General Music Chat

Jahva

I got Maudio and Reaper but I'm using the same Shure mic I 'sing' through. Got interrupted by a spot of ill health but ready to get back on it.

I learned the other night (while playing bass with an ad hoc band) that I need to hear better when I play - standing close to a drummer made it difficult so I bought a 100.00 senheiser headphone set that really works well and I can use for recording too.

I'm guessing I'll need a better mic.

Have six songs I want to record soonest.

You always have good tips and your stuff sounds good so as we say in Georgia, 'the quality of the puddin' is in the eatin'!'

Talbot

There's a lot of awesome info here guys, thanks a lot. Like I said in new, lol so every bit of info helps. Thanks again

Glenny, did you download that ok? I can send it to you if you can't get it

Actually Buz I just posted it for you. I made some very subtle changes. You are going to have to be the judge to learn. Compare them so you start to see that it would be easy to destroy your track or help clarify it. I didn't post your original version, you can do that.

It is on my page, just click on my ugly face. By the way you can listen to some stuff I recorded a long long time before you were born.

Actually Buz I just posted it for you. I made some very subtle changes. You are going to have to be the judge to learn. Compare them so you start to see that it would be easy to destroy your track or help clarify it. I didn't post your original version, you can do that.

It is on my page, just click on my ugly face. By the way you can listen to some stuff I recorded a long long time before you were born.

I just posted it under NEW GUYS SONG. (2nd time)

On gear:

Monitors - very important when mixing. The bigger, the better. One way to compensate for cheap monitors and untreated mixing space is to burn CD copies (WAV, not MP3) and listen on different systems - your living room stereo, DVD surround sound system, car, friend's place, etc. Also, use a reference mix - a commercial recording (CD) of music that sounds similar to yours.
Headphones - closed back for monitoring previously-recorded tracks while recording. Better ones ($100 range) will not cause ear fatigue and give a better non-biased sound. Cheap ones can be had which will work fine for tracking though - I got some Sonys for $20 on ebay.
Software - Reaper is the least-expensive full-featured DAW available. Others - Cubase, ProTools, Logic, whatever, have different GUIs, find the one you like to work with and learn it. Reaper is free to download and try out - with all features, not a 'Limited' edition.

Jahva - caution on that 'portable sound booth'. Moving blankets can indeed block out unwanted room reflections - if you've got a room with sheetrock walls and little sound absorbancy, they may help with flutter echo issues. BUT those instructions on the 1.25" PVC - "no glue" - use glue on the 'feet' (tee's with extensions), or they will rotate around on you. You'll also find that 6' tall stands with the weight of a moving blanket clipped on them are pretty flimsy and bend alot - take a length of pipe (they are 10 ft at Home Depot/Lowes) and hold by one end to see how much they bend. Several years ago I used 2" PVC to make a portable keyboard stand, and even the 3' lengths had some bend to them.

To all: the forums at homerecording.com can give you a lot of useful information on equipment and studio-building.
In my 'to build' list next are bass traps - 2'x 3.5' x 4" thk that can be hung from the walls or ceiling and/or free-standing and stacked to make a controlled 'sound booth'. The insulation in them needs to be compressed rockwool or fiberglass (not the 'fluffy' stuff), but they are easy to make.

Jahva

I got Maudio and Reaper but I'm using the same Shure mic I 'sing' through. Got interrupted by a spot of ill health but ready to get back on it.

I learned the other night (while playing bass with an ad hoc band) that I need to hear better when I play - standing close to a drummer made it difficult so I bought a 100.00 senheiser headphone set that really works well and I can use for recording too.

I'm guessing I'll need a better mic.

Have six songs I want to record soonest.

You always have good tips and your stuff sounds good so as we say in Georgia, 'the quality of the puddin' is in the eatin'!'

Talbot

Thanks Mike T... yeah man headphones are as important as everything else when recording. Well if you work alone they are. Worth spending the extra on.

Also you can get pretty reasonable quality sounds plugging your guitar right into the interface box. The amp mods make life a lot easier today. Granted you're not going to fool most musicians but as a demo they work well. I have a Vox AD30VT and I hardly use it for recording. Too much work!

Mike I'll check with the guy I got the instruction from. He's been using that set-up for about a year now. I believe the no glue was for portability. I suppose if you set it up and have no intentions on moving it glueing would be fine. If time permits I'm going to see what I can put together over this weekend.
With a voice like mine I can use all the help I can get...

Glenny, from what i can hear, my vocals sound clearer, and the guitar part seems brighter, im not sure if those are the right words to describe them, but thats what i hear lol

I only use DT 770 Pros for recording. They sound as good as monitors to my ears and when played on a good stereo system they sound as recorded. They have a very flat response so you don't get any unexpected surprises when you listen to them on MP3 players or through a good car stereo system.

Jahva

I've been unable to get my guitar to go straight in with out a mic. Admittedly, I'm dumb as a post but I was trying it so I could control the sound a bit better.

Talbot

Mike which interface do you have?
Other than plugging it in you should have an Audio input path selector in your mix window.
The MAudio Fastrack is set-up so if you're using a mic (xlr connection) you would select In- 1 in the mix software for the channel your recording
And 2 for the 1/4 inch jack (guitar cable)



It took me half a day to figure this out... dumb as post you're not alone.

Jahva, I like that interface, that's pretty much all/exactly what I need

Depending on what electric guitar sound you are looking for and what the ultimate aim of the recording is (demo or commercial release), you may not be able to get a good DI sound, no matter what guitar-amp software you use. Many guitarists only want the true warm saturated sound you get from a tube amp, and the only way to record that sound is with a mic-ed cabinet - but of course you need a decent room to record in and the ability to adjust the volume to where you need it make your sound. That's not always an option for the home recordist.

On sale right now:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PTMboxMini/