

Well, my computer just crashed...heading out to get some new hard drives...which brand and best for home studio recording...getting two 80gb drives most likely

 

[Steenamaroo]

dont wana speak too soon, but i was thinkin of selling my pair of WD raptors to buy an ssd.

they're 74gb 10,000rpm drives.....good job

most likely lookin about £100?

 

[austinm08]

dont wana speak too soon, but i was thinkin of selling my pair of WD raptors to buy an ssd.

they're 74gb 10,000rpm drives.....good job

most likely lookin about £100?

I assume that figure (74 GB) is after formatting? Seems like an odd figure for a hard drive capacity.

Do you have an external drive, sine? 160GB doesn't seem like a whole lot.. I'd recommend more space. I guess it depends on your needs, though. I have a total of 2TB considering my internal drives (500GB) and external drive (1.5TB).

The 1.5TB is going to last me FOREVER! lol... as long as I don't drop it like I did my last ext. drive.

 

[Steenamaroo]

74 gig is what they are..look em up man.

i have a 500gb 7200 drive for storage

i used a 74 raptor for system and anther one for current recording sessions.

to be honest, an 80gb system drive would be fine for me and although no one recommends it, i've never had any problems running my protools sessions from the system hard drive.

 

[austinm08]

74 gig is what they are..look em up man.

Strange. I wonder why manufacturers chose to make 74GB HDDs..

 

[Steenamaroo]

yeh,,it does sounds a bit funny...


i don't know enough about it to guess why, but there you have it


they're a good/fast drive, but i recently put intel SSD in my laptop and the difference is unbelievable, so i want one for the desktop too.