General Music Chat

Hey everyone, first off, im new to the forum, so be gentle. Second, i have been recording for about a year now, and i have to say, i should have taken the advice of not getting a usb mic for recording music. But that aside im ready to upgrade and get an interface and an actual mic. Im looking for the best set up i can get without going over about $250. I know thats not a big budget, but, thats why they call it a budget. Im recording primarily acoustic guitar and vocals. All input is much appreciated. Thanks.

Bare bones bottom dollar rig that will sound like a million dollar studio:
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... KPLUS-LIST
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-ROD-NT1A-LIST

Work overtime, collect aluminum cans, offer to wipe up the oil spots in Jimmy's garage. Just get it.

J 7 is one cool dude and he is pointing you in some possible directions.

Sorry if I have to crash this back to reality. $250 is nothing. I bet you can't pay a months car insurance with that, let alone a weeks rent.

I would think about a used digi recorder. Before Guitar center gets you to spend a bunch of money on stuff you don't need... before you get to excited about playing and recording...

It is very difficult to start a multi million dollar company on a limited budget.

Just saying...

I'll disagree with Glenny here - don't go for a digital recorder unless you want extreme portability.

If you shop ebay, you may snag a mic and used interface at your budget level, but it could crap out on you, too.

There are a few half-decent audio interfaces under $100 - the Roland Duo-capture, Alesis iO2. Browse here: http://www.sweetwater.com/c695--USB_Aud ... s/low2high

For mics, the AKG Perception 220 http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Percep120/ and Audio Technica AT2020 http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AT2020/ are considered 'decent for $100.

You'll do better to spend more money on the AI at first - more simultaneous inputs, line-in inputs, instrument inputs, etc all add to the cost but are features that you will find useful in the future - as you found from your USB mic, what seems like 'all you need' today may not serve the purpose tomorrow!

Check out the forums at homerecording.com - tons of useful info there.

Guitar mike and Johnny 7, thank you guys both, lots of good info there, exactly what im looking for. Glenny, thanks for nothing, the reason there is a budget for the set up is because of, rent, car payment/insurance, groceries, etc. But thank you for clarifying that for me. Also, im not building a million dollar company, im trying to set up something up so when i put a lot of time and effort into(music) the end results reciprocates that work. I dont need to sound like Cris Cornell pealing paint off walls, i just dont want my recordings to sound like crap.

Sorry Mike, I was looking at it from the frustration point of view. I was thinking of a younger person recording some homegrown tunes... COOL...

But as soon as you get into computer recording and mics and interfaces...

We are talking about STEEP learning curves and expensive mistakes.

Been there done that back in the early 90s... just to avoid buying an Otari or any other such recording system.

Young Player... The equivalent today is a used digital recorder. Yesterday it was a cassette recorder.

Guitar mike and Johnny 7, thank you guys both, lots of good info there, exactly what im looking for. Glenny, thanks for nothing, the reason there is a budget for the set up is because of, rent, car payment/insurance, groceries, etc. But thank you for clarifying that for me. Also, im not building a million dollar company, im trying to set up something up so when i put a lot of time and effort into(music) the end results reciprocates that work. I dont need to sound like Cris Cornell pealing paint off walls, i just dont want my recordings to sound like crap.

You Sound like some young kid that wants every thing for free. It's funny that you re quoted the very reasons that I stated.

Sorry dude... You are so full of yourself that you will never understand until you stop and listen.

PS... POST SOME MUSIC. Then you can show us your balls!

I bought my Interface for $98 on ebay.
It's MAudio Fast track which came with Pro-Tools Essentials 8. Only allows 16 tracks to a song but its been more than enough for what I do. Only allows two tracks to be recorded at a time... I work alone so it works for me. Has phantom power capabilities.
Was new when I bought it.

Audio Tech. 20/20 mic for $77.00 with a stand on ebay (good mic for acoustics and vocals) You can get them as a usb or xlr.
Like new condition.

MAudio BX5 monitors on sale for $150.00 Guitar Center

Headphones easy $50-$100.00 even on sale for a decent pair

I also have a Gretsch snare at my disposal now.

That's bare bones... I also use a cheap Yamaha Keyboard for piano,Keyboard and percussion sounds

This was (is) a low budget set up don't know if you can do it for much less.
But hey it works for me... Eventually you can do some room treatment or sound conditioning to get better quality recordings.
This will be my next project one of these days...
http://www.palmcitystudios.com/timobrie ... booth.html
Cheers!

Oh Glenny, i quoted those things because i am responsible for paying those things every month, you're initial comment made it seem like i had no idea what any of those things actually cost per month, thats why it was quoted. As far as me wanting everything for free, im very aware nothing is free, you couldnt be more off, im not going to bore you with a life story all i can say is, joined the military at 17 served 6 years as a combat medic just so i could afford college, support myself and my girlfriend, etc. As far as "showing you my balls" heres a link to my reverbnation page with three songs on it, whether you like them or not is none of my concern, so feel free to suck......on my balls.

http://www.reverbnation.com/censusofnow ... r_icon_nav

thanks a lot Jahva!

We use an m-audio USB interface ($99) with a shure SM58 vocal mic ($102). Cubase SE came out to about $150 with a student discount. The music I have posted on my profile is recorded with these and some people here said it sounded decent. With your budget, it's very possible to good recording.

Lots of different tools available depending on where you are now and where you want to go.

For a quality project studio recording multitrack the M-Audio/Rode rig posted above is hard to beat. No reason to buy a bunch of inputs if you are not recording a band and you don't have a bunch of mics.

If you just need high quality stereo demos a Zoom H1 is a winner at $130:
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... QgodOT0ASA

If you own an iphone, This is a great way to do audio and video demos that you can transfer to your Mac for processing:
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-TAS-IM2-LIST
Forum member Neanderpaul has posted a bunch of stuff that was recorded on this with stunning results.

Remember whatever tools you choose, the results are only as good as the skills of the user.

Ok dude. Here is a deal just because I'm in a good mood..
If you give me permission I'll down load that song you have on video and remix it to some minor extent... Just to show you what you need to learn.

The only reason why I would even offer this is because you need to have your understanding of talent... widened.

I didn't think it was a bad song. What you don't know, isn't helping you.

Johnny 7 thanks again brother, Faceless, thank you as well. Glenny, im not sure what "the only reason why I would even offer this is because you need to have your understanding of talent... widened" exactly meant. What i do know is that i have a lot to learn, and thats why im asking questions. I would actually appreciate you remixing the song very much, because i love to hear other musicians opinions and remixes on songs i do. Because im new at this, and thats exactly how im going to learn is from people like all of you with experiance. I wasnt trying to be a punk ass, i just didnt appreciate the fact that i put up a post asking a question and got a sarcastic response. Thank you in advanced if you remix that. Not everyone in their 20's wants handouts and takes everything for granted, i hope you realize that.

Johnny 7 thanks again brother, Faceless, thank you as well. Glenny, im not sure what "the only reason why I would even offer this is because you need to have your understanding of talent... widened" exactly meant. What i do know is that i have a lot to learn, and thats why im asking questions. I would actually appreciate you remixing the song very much, because i love to hear other musicians opinions and remixes on songs i do. Because im new at this, and thats exactly how im going to learn is from people like all of you with experiance. I wasnt trying to be a punk ass, i just didnt appreciate the fact that i put up a post asking a question and got a sarcastic response. Thank you in advanced if you remix that. Not everyone in their 20's wants handouts and takes everything for granted, i hope you realize that.

Ok give 20 minutes.