Music Industry Discussion

I am staring up a band and already have some original stuff. but i dont have anything to record it on, so my question is, what would be a good, affordable piece of recording equipment i could use, maybe even only temporarily to get some of this original stuff on a disc?

Howdy
Well I got a whole system rack with protools disc burner, mixer..just about all the stuff a studio has..but it cost me 15,000....but was worth it.

Then, again, there's "Sony Acid Music Studio" for $70.

Cakewalk do a cheap and simple bit of sequencing software called Guitar Tracks that's just for that sort of thing. Good entry-level bit of software. Or Cakewalk's Home Studio is another entry level one, though a bit more expensive.

In time you can then start saving for something like Sonar.

Either a zoom portable four-track or a piece of kit called a guitar port. You can plug everything into it on a basic jack plug, ie. by using your guitar leads you can record vocals, keyboards and anything and everything else you would like. Most of the zoom ones have built-in mics/pre-amps aswell as basslines and well in excess of 300 pre-programmed and editable drum patterns for just about every style imaginable.

Hope that helps. All this would cost you about 100-200 pounds, which would probs be cheaper in the States. So look online for best price. Good luck

James

www.myspace.com/wildflowersinopenbloom

^^for an example of what can be achieved using the software and hardware mentioned above^^

If you have a computer and decent sound card allready the advice you have been given is fan-diddley-tastic.
If you don't, and wanna go real low budget($40)... most music stores will rent you a four track if you have good credit. You could also consider buying a cheap four track... some have pointed out the zoom stuff - look on music go round . com and you should see tons of "under $400" options.... but if going this route I'd almost go and get a four track reel to reel(they sound great and they are relatively easy to use!).
If you go software...
if you wanna have any midi control... go with sonar(WIDGETS!!!!!)
if you wanna have more audio options (embeded)... go with cubase
if you wanna be an idiot that has no talent but comes off sounding like the next techno producer...
go with acid.
that's my 2 cents.

Def CakeWalk Guitar Trax Pro, it's cheap and easy to use. If you don't have a decent sound card (the one that came with the computer is not a decent one!!), then turn the line in volume up one notch only or it will sound like crap. Creative makes some OK cards with lots of ports, no pro stuff, but they work really well for the money. If you stick with the original card, go to radio shack and get 1/8" th 1/4 inch adaptors to run into your line in. BE CAREFUL, this will be heavy, and repeated plugging will break the jack. Get a small bheringer board, the're real cheap (40 bucks) and use that for your pre mix. If you're useing an amp modeler (like a line 6) just run it line out to the board, this will sound the better than micing, as you will have the flexability to turn things off, and not have to worry that the mic moved. Run the bass direct into the board, it will be much more solid than tryin' to mic a cab. Drums are going to be a pain in the ass to get clean, good luck, be patient. In case you haven't noticed, I strongly recomend recording one track at a time. Do your drums first. You can put head phones on you drummer to hear the guitar, and play along, or better yet, a click track. Setting a deffinate tempo will ease the editing process.............whew! sound like alot of crap, I know, but it's not that hard, plan ahead, and pay attention to levels. Upgrade your RAM as muck as you can afford!! This will keep the 'puter from going into seizures.........
We've been recording for years, and our first setup was recycled junk, but it sounded pretty OK. If you want help with the do's and don'ts.........just hit me up on my myspace http://www.myspace.com/darkhollowgrave
of e-mail me at [email protected]
good luck, keep it kill!

Go Here http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/index. ... on=details
and download Krystal audio engine to your computer free.
this is very good recording software that is avalable free of charge
you can record with any mixer avalable on the market or you can even buy an inexpensive behringer mixer and a Behringer UCA 202 audio interface to record directly to your computer.
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If you want a professional sound for a resonable price look at apple computers and Logic studio. I have used it for years and always been happy with the result. You will also need a Digital Audio Interface but all shops and ebay are full of decent ones. One thing though, if you have no recording or production experience better off using a studio. No one wants to listen to live demos, presentation is everything. And studios are super cheap these days.

Thanks

BOSS makes several decent recording units that are out of the box ready and easy to use. I would say for someone starting out these are much easier and hassle free to use.

