Where do I begin?!

[Spartan81]

Hi everyone,

My first post on here, but I guess we all have to start somewhere!

My position is this...I've played guitar since I was 15 (I'm 29 now) and am of a reasonbly decent standard, I love playing for the fun of it basically and have quite a creative side to me. All this in the privacy of my own den though...

I am however, getting married this summer, and as a gift for my wife to be, I'd like to put together some meaningful songs for her, recorded by me etc etc and have no idea really where to start.

I own a Tone Port UX2, with all the Gearbox guff that comes with that and I also have MixCraft installed on my PC - Ive been interested in doing this for sometime now! I'm comfortable with the basic functionality of these programs (I think!), in terms of the technicals of it all, Im a complete ignoramus. Anyways, I believe I have some of the tools to get started, but after this, Im stuck.

Tips as to what to do to get this ball rolling would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!!

Bit long winded I know, so apologies for that, but well done if you got this far!!

 

[Richard Monroe]

Your first mistake is not specifying acoustic, electric, or both, rather different ball games. Songs, you say- so are you a singer also? Do you plan on these songs just being guitar or vocals, or are you using Earth, Wind, and Fire for backup? Do you own any monitors or studio headphones? Do you have a budget in mind? Do you already own any mics, mixers, amps, or anything else? So far, all I can say is-insufficient data, dude.-Richie

 

[mjbphotos]

Get some recording software - Reaper is free until you want to pay. IF you also want to record from a microphone (vocals, acoustic guitar), you will need an interface. Toneport is great for guitar, not for overall music.

 

[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:

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...)