What do I need to record at home?

  • Thread starter Thread starter humail
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humail

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Hey folks!

I am a beginner who has decided to record vocals and guitars at home and so far this is the list of my gear:

1. Neumann TLM 102 Large diaphragm (cardioid) condenser mic

2. A classical and a B.C.Rich electric guitar

3. Ibanez MiMx-65 guitar amplifier

4. Lenovo laptop [Core i5 (2.53 Ghz), 4 Gb ram, 32-bit OS Windows 7]

I know I need an audio interface but which one?! How many inputs and which brand would be better? I've heard about M-AUDIO being the topper in the market. What else do I need? Headphones, speakers, monitors (what are monitors? lol)

This is a shout out to all the awesome people here. Please help me out and do let me know what I need to purchase exactly, and if possible, enumerate them.

Thanks! :listeningmusic:
 
What did you do, find this stuff??

Just kidding. Welcome to the forums.

You're right about needing monitors and an interface.

I'm not sure I'd consider maudio a market topper, but sure, they make interfaces.
So do tascam, presonus, rme, apogee etc, so there are some names to google.

If you think you might pick up a 57 or similar down the road for guitar micing, look for a two channel interface, at least.
It's a common enough thing to have a dynamic up close and a condenser elsewhere.

If you think you might expand in the future to drum recording etc, then just jump in at 8 channel.
That's usually the max for an all-in-one rack interface. It's something to think about.

For a two channel interface example, I use a presonus firestudio mobile. It has some bells and whistles but the simpler version is audiobox usb IIRC.
Two decent sounding mic preamps, monitor outputs.....The essential basics.

Monitors are fancy speakers. They're designed to be flat in response and transparent.
Unlike a home theatre system which will accentuate certain frequencies and sound 'nice', monitors sound real.
They tell you the truth, if you like.

You'll probably need headphones for recording vocals etc. This is a less critical area in my opinion.
Look for comfort; Something you can wear for a long time without audio or physical fatigue.
I like my sennheiser hd280s.

It sort of doesn't matter how good or bad they sound because they just provide a tempo and pitch reference for you.
 
humail said:
Hey folks!

I am a beginner who has decided to record vocals and guitars at home and so far this is the list of my gear:

1. Neumann TLM 102 Large diaphragm (cardioid) condenser mic Nice!

2. A classical and a B.C.Rich electric guitar Nice again!

3. Ibanez MiMx-65 guitar amplifier Ehh...

4. Lenovo laptop [Core i5 (2.53 Ghz), 4 Gb ram, 32-bit OS Windows 7]Good start. You will want to record to an external drive tho..

I know I need an audio interface but which one?! How many inputs and which brand would be better? I've heard about M-AUDIO being the topper in the market. What else do I need? Headphones, speakers, monitors (what are monitors? lol)

This is a shout out to all the awesome people here. Please help me out and do let me know what I need to purchase exactly, and if possible, enumerate them.

Thanks! :listeningmusic:
Click to expand...

I was really just playing with enumeration. I'm not even sure I know what that means... lol!

Welcome to the forum humail!
 
BMI does not cover enumeration royalty payments. I just checked.

We poor til death it seems..

I'm actually cool with that. At least I'm not an ass****. :D
 
Yep - if you need to use a word longer than compressor, you're doing it wrong.
 
Dammit! I have to spread more rep. I could just infract you as some sort of 'tough love!'

lol!
 
Thanks Steenamaroo!

A few more questions:

- Is it absolutely necessary to have a monitor for home recording?
- Is it better to record an acoustic guitar via a condenser mic (mentioned previously) or directly with an interface through a transducer?

Thanks!
 
humail said:
Thanks Steenamaroo!

A few more questions:

- Is it absolutely necessary to have a monitor for home recording?
- Is it better to record an acoustic guitar via a condenser mic (mentioned previously) or directly with an interface through a transducer?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Oh wow. I clean forgot I said something useful in this thread! :p

'Necessary' and 'better' are hot potatoes, but here's my take.

If you want your mixes to translate well to other playback systems, then you have to be able to trust what you hear.

The simplest way to do this is to buy studio monitors that are designed to be truthful, if you like, and to treat your room so as not to defeat the purpose.

For example, your hifi will sound different to your friends hifi, so your cds will sound different when compared on the two systems.
To make it worse, YOUR hifi will sound different in your friends house to the way it does in your house, because the reflections and acoustics in his house are different to yours.

Say you have cheap bassy speakers in a boxy bassy sounding room, you're going to turn the bass down in your mix until it sounds right.
Then I play your CD on my nice neutral setup and wonder where all the bass went.

Now ok. Even if you mix in a perfect environment with perfect gear, you can still argue that most people won't have that setup, and as such, your mix will sound different at their place.
That's true, but the point is this. You'll know you're starting from a good neutral middle ground. Your mix isn't too anything.


Moving on to the mic, it is always about preference and what sounds best on the day, but I'd guess 9 times out of 10 people are going to use a mic in the studio.
A guitar is designed in such a ways that certain parts of the body will be resonating at certain frequencies.
The sound that you like is the amalgamation of all these complex vibrations, coupled with the reverberation of whatever room you're listening in.

Say you stand back and say 'wow, this sounds gorgeous! I have to capture it', no kind of pickup is going to capture that sound.

Some people do both because the pickup can provide a nice clean sharp attack, for example.
Maybe you're just recording a background rhythm guitar and you really want a percussive sound; The pickup might be the way forward.

With things like monitors you just have to do it right; With things like mics and placement, you just have to experiment.

Pinch of salt and all the rest. Others may disagree. :)
 
You need a place to record, and you need a place to listen to what you've recorded.

Interfaces & brands all come with their proponents and detractors. Read reviews, make sure the drivers are available for your OS, and other people are successfully using that piece of h/w with a computer similar or even exactly like yours. I use M-Audio (4 mic pres) now, had a Roland/Cakewalk (2 mic pres) before. In general, I would count XLR inputs/mic preamps more than anything, and with the electric, make sure at least one of those will take a Hi-Z input so you can track the electric guitar straight at the same time you record the amp - more fun that way, IMO.

A cheap "accessory" I'd recommend is Mike Senior's "Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio."
 
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