wanting to start recording bands

C

comfused

New member
hi,

nice forum you have here!

I'm playing in a band and I would like to buy some stuff so I can record some demo songs
in the future it would be nice if I could expand this to recording demos for other bands
so what I want to start with is are the basics

what do I allready have:
- all the music instruments and amps
- Apple G4 1,25Ghz Powerbook
- 1000 - 1500 euros/dollars to spend

what do I need:
- mics
- cables
- stands
- mixer
- software
- monitors

is this all I need to get started, I think that will do for a start ?!

now .. any suggestions on
- what I should buy
- what is more important
- budget OK ?
- ..


thanks in advance for the help/info
 
Sounds like you can break down your needs into two areas:
1. Recording media.
2. A full PA system.
#2 is basically easy, just get as new and as nice a PA as you can after budgeting 1. and 2. There are many full PA-in-one packages out there.
#1 seems to break down to a couple of questions in the big bad world:
Analog or digital? (I believe that for where you're at, you will not stand to gain as much offering a demo recording service unless it's digital).
Additionally, will you record to your computer (still have to interface) or record to a multi-tracker that can either burn it's own CD's (internal) or output to your computer (which is running music recording software) and burning CDs/archiving/changing file formats/etc., from there.
Although I personally went with a multi-tracker with internal CD writer, I think you can utilize your Apple, use an interface card (or the like), get common music software for recording/burning CDs/changing file formats, and go that route and if there's money actually left over, invest in more add-ons, like maybe something like a parametric EQ for the PA. Good luck!
 
if you hadnt already got the powerbook i would have suggested with respect a amd 64 computer system(now you can get laptop amd64's ).
the amd 64 smokes as a processor. but i'm just a computer engr - so what do i know ?
if you ever move away from the powerbook do yourself a favour and try an amd 64 laptop or tower running any of the following
powertracks(that i use), n track, magix music studio(that i also use) on my amd system, also a very underrated multitracker that impresses me is multitrackstudio.com which i would have bought if i had not had bought magix and powertracks.
look on the cakewalk site and there is an area showing how the amd
processors darn fast for audio work.
on mics and mixers i would look at MCA for a cheap condensor and sennheiser 441 or shure sm7 . i'm also partial to CAD and beyer mics.
monitors - cant beat yorkville for bang for buck imho.
for a cheapie mixer i recently tried an alto - and while its maybe not a neve i found it very clean and full and pleasant. i'm kind of a stickler as i make my own mic preamps. so it takes a bit to impress me.
on the more exotic level a lot of people like fmraudio.com mic preamp or for budget a studio buddy or dmp3. at the high end try a great river sometimes.
hope this helps.
by the way tracertek.com have usb sound cards - might be worth checking if the maya will work on your g4 laptop. cos ive forgotten if its pc only.
 
thanks for the replies so far!

lets get a bit deeper in detail ..
I want to go digital, no multitrackers for me
what I want for a start is the next:
- mics for the recording
- mics go into the mixer
- mix down from the mixer to the line-in on my portable
- clean and cut the songs on my portable

thats it for a start, just live recording
in the furure I'll buy an external soundcard with many inputs and software to work with multiple audiotracks
at this moment I don't need that

are there mixers out there that have an output for every channel?
lets say I have 8 mics, each mic goes to a fader on the mixer, each fader has an ouput connected to the soundcard, the soundcard imports the sound digitally to the portable, in the software I get 8 tracks, I can modify the tracks seperatly

so now I have 1000-1500 dollars/euros to spend on
- mixer
- monitors
- some mics
- cables
- stands
will this be enough? I really want to buy a mixer that I will still be using in a couple of years
 
comfused said:
they are a bit to small
I would like to use the mixer also in a live environment
to use as a PA in a pub
Click to expand...

I though you said you were going to use 8 mics.

An MG16/4 is plenty big for that.

If you're going to use it in a live environment, you can either output to an amp for your pa or use a powered mixer
 
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