Kevin R
Alright so my gf loves to sing and now that we have our own house i want to surprise her with a room of her own so she can record herself and i can record my acoustic and electric guitar. I want to record to a desktop. I already have a very good desktop computer but what other hardware wil i need. Will i need a mixing board remember this is basic stuff im not planning to make my own tracks just guitar and vocals. Will i need an audio interface. Basically my question is how can i get the music into the computer.
Answer
Audio interface, a decent microphone, some studio headphones, the appropriate cables and whatnot, and a decent program for it.
As far as the audio interface goes, if you follow one of the links in the other answer you'll see that one of the options is the Lexicon Alpha. I'm using that myself, and I am very impressed with the quality of it. It's a great unit at a very cheap price! Just make sure you install the ASIO drivers for it, those are the best quality drivers for that product.
I highly recommend the Shure SM58. Great vocal mic, about 100$, worth every cent. Very rugged too, it's the de facto standard for stage work. Almost every gig I've played at the house has a beat up SM58 for a house mic that they've had for years - you know, the one people have dropped off the stage, puked on, spilled their drinks on, thrown around, and it still somehow works? Yeah. This is a great mic to start with, and may be the only one she'll need for a long time. At some point you guys'll probably want to step up to a condenser mic, but they are more fragile and do require phantom power (and cost a bit more). Do this first, and if she wants to step up later, do it as a christmas gift or something. =) Go ask the guys at Guitar Center, do some googling, or even feel free to email me to learn more about condenser mics before you decide to get one though!
You'll need good studio quality headphones. "Studio" just means the frequency response is flat so you hear your voice naturally, normal headphones are EQ'd to make music sound big and boomy, and if you use a normal set of headphones voices will sound different vs when you play them back over a stereo or something.
There are many ways to go for programs - Audacity is a good free program, but it is very very basic. I like Reaper, which is also basically free, but it takes some time to learn how to use it if you've never used anything like it before (no bells and whistles, exactly how I like it). There are many very good quality programs out there - Reason, Cubase, N-Track Studio, etc. The USB interface may even come with one!
Um, yeah. That's about it. Your computer will need USB ports, and should support USB 2.0 to do this correctly, or alternatively there are Firewire interfaces too. Don't do USB 1.0, make sure your computer can support USB 2.0 or Firewire, and go with one of those (better quality).
Good luck, and don't forget the mic stand! =)
Saul
Audio interface, a decent microphone, some studio headphones, the appropriate cables and whatnot, and a decent program for it.
As far as the audio interface goes, if you follow one of the links in the other answer you'll see that one of the options is the Lexicon Alpha. I'm using that myself, and I am very impressed with the quality of it. It's a great unit at a very cheap price! Just make sure you install the ASIO drivers for it, those are the best quality drivers for that product.
I highly recommend the Shure SM58. Great vocal mic, about 100$, worth every cent. Very rugged too, it's the de facto standard for stage work. Almost every gig I've played at the house has a beat up SM58 for a house mic that they've had for years - you know, the one people have dropped off the stage, puked on, spilled their drinks on, thrown around, and it still somehow works? Yeah. This is a great mic to start with, and may be the only one she'll need for a long time. At some point you guys'll probably want to step up to a condenser mic, but they are more fragile and do require phantom power (and cost a bit more). Do this first, and if she wants to step up later, do it as a christmas gift or something. =) Go ask the guys at Guitar Center, do some googling, or even feel free to email me to learn more about condenser mics before you decide to get one though!
You'll need good studio quality headphones. "Studio" just means the frequency response is flat so you hear your voice naturally, normal headphones are EQ'd to make music sound big and boomy, and if you use a normal set of headphones voices will sound different vs when you play them back over a stereo or something.
There are many ways to go for programs - Audacity is a good free program, but it is very very basic. I like Reaper, which is also basically free, but it takes some time to learn how to use it if you've never used anything like it before (no bells and whistles, exactly how I like it). There are many very good quality programs out there - Reason, Cubase, N-Track Studio, etc. The USB interface may even come with one!
Um, yeah. That's about it. Your computer will need USB ports, and should support USB 2.0 to do this correctly, or alternatively there are Firewire interfaces too. Don't do USB 1.0, make sure your computer can support USB 2.0 or Firewire, and go with one of those (better quality).
Good luck, and don't forget the mic stand! =)
Saul
A central element for my home studio?
Darek
I've been interested in home recording for two years. I have recorded some songs and voiceovers in my little home studio. Apart from sound isolation the setup is as follows:
condenser mic -> tube preamp -> audio interface -> computer + SONAR and few VST plugins.
Now, I'm starting to think of enhancing my little studio and making it semi-professional. As I'm not very much of a pro I seek advice on what should be the central element of my new setup.
