Help Recording Equip/software newb

rabbalian

Hey, everybody. I play an electric guitar (with access to an electric acoustic) and my friend plays bass guitar; my friend also has a pretty nice laptop running Windows.

We're looking to buy some kind of software, or equipment (I don't know - this is why I'm asking for advice), that will let us both record our instruments so we can lay down some tracks. We also sing, though, so I assume we'll need a microphone for this (more ??). We have no idea where to start; everything seems expensive - $200+ - and I don't want us to get tricked by the local Guitar Center employees.

What's some good software for some recording newbs? Is there like a special USB hook-up to connect microphone and amp outputs? Or do we get some kind of external equipment? Any special hardware? Listen, I know NOTHING about how to go about this so please, even if it seems obvious, can I get some advice?

Dark_Side

Something like this is where I would start looking. I should note that this on the cheaper side, but as you go up in price you get more options and perks.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/E-MU-0202-USB-2-0-Audio-interface-240552-i1172061.gc

This comes with recording software, that while limited compared to what the pro versions can do, is perfectly fine for a couple of guys screwing around and making demos.

You will also need a microphone, preferably a condenser mic for recording instruments, although they make vocals sound extremely dry I feel. Anyway, do your research, google beginning recording and so on. You'll have to stay with external hardware since it's a laptop and you can't go swapping pci cards willy nilly, but you should be able to get a nice setup for under 300 bucks.

rabbalian

Thank you very much! I'll see how all this goes, look around some more.

We went to Guitar Center today, actually, and the guy recommended Sonar/Sonic/Solar something for software and then another external piece of hardware something like I think you're advising

mooshoepork

In terms of software, I sometimes use Audacity. It's free.

I also use Adobe audition, which isn't. I often find myself recording in Audacity, then mastering in Adobe Audition.

tony_important

You might want to look into getting a small 4 channel mixer, and an external sound card that has a stereo input.

I'd recommend this for the external card, as it will run stereo through USB into your computer. The sound is pretty good, so long as you have a good mixer and a good set of mics.

For software, audacity is good. I use ACID pro, which is ok. Again, I'm not doing anything professional right now though; my band is kind of just jamming to write out songs. If you get your mix down right, it'll sound pretty good.

acidlacedpenguin

when my band was recording our practices we were just using a Sure SM58 (~$80 CDN) mic pointed staight at the carpet in the center of the room, connected directly to my laptop's mic port, recording it in Audacity.

Audacity has some crash bugs that would piss me off when I was editing stuff later, but it was always a solvable problem.

Pheezer

Audacity is free and good.

If you're not recording drums, you really just need one mic for each amp and each vocalist. If you're smart and can operate a metronome & an MP3 player, you can record track at a time, and do a track for each instrument (bass, then guitar, then vocals). Audacity makes it easy to line up the tracks and export a single wave file.

If you want to record drums, you'll need at least a kick mic (most vocal/instrument mics are not sensitive enough in the kick's pitch range) and a full range mic. So you'll need a mixer that handles at least 2 channels (4 channel mixers are more common and not much more expensive). You may find that you can get away with recording this way if the acoustics are really ideal and you're not very picky about the drum mix.

I would in actuality recommend a full set of drum mics (so a group of 7 mics in total, at least) to get a decent drum sound. This means you actually will need an 8 channel mixer as I've never seen a 7 channel mixing board.

So for now I would suggest getting a single decent full range mic and something that can get that input into your computer. At the same time, start saving up for an 8 channel mixer, and then start collecting microphones. You'll likely find you want a dedicated vocal mic, and some better instrument mics after a little while, if you don't find yourself collecting drum mics.

rabbalian

Thanks a lot everybody! Maybe we'll check some of this stuff out come the weekend and I'll let ya'll know what's good

tony_important

Pheezer wrote: »

If you want to record drums, you'll need at least a kick mic (most vocal/instrument mics are not sensitive enough in the kick's pitch range) and a full range mic. So you'll need a mixer that handles at least 2 channels (4 channel mixers are more common and not much more expensive). You may find that you can get away with recording this way if the acoustics are really ideal and you're not very picky about the drum mix.