Is the sound quality fantastic, no. It is decent enough though and probably about the same as cakewalk or better.

youre looking at about $800. There are batter optiions like pro tools and things like that but that is alot more money to spend, and pro tools is more of an advanced program.

*M-audio 440 or firewire 1814 preamp
*Apex435 Wide Diaphragm Condenser or get a normal Shure sm58 or sm57 mic (which you would want for live performances anyway)
*THe software already suggested is great, but you can use a free one as well called: audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)

Then you are good to go.

Regards.

So many different roads to take on this one. Depends on what you want the recordings for. Is it for yourself to listen to the band and see what improvements you can make? Are you wanting a good demo to hand out to clubs for gigs? Do you want a pretty good CD to sell or give away at shows? Do you want a CD good enough to sell anywhere? Are you wanting to get into recording anyway, or just doing it for band purposes? A lot of us that have been doing home recording for a while take it for granted as being easy, but having the equipment and knowing how to get a good recording takes time. Do you want to take the time away from rehearsing and writing songs to learn this new skill? Seems everybody and their little brother have a home recording studio nowadays and it might be easier to find someone already into it that would love to have a band come in and record so that they can ply their skills and do it cheap if not free. I started out with a Yamaha 4-track cassette recorder and now have a 40 X 20 foot building with all the equipment I have collected over the years and an Alesis HD24 24 track digital recorder for a "home" studio. Yes, it has and is taking time away from my playing, but I always liked running live sound almost as much as playing so the transition into recording and getting the best sound possible was easy for me. I've also learned that I can get better recordings for others than I can for myself. Now I have a friend who has taken the full course at the Recording Workshop and we are rebuilding the studio from an open area demo studio into a pro studio with separate drum room, vocal booths and such. But when I am ready to record my own stuff, my friend will be pushing all the buttons while I concentrate only on my music.

well from the replies i've seen sofar everyone has good advice. But what i use has not been posted yet.

For recording rehearsal and live preformances i use a" Boss micro br". it is very portable the buildin mic picks up everything well and convert the recording to "WAV or MP3 format" then i transfer it to my computer by USB port. the short end is it eats up batteries so get an adaptor for the power. The features i like are mic sensivity adjustments, and other features reverb, etc. i also use it to lay my guitar tracks or other line inst. check it out at the boss web site.

My other recorder is a Yamaha AW1600 it's a 16 track recorder with CD burner. I use this in my studio only. it has 8 inputs so everyone can plug in and record at 24 bits. Very clean recordings. somewhat easy to operate.

I decided not to go with software because i wanted to use my computer for other things. in the beginning i used Cake walk, Sonic, and Cubebase and became frustrated with seting it up and probleshooting problems. some of my friends sware by it but it was not the right fit for me. whatever you decide remenber you will have to figure out how to track you drum and your vocal one at a time becuase the mics will pick at the same time. I like useing an electronic drum set to record and preform with but my drummer is very old school and ignorant about technology so when we want to cut cd's i always record drummer and vocals separate.

The boss micro br is what i would get first. i use it more than the Yahama. I use it to prove to my girlfriend she snores and it picks up every little sharp and flat!!!

Shugablue was recorded with my Boss micro br anthough the vocals was a little far off because of the placment of the recorder.
the rest was recorded with the Yamaha AW1600

My recommendation, partially covered above, is to start with Cakewalk's Guitar Tracks Pro. It's an older piece of software, but it's cheap ($50) and will give you a very good digital recording and mixing studio on your Windows PC - even an old PC will work because the software is from the 2004 era.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=704988

Next you need an interface to the PC. If you invest in an expensive soundcard, you can plug directly into the PC. However, Line 6 has an inexpensive device, the Toneport UX2 ($99), that you can jack your guitar into or mic into, and then connect via a USB cable to the PC. With the Line 6 hardware you get Line 6's Gearbox amp modeling, which is very good, so you can play directly into the device and not worry about micing your amp.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=249701

For advice on how to set up and use, both manfucaturers, Cakewalk and Line 6, have excellent online forums and user communities.

So there you go. For $150 you have a digital recording studio (old beat up PC and transcendent musical skills not included).

Musician's Friend should send me commission $...