what do i need?

[fender_player69]

im looking to start very basic home recordings.
i have a laptop with kristal software and currently am just recording with a cheap mic through the line in of the laptop.

im going to purchase this :http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/pr...nd-MAudio-Audio-Buddy-Package?full_sku=703626

along with: http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/product/Behringer-Guitar-Link-UCG102?full_sku=241228

will this be all i need to start recording reasonably???
will the usb interface connect to my laptop??

 

[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

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/
(It's $40 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($20) 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 studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (Last November, they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150 - pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)

 

[cusebassman]

Depends on your budget and how far you want to go with the equipment you've got. Usually, I find people start out spending 200-300 bucks on the entire package, and want to upgrade pretty quickly. let us know what your realistic budget would be, and we can try to match you with some decent stuff. Good set of items to start with, if not for the fact that you apparently did your homework before asking questions

 

[yoyoma02]

not my post

Depends on your budget and how far you want to go with the equipment you've got. Usually, I find people start out spending 200-300 bucks on the entire package, and want to upgrade pretty quickly. let us know what your realistic budget would be, and we can try to match you with some decent stuff. Good set of items to start with, if not for the fact that you apparently did your homework before asking questions

This isn't my post, but I'm asking the exact same question. I have a decent amount saved up...about $5,000. Obviously, I don't need to get the best of the best stuff, but I'd like to get a good sound with quality equipment. What specific items would you suggest?

 

[pandamonk]

This isn't my post, but I'm asking the exact same question. I have a decent amount saved up...about $5,000. Obviously, I don't need to get the best of the best stuff, but I'd like to get a good sound with quality equipment. What specific items would you suggest?

How many channels, what do you wanna record, what's your room(s) like, do you have any equipment just now, do you already have a decent pc/laptop, do you want a big analogue desk/control surface/or just use the mouse, how much experience do you have? Any more info would be great too...

 

[pandamonk]

im looking to start very basic home recordings.
i have a laptop with kristal software and currently am just recording with a cheap mic through the line in of the laptop.

im going to purchase this :http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/pr...nd-MAudio-Audio-Buddy-Package?full_sku=703626

along with: http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/product/Behringer-Guitar-Link-UCG102?full_sku=241228

will this be all i need to start recording reasonably???
will the usb interface connect to my laptop??

You'd probably be better with this than the UCG102(only accepts 1 high impedence signal).

 

[yoyoma02]

How many channels, what do you wanna record, what's your room(s) like, do you have any equipment just now, do you already have a decent pc/laptop, do you want a big analogue desk/control surface/or just use the mouse, how much experience do you have? Any more info would be great too...

Well, for now, only one room. I'd like to be able to do a real basic set up and be able to record drums, electric guitar, and vox. I don't have any digital experience recording...I only had the old 4-track tape recorder and a few SM57's, 58's, and a condenser mic back in high school...all of which I sold about 5 years ago.

I have a decent personal computer, but would be willing to get a decent MAC and buy pro-tools and use it just for recording.

So no experience and not a lot of room to work with, but I'd like to learn and grow it to develop an awesome studio in the next 5 years. Thanks for the help!

 

[ssscientist]

but would be willing to get a decent MAC and buy pro-tools and use it just for recording

In my humble opinion you could learn just as much and produce just as good recordings with a used PC and Reaper instead of a Mac and ProTools.

The only excuse for using ProTools now is that you want to hedge your bet and be able to take the computer files into a big studio for further work. In my experience that never happens. Bringing a finished project into a bigger studio for mastering is a necessary step if only to get a fresh set of ears and some better gear --- but then it doesn't matter what software you used.

If you want to subject yourself to the Digidesign corporate pirates and their outrageous prices and to the relative difficulty of learning your way around ProTools when there are MANY cheaper, easier to learn and just as good-sounding alternatives out there you are free to do so. But you have been warned...

Your $5000 will go quite quickly if you don't make some smart choices. Instead of a computer I recommend you look seriously at the higher-end Roland or Yamaha digital multitracks. The Yamaha AW2400 has a whole bunch of features for around $2000 and most of the new Rolands, while a little more expensive, can accomodate an external monitor giving you all the advantages of a computer in a dedicated audio package. And for the kind of stuff you want to record, budget for a soundproof room that is accessible when most musicians are in the mood to make noise --- which is usually after dark.


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[guitarded2]

ok it doesnt seem like anyone has helped u too much. The Mic package is good but it wont work with that USB interface that USB interface runs on 1/4 inch inputs like a guitar and those mics are condenser mics that use XLR male/female. Even if you could get a XLR to 1/4 inch conerter/cable you arent going to get any sound because condenser mics need phantom power. You also want a preamp. USB may work for you but asuming you dont want to record more than 2 tracks at once. USB isnt very powerful but it may all you have to work with if you are going to use a laptop- under 300 dollars that is. I believe their are laptop cards but they are more than desktop PCI cards most of the time. Just understand that even with the best gear you arent going to get good results unless you know how to use it. What are your goals of recording? If its vocals then you should be fine with a nice condenser and some sort of interface but if its guitar and bass you may want to consider an amp modeler, DI or a good dynamic mic. If you plan on recording drums you may want to rethink the laptop idea. If you have any questions just ask me.

 

[pipelineaudio]

yoyoma, with your budget you can be pretty decently set up depending on some real specifics and proper planning. Buying smart, mostly nonobseleting gear right now will leave you a LOT of room later

Can you describe the room you have to use right now?

Cabling, mics, patchbays, decent monitors that you can learn will always be useable in the future. A computer far more powerful than the one I mixed hundreds of records on can be had for around 500$, so no need to bust the bank on something that will be replaced soon. Decent mic pre's that will be good in the future can be had, and complemented with cheap ones, or built in ones on an audio interface that again is somewhat disposeable

 

[pandamonk]

Well, for now, only one room. I'd like to be able to do a real basic set up and be able to record drums, electric guitar, and vox. I don't have any digital experience recording...I only had the old 4-track tape recorder and a few SM57's, 58's, and a condenser mic back in high school...all of which I sold about 5 years ago.

I have a decent personal computer, but would be willing to get a decent MAC and buy pro-tools and use it just for recording.

So no experience and not a lot of room to work with, but I'd like to learn and grow it to develop an awesome studio in the next 5 years. Thanks for the help!

We'll there's a bunch of decent budget gear out there, so you have loads of choices. Check out the presonus fp10(firepod), it's well repected around these parts. Also for mics, you should look out for shure sm57(snare/amps, watch out there are a lot of fakes) and beta 52(kick), studio projects b1(overheads/vocals), and search around for more recommendations.

You don't need protools. The best you could get with a $5k budget is a LE setup, but really there's no point. LE is quite basic. Also, if you go protools, you basically have to buy all digidesign gear. Once you're in, you're trapped. Look to ssscientist's post for more info.

Do you want a control surface. If so, the behringer bcf-2000 is nice, and cheap.

Also, look into room acoutics. These are important if you want good results. Here's a good place to start, and also the Studio Building and Display forum.