recording on a budget/ and getting the best sound??
Posted:
Sat Aug 23, 2008 8:01 amby lanzar13
hey all what is the best thing that my band can buy to record our songs on a budget... should we but a digital 4 track and buy some mics or should i buy software to use on my computer...right now we us a mini disc player.. we want to get a better sound with out putting out alot of money....the mini disc player is o.k but we can only us one mic.. what do you all think is the best thing to use to record a band jamming in the living room of our house??
Posted:
Sat Aug 23, 2008 1:38 pmby Franny
I've heard people rave about this.
http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod ... &brandID=4
I don't know anything about the piece of equipment.
Living room jam recording? condensor mic, computer, software (Audacity)
Posted:
Sat Aug 23, 2008 3:52 pmby Rick Stringfellow
I agree. If you have some sort of audio editing software, get the H4 ($300) or the H2 ($200). They're like a mic, preamp, dynamics processor, and A/D converter all in one piece of highly portable gear. You don't even really need the software unless you want to edit what you record (which undoubtedly you will). But you could, conceivably, record with just the H2/4 and listen to it in iTunes (or something similar).
By far, the cheapest and easiest program to use IMHO is Garage Band. I cut my sequencing teeth on Cakewalk (pre-Sonar) - bought several books and spent dozens of hours learning how to use it. Most of Garage Band you can figure out just poking around. It's like, "I wonder if this will work?" - and you try it, and it does! An acquaintance of mine just bought a used iMac for $45 and they, like all macs, come with Garage Band bundled in free. I tried to help someone figure out Band-In-A-Box, thinking it was similar to Garage Band, and we couldn't even get the file we wanted to load into the sequencer. It's like trying to build a house with a screwdriver and a picture of Frank Sinatra. Had a similar although infinitely more frustrating experience with Cubase.
So, if you've got $200 to spend, get the H2. $300? Get the H4 - if you can find anything it can do that the H2 can't. (I think the only capability it has over the H2 is inputs for external mics. But the ones that come built in sound better than anything you could buy for under $150 - and the H2/4 already has four of them!). If you've got some form of audio editing capability, you're on your way - and if you've got a mac, you're almost done.
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