Home recording

andrew_sanders · Feb 24, 2008

Ok chaps,
Any advice on home recording.
Since the kids have fled the nest I have been relegated to the spare room, (only for music making purposes thankfully) and have a nice but not flash computer in there with my various instruments and I fancy getting them all together; electric and acoustic guitars,
tenor sax, and five string banjo. Any suggestions regarding software, mic's etc would be well received. I can feel a bit of bluegrass bossanova coming on!
Andy

PaulyT · Feb 24, 2008

I use Cakewalk (which comes with a load of drum tracks). I D/I guitars, bass (through whatever effect pedals I want to use) etc and use an SM58 for all the mic work (Vocals, Harp etc.) There are a couple of examples on my MySpace page that were the first recordings I did on cakewalk. Cadillac was played on an electro/acoustic and Memphis on a Gibson, both plugged into the back of the comp - as was the bass.
http://www.myspace.com/paulhtownsend
Have fun,
Paul

andrew_sanders · Feb 24, 2008

Thanks Paul,
You didn't mention the sax? Haven't you tried recording that yet?
Andy

PaulyT · Feb 24, 2008

The Sax is a bit loud to play for where I live 🙂
If I do I'm going to hang an SM58 up in my wardrobe (with my clothes still in it) and play into the open doors. I'm hoping that this will kill all those unwanted harmonics and give me fairly pure sound. I'll let you know next time I get a chance to try it.
Paul

Bobby G · Feb 24, 2008

PaulyT wrote:
The Sax is a bit loud to play for where I live 🙂
If I do I'm going to hang an SM58 up in my wardrobe (with my clothes still in it) and play into the open doors. I'm hoping that this will kill all those unwanted harmonics and give me fairly pure sound. I'll let you know next time I get a chance to try it.
Paul

That's likely to give you a very dry sound, it'll need reverb to beef it up a bit.

This my 'teach yer granny to suck eggs' post for the day.

peter_fitton · Feb 25, 2008

Great choice of avatar, Bob :w00t:

Cheers

Peter

PaulyT · Feb 25, 2008

Bobby G wrote:

That's likely to give you a very dry sound, it'll need reverb to beef it up a bit.

That's right Bob - Cakewalk has got some effects including reverb. It's always easier to add it to a dry sound. Envoiremental reverb/echo (i.e. from recording in a tunnel) already on the recording is impossible to reduce or get rid of unless some boffin has recently come up a signal processor that can do it. I think you'd find that the wardrobe would a much cheaper and easier option.
Paul

Mikec · Feb 25, 2008

I use Cubase SL3 as my recording software. It has many built-in effects, though more can be added and is very much an all-in-one program (as is Cakewalk). If you want to use the latest version of Cubase, you will need a recent powerful computer. Another possibility is Reaper which has a good reputation and a demo you can download.
My audio interface is an Emu 1820, now superseded by the 1616. It's excellent. I have two mics, an AKG D51 and a C2000B, both good. You can hear my stuff on my website in my signature.
Beware of a fairly long learning curve, but it's fun.

andrew_sanders · Feb 26, 2008

Thanks for the info Mike. The only thing that worries me about opting for Cubase is the time it will take to fathom it all out. I have used Cakewalk before for guitar recording and it seemed very user friendly. The Cubase setup looks a little to intimidating for a relative novice. What would you say.

Mikec · Feb 27, 2008

The only time I tried the demo of Cakewalk, my machine crashed, so I'm afraid I have no experience of it. It has a very good reputation.

It's fairly easy to use Cubase as a simple multi-track audio and MIDI recorder, leaving all other functions until later. I was able to record with it within a few hours of receiving it, but I had some experience beforehand. It is stupendously powerful. There isn't a demo version, unfortunately, which I think is a big mistake.

There is a helpful user group forum at http//:forum.cubase.net

Good luck!

Jules · Feb 27, 2008

If you want to really keep things simple Audacity is good and "ACID Sonic Foundry" is nicely intuitive (plus there's always the juvenile potential of saying- "I recorded this on acid").
Actually the combinaiton of ACID and fruityloops studio (both fairly straightforward and easy to get yer 'ead round), a personal favourite set up of mine, covers pretty much anything you're likely to want to do.....

stan_s_fan · Feb 27, 2008

Have a look at P.G. Music software. www.pgmusic.com

(1) Power Tracks Pro Audio is the recording sequencer.
(2) Band In A Box does record but is primarily a play back system with full MIDI and Audio accompaniment.

Both of these are inexpensive, annual upgrades (at least 50 new improvements per year). The Forums for these two products are the most helpful that you could ever wish to use. Free technical support is available live on line or via free phone.

andrew_sanders · Feb 28, 2008

Thanks for all the advice.

Stan's fan: Tried to access pgmusic but all I got was an online casino link. So now I've got no dosh to spend on software!

Nachoman: The Audacity site looks perfect as it is free ( I am a Yorkshire man with short arms and deep pockets after all). I am looking for a mic now that will deal with acoustic guitar and tenor sax

My wife Sue came in last night and asked to borrow one of my mouthpiece patches as my playing was rattling her teeth. Could have been the earthquake.

Linky Lee · Feb 28, 2008

I just bought a rode NT1-a and can heartily recommend it. Lovely sound, low price and I've recorded both sax and acoustic guitar with it to great results (IMO of course).

If you've got the money the NT2 is even better.

I used one of those Neumann mics that everyone raves about for the standard professional vocal condenser the other day in the university studio. 3K of microphone, hmmm.... you can get equally as professional results with something significantly lower in price.