Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

I'm in a five piece blues band and we're looking at doing some serious recording without the serious studio prices. Are any of the digital recorders/work stations worth anything? I've been looking at various makes/models and would like to hear if anybody has had any real good results with one. Thanks-Fisherman Bob

I know I'm going to catch hell for saying this but stay away from the all-in-one desktop units. On the surface they appear to have everything you need but in the end you will regret the purchase.

I've had students purchase these (many brands/models) and have never seen one that's actually worth considering. There are many reasons that the computer-based DAW's are so popular. Given the right console/pre's, interface, PC or Mac (I love both!) and software, you can have a very flexible set up that allows you do to much more than a fully-loaded Korg or Roland type rig. Don't get me wrong, these companies do have some great products but they just don't hit the mark when trying to cram everything into one box.

I'm going to catch it on this one too! If you're serious about your music but unsure of your production abilities, spend the money you do have and go to a studio. The money you save up front will cost you greatly in the quality of your final product. I have to say that just because you can afford some cool gear and your buddy knows how to set up your bedroom or basement rig does not mean you will turn out quality from the start. Notice I said from the start? We all start somewhere and need time to learn our craft. I guess this is my personal gripe of guys buying gear, building a website and living the fantasy of being a "Studio Owner" or "Recording Engineer." People like this may pull off impressing someone but the sounds they produce are unlikely to impress you the artist or better yet, your fans. What is more important?

The point I'm trying to make is spend your time and money wisely. If you want a professional product, talk to professional groups and ask them to steer you toward great engineers and great sounding rooms. Affordable, good sounding gear in a crappy room and a green engineer does not add up to a commercial quality release.

I've heard pretty much the same thing. Maybe it's just wishful thinking that something new has come out recently that's worth checking out.

I would like to go on record as being in total agreement with maiguy. The best results will come from a good studio and a rockin sound engineer. I have done alot of studio work and have purchased gear for my own studio, only after plenty of sessions, thousands of questions and some excellent professional advise. The desktop units will work and burn you a cd, but not of the same quality. The desktop units are also not very user friendly and require a major time investment for the learning curve. Up here, in Michigan, 5K will pay the studio bill and get you a great quality product. However, if you just want a demo, the Yamaha AW16G will get the job done and won't break the bank. check out ebay for this item.

I'm not looking to make a big-time studio CD, just something that will be a good representation of our sound that will help get us jobs. I know some excellent studios in the Kansas City area, one of which we'll probably end up using for the final CD recording. In the meantime I just want something to get us some jobs and not break the bank. Thanks for all the info, Bandmix has been a great source of info. I really appreciate your responses.

I can understand the temptation to "do it yourself" in regard to the recording. Consider the following. You can book 8-12 hours at most typical studios for $500-$1,000 and the fact that the quality you will get from the studio is sure to aid in your ability to book new gigs makes the return on investment a pretty decent one. Now consider the investment needed to pull off a really great recording. I've seen many bands try the DIY approach only to discover that in the end, more money is typically spent.

I'm not trying to come off as pushy. I just know how tough it is to market a band.

If you really want to go DIY for a promo disc, practice up, find a great mixing console, mics etc., rent or borrow a good stereo limiter and CD burner and track all of your tunes live to CD. The vibe will be that of your live gigs and a better representation of the band and not your editing abilities.

Once you've got good takes of your tunes, spend a bit of money to have an engineer cut the CD apart providing you with a mastered final disc.

That's actually a fun way to go if you can round up the right gear. Just make sure to take extra time on your line checks and EQ etc.

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Tascam makes a lot of decent multitrack recordings for decent prices, we had one but sold it back because a laptop with a soundblaster audigy card and cakewalk homestudio 2004 xl combined really beats any multitracker, haha..

I USE A ROLAND UNIT AND LOVE IT....BUT.... I USE IT TO RECORD MY TRACKS BECAUSE IT IS PORTABLE. I THEN PUT THE TRACKS INTO WAVE FILES, DUMP THEM ON A DISK AND MIX THEM DOWN ON A COMPUTER USING COOL EDIT PRO OR ACID WITH A BBE SONIC MAXIMIZER PLUG IN. THIS IS THE BEST RESULTS I HAVE GOTTEN AND IT IS FAIRLY EASY. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT NOTHING IS ALL IN ONE... EVERYTHING HAS IT'S STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. I USE THE COMPACT PORTABILITY OF THE RECORDER TO DO JUST THAT, RECORD. THE COMPUTER BASED SOFTWARE IS EASIER TO WORK WITH FOR A BEGINNER BECAUSE UNLESS YOU ARE DEAD, YOU PROBABLY CAN USE A COMPUTER A LITTLE; JUST POINT AND CLICK. ALSO THE COMPUTER PROGRAMS HAVE A LOT OF GOOD PRESETS, WHICH MEANS NOT ALOT OF FIGURING OUT LIKE THE DESKTOP UNITS.GET A RECORDER OR BORROW ONE, GO OUT AND GET YOUR TRACKS, THEN TAKE THEM HOME AND GET THEM AS YOU WANT THEM....HOPE IT HELPS.....JOEY Q