I would in actuality recommend a full set of drum mics (so a group of 7 mics in total, at least) to get a decent drum sound. This means you actually will need an 8 channel mixer as I've never seen a 7 channel mixing board.

I have a set of these for recording drums, they work really well for a demo sound. We had to tweak the mics sound out on the mixer to get a sound that wasn't too boxy, but overall they make for a good sound. Of course the MSRP is a bit disconcerting.

A couple of SM57's will do you ok, but if you're going to be recording bass and want it to sound GOOD you're going to have to get a direct-in box. We use one that's built into my friend's amp, but I'm in the process of tracking one down.

I guess the only thing that is kind of a set back about using a mics-->mixer-->computer set up is that you have to do all of your mixing ahead of time if you're going to record live off of the floor... that is unless you're well rehearsed. Multi-tracking will hurt less if you play to a click track.

garroad_ran

My first recording setup ever was an 8 channel behringer mixer outputting to the line in on my computer, running Cakewalk Sonar.

Nowadays I use Cubase, but either of those programs is going to get expensive and probably beyond what you need right now. I'm not familiar with any free or less expensive products so I can't help you on that front. However, you might be able to pick up a soundcard for your computer that comes bundled with some recording software. My Presonus Firepod came bundled with Cubase LE.

If you're going to spend money on recording equipment, spend the bulk of your money on anything that is used to convert a signal. Microphones, Analog-Digital converters (ie. your soundcard), and speakers. These are your best investments because they'll last you forever. There will always be a newer and better recording program out there, but a good microphone from the 1970s is still a good microphone today.

The soundcard on your laptop won't exactly give you a great recording interface or high quality sound. Take a look at buying an external (firewire is preferrable to USB) soundcard such as this one. That little box there can be your souncard and your microphone preamps so that you won't need a mixer. It will also let you plug in and record four different sources at the same time, to separate tracks.

So, let's say that you and your friend are playing and singing at the same time. Guitar and bass can plug in direct, and two mics for vocals can plug into the XLR inputs. Then you set up your recording program so that each input gets its own track. If someone flubs a part in the song you can go back and edit that part out because it is on its own individual track, and you can overdub it without affecting the other instruments.

As for microphones, I second the SM57 suggestion. A great all-purpose dynamic microphone that you will ALWAYS have a use for, no matter how deep you go into the whole recording thing. Whether you're recording yourself in your bedroom or recording a major band in a million-dollar studio.

I guess overall the best thing I can tell you is that your first recording gear will be more of a learning experience than anything else. As you experiment with it and learn its limitations you will start to learn what it is you need and want your gear to do, and if you ever decide to invest a bit more money and upgrade your gear, your second purchases will be far, far superior to anything you buy right now.

lizard eats flies

Lots of good advice in here, but i wanted to make one quick suggestion for good stuff for low cash:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/C02/

GREAT condenser mics for very little money. You'll need a mixer/soundcard thing that supports phantom power, but those have served me well. I would recommend an SM57 and a set of those and that will great start for mics. You can always buy more mics later.

Pheezer

tony_important wrote: »

A couple of SM57's will do you ok, but if you're going to be recording bass and want it to sound GOOD you're going to have to get a direct-in box. We use one that's built into my friend's amp, but I'm in the process of tracking one down.

I guess the only thing that is kind of a set back about using a mics-->mixer-->computer set up is that you have to do all of your mixing ahead of time if you're going to record live off of the floor... that is unless you're well rehearsed. Multi-tracking will hurt less if you play to a click track.

A few things:
You cannot record multi-track without a metronome. It won't work. It works BEST if you record the drums using a metronome, then put the drum track on an iPod or whatever (REMEMBER TO GIVE A 4 BEAT CLICK INTRO) and have your guitars listen to it while recording. But having each person play to a metronome in their ear works okay too.

Also guitars sound like shit recorded DI. Mic the amp. Bass guitar may or may not sound better DI, it depends on whether your bassist has a setup that lends a specific sound to it or if you just want a very generic tone to the bass guitar. I've heard really good results from micing the bass amp too. This does demand that your amps not suck, though.

Pheezer

Also if you're recording onto a PC using an external sound module just use Audacity and make sure you've got your mixer set up decently. There's not much reason to buy Cubase given your purposes for it, and Audacity is free free free.