What I need

  • Thread starter Thread starter Farno
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Farno

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You may have seen my other thread but I want to start a one person band. I have a Lexicon Alpha OSIO driver. I also have a Yamaha YPT-300 Keyboard. For speakers, I have M1Active 320USB. I also have a 75 WATT Line 6 Spider Jam amp. For software, I have Cubase LE 4.

This is what I am planning on getting:

USB MIDI Chord (for keyboard)
EZ Drummer (with drum kit from hell plugin)


My problem is, having bass. I don't own a bass guitar and have hardly any experience with them (especially because I'm 13). How would I have bass in a song. Would I need to buy a bass guitar or is a cheaper way around it.

Oh, and if their are other things needed a home studio, please tell me.
 
Something you need... so obvious you seem to be overlooking it... a couple of decent microphones. You may be planning to record most stuff DI but a decent mic or two are something you definitely need to add to your gear list. I'm sure at 13 mics seem quite expensive ($3000 for a Newman is out of my budget too) but decent mics can be found for $50-$100 and are a worthwhile investment. Shop around a little, consider buying used, a Shure 57 (or something comparable) can often be found in a pawn shop for around $50 or less.
 
As far as the bass goes, I believe most keyboards have a bass guitar tone on them. I figure that would work, and it'd be easier for you.

But im new to this as well.
 
I guess I'll look into some mics. I do have a guitar chord that I can plug into the output of my amp and then send it into the ASIO driver. I don't what is better. Probably mics.
 
Farno said:
I guess I'll look into some mics. I do have a guitar chord that I can plug into the output of my amp and then send it into the ASIO driver. I don't what is better. Probably mics.
Click to expand...

You'll be able to program some MIDI bass in Cubase LE. It mightn't sound liek the real thing, but it's waaaay better than nothing.
 
As other people have said, you could probably program your bass using a synthesized bass guitar tone or other synth bass sounds. If you play guitar more than keyboard you may either want to get a bass or you could try pitch shifting your guitar. Never really tried that but I think someone recommended it in your other post. Decide for yourself if you need a mic. Yes, they are very important most of the time, but only you can decide what you need and when. Maybe you don't need a mic right this second if you plan to DI everything, but if you keep with it you will be buying some mics sooner or later. If you plan on singing then of course it's not an option.

PS a "chord" is something you play on the guitar, a "cord" or cable is what you plug in to it. No big deal, just thought I'd let you know.
 
I'd recommend a second keyboard also, since you are doing the one-man band thing. If you are just recording, then you will obviously just multitrack, one track at a time, so it isn't necessary to use two keyboards, but performance it will be easier. The recommendation to do it midi is another option, and you will have a bit more options as far as tone, but the easiest way if you are good on the keyboards is another keyboard programmed to bass.

I wouldn't recommend pitch shifting your guitar, it doesn't sound natural. The tone of the bass is in the size of the strings and how they vibrate versus the smaller strings of the guitar. I've heard some recordings where they didn't have a bass and just pitch shifted the guitar. It sounds OK, but it's just off enough to be noticeable.
 
I also agree with the second keyboard. Midi can do a LOT of things and a bass guitar should rest primarily in the background with a little bit up front. Most of that should be covered up by your actual guitar and the drums.

If you do go the midi route....do a search for soundfonts and try to find some variations of what you're looking for...you'd be surprised what you can find out there.
 
I'm thinking of getting a very small workstation keyboard but I can't believe how expensive they are. I am going to really have to research this a lot more before I go buying stuff.
 
Have you looked at an Alesis Micron? It's a fairly inexpensive workstation keyboard. I like mine but I don't really use it much like a workstation.
 
No, I've never looked at it. I saw some stuff on it. It seems pretty cool.

What is the difference between a regular keyboard and a workstation (besides all the mixing and midi pads and stuff like that).
 
Basically a regular keyboard just lets you play sounds, but a workstation will let you build songs from those sounds as well. Maybe someone else can give a more precise definition.
 
So, here's what I'm going to get:

EZ Drummer with DKH Plugin
Alesis Micron Keyboard (future...)
Stereo Cable
Some Sort of Mic(s) (need help getting the right one) --- EDIT: I found one. How does the Shure SM57 sound? I don't know anything about it.
MIDI Cable (USB)

I don't know if I forgot anything.
 
The SM57 is probably a decent place to start. It's arguably one of the most used mics. Maybe not the best for vocals. If you want a mic, just for vocals I might suggest looking around a little more but if versatility is what you want then that is what you will get with the 57.
 
I don't plan on doing any vocals. If I do, it wouldn't be singing (cause I can't sing).

Anyone think I need anything else?

The total price will roughly fall around $300 NOT including the Alesis Micron. That will be something I'll decide in the future.
 
Farno said:
I'm thinking of getting a very small workstation keyboard but I can't believe how expensive they are. I am going to really have to research this a lot more before I go buying stuff.
Click to expand...

Farno...I would never go with workstations. They limit you to sounds in the board and what's inside the expansion packs. A midi controller is potentially endless as long as you have soundfonts for them (in the software youre using with it).

Also there is a way to rip sounds off of the expensive workstations in soundfont format. I did that and added it to my hard drive and just added to my little $100 midi keyboard and Reason 4.0.

And I can still keep on doin it and adding to my arsenal.

Fiev
 
So your saying I should get a MIDI Controller? If so, what's a good one?
 
It really depends on your needs...me myself I use an Oxygen8 because it's small, portable, and I can switch pitches on it easily.

If you're doing most of your editing in software, then you don't really need too much. If you travel a lot and do music while on the road, I'd suggest something small that can be used on USB If you want a full scale keyboard on a stand, go bigger, check em all out and if you can play with them.

Fiev
 
So here's my goal.

USB MIDI Cord ($40)
EZDrummer + DKHP ($189)
Shure SM57 With Stand and 30 FT cable ($129)
M-Audio Axiom 49 ($249) <future>
Cubase LE 4 to Cubase 4 (?) <future>

That comes to $607! But, I won't get the Axiom until I am 100% sure I need it and that also goes for the upgrade for cubase. I don't know if I will really need it.
 
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