I've read about mixers but I'm surely unaware of many things that perhaps seem too obvious to anyone writing reviews etc. In short, I'm looking for a device that would enable me to (this is going to sound ignorant, sorry):
- connect more than one mic/instrument to the input,
- regulate volume and basic eq for each of them,
- plug in a few pairs of headphones and monitors and be able to turn them on/off separately,
- connect it to the compuer via USB to skip the audio interface,
I imagine I just need some kind of a mixer. I hate to admit it but I'm on a limited budget.
Yes, I know that good quality comes at a price, but there's just no way around it - the cheaper the better, or, say, the better value for money the better.
Any suggestions as to what should I buy?
Answer
if you are recording through your computer, a mixer is not really needed at all. all of the essential mixing is done "inside the box". if anything you would want a control surface for the software you are using. for example, digidesign makes the 'control 24' which is a mixer for protools. a mixer like this controls the software. so when you move a fader on the mixer, you can see the same assigned fader move in your computer. this is nice, but doesn't really matter because its doing the same thing you are doing with your mouse and keyboard. old school guys like it because they would rather actually move a fader than click the mouse and drag.
you can also use a mixer and use your software strictly as a recorder. so you would use the inputs and everything from the mixer, then take the outputs of those channels into your software. the mixer wont control the software, but will allow you to use the faders and such to get the sounds, then record them into your software. again, its nice, but really isn't needed.
mixers are nice for people to see when they come over, but really you could make a good argument that they are worthless now. i would love to get a control 24 for my protools rig, but that'll run $20.000 or something outragous like that.
you can probably find a mixer that you can use to connect via USB to your computer. my guess is that it will be pretty expensive, and it may not cooperate with the software you currently use. do some research before buying something like that.
you could get a bigger interface which would allow you to connect more things. the volume, and eq would be controlled on each track within the software you use. i think the Mbox has 4 inputs or something, and comes with protools. there are also various other interfaces that have a lot more inputs that may work for you.
what you want to add really depends on what you record. if you do a lot of vocal stuff, you may want to get some plug-ins, or an auto-tune or something. for hip-hop maybe a sampler, or some loop software.
you can never have enough mics. you could look into purchasing another good quality mic. for vocals and or acoustic, i really like the Rode NT1a ($240).
you could get some outboard gear like a good quality reverb unit. outboard gear like that requires space, so think about that. you can probably get some good plug-ins for the same price and not waste any space.
you could also upgrade your software. i'm not familiar with sonar, so i can't say whats better or anything, but it may be something to look at. if you eventually want to get into professional recording, invest in protools. you can take the files to professional studios and use their consoles to mix if you have protools.
if i had some extra cash i'd invest in a small tape machine. i really like the sound of tape, and for me it'd be a nice addition. depending on what your doing and familiar with, this may or may not be a good investment for you.
hopefully that helps, if not contact me, and i can try to explain further, or answer any other questions
good luck
if you are recording through your computer, a mixer is not really needed at all. all of the essential mixing is done "inside the box". if anything you would want a control surface for the software you are using. for example, digidesign makes the 'control 24' which is a mixer for protools. a mixer like this controls the software. so when you move a fader on the mixer, you can see the same assigned fader move in your computer. this is nice, but doesn't really matter because its doing the same thing you are doing with your mouse and keyboard. old school guys like it because they would rather actually move a fader than click the mouse and drag.
you can also use a mixer and use your software strictly as a recorder. so you would use the inputs and everything from the mixer, then take the outputs of those channels into your software. the mixer wont control the software, but will allow you to use the faders and such to get the sounds, then record them into your software. again, its nice, but really isn't needed.
mixers are nice for people to see when they come over, but really you could make a good argument that they are worthless now. i would love to get a control 24 for my protools rig, but that'll run $20.000 or something outragous like that.
you can probably find a mixer that you can use to connect via USB to your computer. my guess is that it will be pretty expensive, and it may not cooperate with the software you currently use. do some research before buying something like that.
you could get a bigger interface which would allow you to connect more things. the volume, and eq would be controlled on each track within the software you use. i think the Mbox has 4 inputs or something, and comes with protools. there are also various other interfaces that have a lot more inputs that may work for you.
what you want to add really depends on what you record. if you do a lot of vocal stuff, you may want to get some plug-ins, or an auto-tune or something. for hip-hop maybe a sampler, or some loop software.
you can never have enough mics. you could look into purchasing another good quality mic. for vocals and or acoustic, i really like the Rode NT1a ($240).
you could get some outboard gear like a good quality reverb unit. outboard gear like that requires space, so think about that. you can probably get some good plug-ins for the same price and not waste any space.
you could also upgrade your software. i'm not familiar with sonar, so i can't say whats better or anything, but it may be something to look at. if you eventually want to get into professional recording, invest in protools. you can take the files to professional studios and use their consoles to mix if you have protools.
if i had some extra cash i'd invest in a small tape machine. i really like the sound of tape, and for me it'd be a nice addition. depending on what your doing and familiar with, this may or may not be a good investment for you.
hopefully that helps, if not contact me, and i can try to explain further, or answer any other questions
good luck
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