Basic Home Recording Set-up advice needed.

racman

Ok, So my interest has been awakened by GFSA (although I'm sure my bank account will suffer ?)

As a total newbie to home recording etc I need advice on a basic set-up:

1) Do I go PC software or stand alone recorder
2) Do I need a "rhythm machine/unit" for drums, bass etc (although I can play both, I do not own the equipment) and if so, what advice on makes/models etc?
3) Is it essential that I know how to play keyboards for good results (which I don't by the way >☹)
4) What are the great buys that members have owned or reviewed, or the essential items

So what all do I need to get started.?

etc, etc, etc

dyllels

I don't know much on this topic seeing as I don't do too much recording. But my answer to number 4 is:

I find the BOSS range of digital studios REALLY user friendly and easy to get started. My BR-864 is discontinued I think, but something along those lines is really easy to work with. You can import drums from Guitar Pro, do a mixdown and export to your computer. Also has a lot of good guitar presets that help make a good sounding recording without too much hassle. ?

Remus

man... I know the questions you ask only too well, I've been suffering away with this myself...

Let me try and provide you with some of the insights I have made recently. I'm not sure what you're looking to record for. I was really looking primarily to record some backing tracks for myself. There are a number of ways to do this, without having to spend too much.

1. I use my PC. There is some great recording software out there. I recommend looking at Audacity. It's freeware, but works great and has some awesome reviews.
2. Again, there are some great drum machine emulators for the PC. I have bought BeatCraft by Acoustica... you can create your own drum tracks with ease. You can also download other tracks to use.
3. N/A
4. Using the above setup you can get away with plugging your amp straight into the line-in on your pc. Keep the levels very low and you can get away with some basic multi-track recording without laying out a small (or big) fortune.

The other option that seems to be used often is to mic the amp, the problem being of course that with mics, you get what you pay for.

I'd love to hear other responses to this as well.

Riaan

Ok, So my interest has been awakened by GFSA (although I'm sure my bank account will suffer )

Welcome to the club! I'm no expert and pretty much in the same boat as you, I'm setting up my little home studio as time and money allows - we've been discussing this for some time on the forum and there are some excellent advice from very knowledgable guys here. The route I'm going is the following:

PC - saving up to build/buy a decent PC dedicated to music recording only, which is essential: see Alan's post about the PC he built on this forum, as well as how Windows is stripped down to make it more efficient for recording.

Edirol FA-66 Firewire interface - of good enough quality and enough inputs/outputs for my present needs.

Edirol PCR 800 MIDI controller keyboard, which comes with Cakewalk LE - still have to set this up and figure it out and no, I can't play it...but I reckon it can't be too hard to learn a few basic chords and things. After all, I had a few piano lessons as a kid and could play Jingle Bells and the C-major scale! Will mainly be used to lay down some bass tracks, a bit of synth and whatever else I could squeeze out of it.

Guitar Rig 3 - from what I learned here that's the way to go.

Will get one or two mikes sometime also.

I'm fortunate enough to have been able to do some home renovations recently, and converted my old garage into a "guitar room"/studio/study for myself, and spend much of the last few months completing the room. I recently moved the guitars in there and the next step will be to do some DIY acoustic treatment, as well as set up the PC and all the other stuff. Alan gave some good advice regarding this.

But time...money...and lately the energy to do things when I have time... ☹

racman

Thx guys,

I primaily want to record for creative purposes. Being predominantly an acoustic guitarist (getting back into electric soon though) and elementary songwriter, I sometimes feel that I would like to explore ideas further. I currently stop at the basic acoustic version of the song which is great fo its "raw feel" as it reveals the true melodic and lyrical qualities, but once this is completed it would be great to continue with the process on an instrumental level - if this makes sense ???

So keep the advice (or links to advice) coming please.

racman

My apolgies everyone - never noticed Neps "Recording 101" thread ?

So I wil just bombard that thread with questions!!! ?

Neps

Hi Racman

There are a lot of options that you can go for. But looking at all the available options and within budget, getting a PC with a decent interface will take you a long way forward.

And today you can buy a interface that comes bundeld with Cubase, which is not a bad sequancer DAW, with quite a few nice options. Some interfaces actualy also comes with SONOR, which is a great package.

I do have a few home recording options that I use, but the one thing I miss is my hard disk recorder. They are easy to use, and they realy rock.

But have a look at the recording 101 threads. I havnt had the time yet to go into great deatail as I would like. I've been realy busy in the studio, but I hope that there is something that you could look at.