Subject:Recording Equipment

Posted by: buddy

Date:5/3/2003 8:42:47 AM

I'm setting up a home studio and I have bought a Behringer Mixing Desk. I also have Acid-Pro 4.0 installed along with loops discs and Shure microphones. As I play a number of instruments (guitar, bass, keyboards, etc.) could someone advise me of what other equipment I need to acquire before recording my songs? Thanks.

Subject:RE: Recording Equipment

Reply by: FT13

Date:5/3/2003 1:23:06 PM

thats totally up to you. i would suggest effects, rackmount versions. sure, software plugins rock, but nothing beats hands on effects.

-Sin
www.ft13.com

Subject:RE: Recording Equipment

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:5/3/2003 1:29:05 PM

Adding to what Sin said, you'll obviously want (or already have) a pro-level audio interface to record with. There are great, inexpensive solutions out there, such as those from M-Audio or Echo.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: Recording Equipment

Reply by: RasKeita

Date:5/3/2003 9:55:33 PM

You will need headphones and reference monitors...
http://www.sennheiserusa.com/pages/markets/pro.htm
http://www.mackie.com/products/studiomonitors/index.html

Subject:RE: Recording Equipment

Reply by: coolout

Date:5/4/2003 12:51:36 AM

it all depends on the purpose. making demos is one thing, but if you're trying to make "commercial quality" recordings it's much more intense because you're competing with the big boys. search around for info on sites like www.tweakheadz.com and www.computermusic.co.uk

no matter what you do make sure:

1. you have a decent soundcard. terratec, echo, and m-audio all have great sounding 2-channel cards for under $200 bucks

2. you have a separate hard drive for audio at least 7200rpm.

3. as much memory and fastest processor you can afford.

if you're planning on actually creating a finished product the rabbit hole goes deeper...

1. get at least one large diaphragm condenser mic in case you need that big vocal sound. try out the rode nt-1, mxl v67, or any of audio-technica or akg stuff around the $200 range. plus, you'll need a probably need a mic pre-amp for phantom power. i personally use the art stuff for tube gooey-ness .

2. make sure you have the best monitoring system you can afford. this includes acoustical treatment of room and quality monitors you can trust. if you spend less than $1000 on studio monitors be prepared to budget for a subwoofer or your mixes will never translate properly.

3. get a mackie uad-1 card. it's a pci card with it's own processor and memory to handle effects. this will make a night and day difference in you mixes. it's magical...about $10,000 worth of classic effects for 600 bucks. you can get them on ebay for about 450-500 bucks.

Subject:RE: Recording Equipment

Reply by: buddy

Date:5/6/2003 12:44:51 PM

Many thanks everyone....I'm a virtual beginner (though I have been a semi-pro musician for more years than I care to remember!), so for a start, at least, it'll be just demos of my songs. Is the audio-interface an actual requirement or is it possible to record directly through the mixer into the computer?

Subject:RE: Recording Equipment

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:5/6/2003 10:53:25 PM

Some are combo mixers/audio interfaces, like Edirol's M-100FX. These are few and far between, however.

You don't have to have a mixer per se, but it does help. For example, I output my guitar effects processor's S/PDIF out directly to my Audiophile 2496 soundcard's S/PDIF in and record digitally that way, but I also have the Audiophile connected to my mixer so that I may monitor via headphones as well.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: Recording Equipment

Reply by: groovewerx

Date:5/7/2003 4:51:06 AM

"Is the audio-interface an actual requirement or is it possible to record directly through the mixer into the computer?"

To connect mixer output to the computer, you must use an audio interface/card. Most computer manufacturers include an audio card in their systems so customers can connect speakers. Take a visual inventory of your pc hardware and you should find a set of three 1/8" miniplugs (pink/mic in, green/analog out, blue/line in). That is the audio card interface.

For multi-track recording/playback you will need an interface that delivers extremely low latency. 0 latency will result in having no delay between the time you stroke a string and when you hear it. Standard cards have 750ms or 3/4 of a second latency. Which means anyone would have a hard time recording when the input is not in sync with the output.

Get yourself an entry level card like those suggested. They're inexpensive and will save you alot of frustration.

Don't forget to setup your audio environment:

http://www.acoustics101.com/
http://arts.ucsc.edu/EMS/Music/tech_background/TE-14/teces_14.html

and here's a list of tutorials:

http://www.computermusic.co.uk/tutorial/features.asp

Subject:RE: Recording Equipment

Reply by: flanneljammies

Date:5/7/2003 9:27:11 AM

Hey coolout,
What ART preamp do you use? I'm thinking of buying the ART DPS so I can use the SPDIF in on my Audiophile 2496. Then I can record four tracks at once (into Vegas, of course, not Acid). yay!

Subject:RE: Recording Equipment

Reply by: GapeOne

Date:5/7/2003 11:53:09 AM

It definitely is possible to record from your berringer into your PC. Connect the main outs from your mixer to the line-in of your sound card. Guitar Center or any other music store sells the cable you'll need to do that. Then record via Acid. Sure the quality of your stuff won't be at an all time high, but you can definitely start recording to become familiar with the process and learn how to use the acid software.

In due time you'll definitely want to upgrade your studio to better the audio quality: Studio Speakers, power amps, Better sound card, sound foam to better the accoustics, etcs...