Members 1DZReverendDavidLee Posted August 26, 2007 Members Share Posted August 26, 2007 Can we start with the very basics of basics for the noobs out here (myself included) in regards to the array of products out there - can you break it down to like 5 or 6 must have items and some suggestions for entry level priced stuff that would be a good way for us mentally deficient types to understand wtf you are talking about and allow us to get a touch of understanding the basics and begin this massive learning curve in earnest? Thanks in advance for your time! Most all of my post count comes from the Effects Forum so I guess you could say I have a Master's Degree in knob turning. It's just that all this recording stuff has alot more knobs than I'm accustomed to. If it doesn't say Gain, Tone, & Volume... I might get a little confused at first. So you'll understand how pathetic my setup is - here ya go: Fostex 6 Track (cassette tape) recorder (about 7 years old but still works perfectly). Out to a Sony CD Burner (stand alone studio unit) and in the signal path I have an older Alesis Reverb/Delay unit, a Compressor Limiter, and a stereo EQ (16 band). For mics I use 4 MXL cheap sets (2 for about $60 that come in a set) and some headphones.. doh! This setup suits my songwriting purposes (I use one track for rhythm, one track for vocal, one track for lead and leave the 4th one open for some additional licks or dual lead riffs or for some backup vocals) This all designed to just be able to burn a CD of my song ideas and give them to the other band members so they have time to work up their parts before we get together to rehearse them and make changes - which we always do like most folks I'm guessing. The biggest reason I took Phil's invitation here is because we've built a dedicated studio for recording, and have the sound room complete, we're using a Yamaha 16 track mixer and our main goal - is to record and burn directly to CD for our master recordings for an all original CD we've been working on much longer than I ever thought it would take. Quite a learning process but we're getting comfortable in the studio now - we just don't have the gear or setup to do a really fantastic Master recording of the entire band. I have built some roll around plywood and insulated amp "closets" enclosures for isolating the amps - I have been in a professional studio enough to know some of the basic isolating techniques - what I need is a good EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND USER FRIENDLY direct to CD hardware. I think I've rambled enough - somebody help me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 Hi Rev, glad you stopped in. You have two basic choices - hardware or software. Hardware units generally offer better portability, but usually less in the way of tracks and overall flexibility and features. Going with software means you need to use a computer (duh! ), and ideally you'd want one that you can dedicate to use only for studio duties. A laptop can offer a bit more mobility than a desktop unit, so if you want to be able to take it on the road or be able to record remote gigs, that may be a consideration, but in general, desktop / tower systems tend to be faster and more expandable. A big consideration will be the I/O (input / output) requirements for the computer's audio interface. You can think of that as being somewhat analogous to the amount of inputs on a live sound mixing board. If you have a small band, say an acoustic duo, you only need a small mixing board to handle the relatively small number of inputs, but a larger band needs a bigger board; especially if you want to mic the drum kit. A computer audio interface is similar. If you're planning on only recording yourself playing acoustic guitar, then overdubbing some lead electric, then a bass, etc... you can get by with an interface with just a couple of inputs, but if you want to record a whole band's rhythm section simultaneously (gtr / bass / drums / scratch vocal, etc.), you'd need considerably more inputs on your audio interface - eight as a bare minimum. So that's our first question - what do you need from your system; what do you plan on recording? We need to know that in order to narrow down the recommendations. You'll also probably need some mic preamps. Some audio interfaces include mic preamps, but usually not enough for a full band's worth of tracks at once. Please tell us a bit more about what you'd like the system to be able to do, and that will help us give you some more specific suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members papa taco Posted September 4, 2007 Members Share Posted September 4, 2007 Mullet-rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimOBrien Posted September 4, 2007 Members Share Posted September 4, 2007 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/0764516345/102-9059220-3248917?v=glance&n=283155&%3Bn=507846&%3Bs=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...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave drums Posted September 10, 2007 Members Share Posted September 10, 2007 I like my Tascam 2488 all in one machine. Lot's of bang for the buck & the new Mark-2 version is even nicer & about $500.00 less than when I got mine in 05. Dave H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brian123 Posted September 10, 2007 Members Share Posted September 10, 2007 I have the Korg3200 stand alone unit. 32 tracks 24 bit sound ,great effects. I can record a band easily here. Great value. The main drawback is small display screen no vga outputs like the Roland . This can be overcome with a magnifier glass attached to the unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C JoGo Posted September 13, 2007 Members Share Posted September 13, 2007 [quote=1DZReverendDavidLee;23721567 what I need is a good EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND USER FRIENDLY direct to CD hardware. I think I've rambled enough - somebody help me. Masterlink via a DEQ 2496 ---about $ 6-700 total ( just grabbed the suggested 2 units > used ~~ for another studio ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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