I use Cubase with an M-Audio pro sound card. With a certain amount of knowledge and finesse using Cubase, you get absolutely professional recordings. I've never had a problem with it. On top of that, if you work with the VST plugins, you can totally modify about all the parameters of the synths, as well as recording dynamics, over time and record those events for some pretty spectular results.

Don't be scared away. A good pro desktop system will do you well - you just have to commit some time and training.

I'm in agreement with the majority here. Money better spent on rehearsing the tunes to the nines and layin um down quickly and as live as possible in a good room with a good engineer who knows what hes doing.

That said, if you have a good sounding rehearsal space and a decent board, you might conside a good quality portable stereo digital recorder, to capture your live sound decently and fast, and then be able to transfer to computer to make mp3s or burn a 2-3 song cd to give out to venues.

I've come to the conclusion a bands precious time is better spent on the live music than on learning to opereate complicated hardware and software. and trying to put together a complicated multitracking rig.
It takes forever to learn to use the stuff, and its hard to play and operate it at the same time. Plus the recording space is usually leaves a lot to be desired, trying to cram a 5 piece band into a small crummy sounding bedroom or garage. Those kinds of projects are better left to one or two man operations with a lot of time on their hands.

I think the best home recording rig is the best PC you can buy with professional quality interfaces and software. My PC is an AMD dual core 4800+ w/4gig memory w/SATA raid drives. It screams. I've had projects with 10+ midi/VST tracks w/multiple effects and 20+ audio tracks...it holds it's own. I use Cubase SX which is optimized for dual processors.

The downside, this equipment is expenisive and it does take time to learn how to use.

The upside, once aquired and you learn what you are doing, it's at your disposal. You can wake up at 3:00am with a flash of inspiration and get with it. And it's now a fixed cost. You've bought and paid for an indefinate amount of studio time.

So it's the balancing act again. If I'm in a band that's consuming all my spare time and I'm on a tight budget and need immediate results, probably look at studio time.

I accumulated my gear and software over time, and had down periods to learn. I kept the prices somewhat reasonable by looking for ebay deals and also I built the computer myself. From my personal experience, I think the room part of the equation isn't as critical. Generally drums are what I'm most concerned with as far as using ambient mikes, but just find an OK room, just a little "live" and use the best mics and mixer you can muster up. Sometimes I record tracks on my laptop and then go back and load the tracks onto my big machine at home and do the mixing there. Got to be pretty good about mixing off of subgroups, but just takes a little practice.

your right on the money Irminsel.....I too have the M-audio pro series souncards and E-mu sound modules and the do great when you learn how to use i right. A lot of problems ppl run into are Pre-amped mixers for the inbound. Doesnt work hooked to a normal amp...you need the RECORD out or amp out features to get the sound right as well as the playback even. Like he said it may take a lot of work but save you more money then studio time...even if it is as low as 40.00 an hour or 2 hours by the time you work out each track you probably could have paid for the upgrades to your desktop.

I will never by an AMD for music ....its either MAC or Intel and thats that. Im not sayin its bad I am just going by ratings and reliability from a musicians standing. Sam ASh and guitar center sell computers Music specific w/ pro onbard sound and preloaded software such as Cubase and a bunch of other goodies starting quite reasonable. Spectral Computers are also good for pro use...so check into them!

For the money AKAI DSP24 is the only professional all in one portable recorder.

Those old Yamaha MD-8 mini-disk 8-track recorders are pretty simple for a beginner. They don't make them anymore, but you see them on eBay occasionally for not much money.

I still have mine, and it's handy for ideas that don't require studio-quality sound. They have analog instead of digital outs, but would probably work fine for a band demo. ( I paid $1100. for it back in '99.)

This is a GREAT time to buy equipment for the money, but it's best to stick to more simple units if you're just starting out.