New to Recording?

[steelerboy329]

Hello everyone,

I decided that I want to start recording and I'm not sure exactly where to start. First, I have my strat and my deluxe reverb. Second, I have a Shure SM58 (will probably pick up a SM57 for recording). Third, I have my Macbook. My question is what is the best way to connect my mic to my computer. Would the answer be a preamp? Maybe something like the Taylor K4? As I stated I have know idea what the best idea would be. Hopefully someone can help me out here. Also, I think it would be cool to do video as well. Is there a way to use a decent video camera (or even my phone) and the recording from the mic?

[suckamc]

What's your budget?

[steelerboy329]

What's your budget?

Not really sure, but I don't mind spending a good amount if it is worth it. I don't know what a good one will cost.

[shredtheater]

Not to be funny but a rough budget would really help, you'll get better responses if your a little less vague. There are many things on offer and people perception of good is gonna be pretty wide.

My recording is low-end but it works and sounds good enough for demoing to me. Im running a macbook pro with 8gb and using logic 9. My interface is an Apogee ONE. It suits my needs - portability and im only recording one at a time. It has one high quality input. My monitors are crap - Roland DS30a's but i had them lying around. Id like to invest in a new pair, the mid range stuff is still £800ish but the really good stuff - that would cost 3 times the price if not more. If i got my hands on some mid-range monitors then i think id have a decent home recording setup.



My advice to you would be to write down your needs and how much you have to spend. What type of music do you want to record. WHat sounds do you need? Will you need software for sampling? etc etc Read some articles on the net and allocate wisely. Your only as good as your weakest link as the cliche goes - i think it rings true here

[Strangeland]

The basic things you'll need is something to convert an analog signal to digital and also something to amplify your microphone signal. There are a lot of solutions out there and you can spend around $200 for a usable setup or you can break the bank or you can land somewhere in between. Personally, I think it's important to get 1 to 2 solid channels for a home setup and at least mediocre analog-to-digital conversion.

Most firewire interfaces offer decent conversion but the built-in preamps are usually not too spectacular. If you have about $300-350 and are using a Mac, the Apogee duet would be a great starting point. The Audiofire stuff is also very good, I have an Audiofire 8 and as long as you are using a fairly high sample rate when recording, the conversion sounds really good. The preamps in the Audiofire are useable but I generally use outboard preamps for everything except toms. You should check out stuff from Presonus, Mackie, Focusrite, Apogee, Metric Halo, API...the list goes on and on, from low end to high end. Try to decide on how much you are willing to spend and what kind of stuff you'll be recording.

[steelerboy329]

OK lets say $500-$800. Also, any links would be nice.

[Strangeland]

If on a Mac, my vote would be for a used Apogee Duet (1st version) for $300-350 and a Daw like Logic $100. Then use the rest on mics. A 57 is a must-have but you should play around with double micing your Deluxe. Maybe a 57 and a ribbon mic (Cascade Fathead) or a 57 and a condenser (Maybe a used Audio Technica 40series mic).

A good single channel solution would be a Focusrite ISA One Digital. A great preamp and conversion, also great headphone monitoring and you can use the DI and the mic pre at the same time.

[Nevpaurion]

You know if you're going to be running Logic, my vote is on Presonus.

For 350 I got an 8 input firewire interface (Firestudio Project) , and I've gotten some pretty good recordings with it. Drums, guitars, bass, vocals, it does most anything pretty well given you have some decent mics. I like it mainly because it has some good quality, transparent pres that don't color the sound and let me do my coloring in the box with plug ins etc.

Just my 2 cents.


Also if you want I can link you some examples as to what kind of sounds you can expect to get with Logic and a Presonus interface (again mine's the Firestudio Project)

[steelerboy329]

Wow this is good info. So with the Apogee Duet I plug my mic into it and the duet itself into my mac? At least thats what it looks like. Also, is garageband no good? Oh and the PreSonus looks very interesting. Some samples would be nice. Sorry about all the questions, but I've never been serious about recording before.

[steelerboy329]

So for a start how does this sound?
1. Apogee Duet 2 or Presonus FireStudio
2. Logic Pro 9
3. Shure SM57
Will this set up allow me start recording?

[Nevpaurion]

You'll def be able to record, I'd suggest one more 57 but yeah. Don't forget to take into account mic stands/clips, XLR cables and a firewire cable (Newer Macbook Pros use firewire800 and you'll need a cable that has 400 on one end and 800 on the other)

[vicdeluca71]

Wow this is good info. So with the Apogee Duet I plug my mic into it and the duet itself into my mac? At least thats what it looks like. Also, is garageband no good? Oh and the PreSonus looks very interesting. Some samples would be nice. Sorry about all the questions, but I've never been serious about recording before.

If you are not recording more than one track at a time get the apogee one,you get a onboard mic with that interface that sounds good.That is all you need at the moment to record a great song,forget about Logic you have GarageBand.

[Nevpaurion]

Nothing fancy here, just a rough of a tune we wrote the other day so we could have something to take home and write lyrics with. I've def gotten better sounds with the equipment used but here's the list.

http://soundcloud.com/you-know-what-i-think/kicks-clip-one

Macbook Pro, Logic, Presonus Firestudio Project.

Drums were mic'd as follows:
Kick- D6
Snare (bottom) D2
Overhead- CK-1

Bass- DI off amp
Guitars- both amps had an e906 on em.

Tracked live, bleed and all.

Again nothing fancy but as you can tell, the interface is more than capable of tracking a band live if you're just wanting to jot down some ideas.

You don't even need those mics. Any mic will do for what you're doing.

[suckamc]

So for a start how does this sound?
1. Apogee Duet 2
2. Logic Pro 9
3. Shure SM57
Will this set up allow me start recording?

Yes. Do that.