How do I make a song using....

[Voodoodude69]

I'm completely new to the realms of recording so stay with me....

I bought an iMac last summer. The biggest one they have

It came with Garageband, obviously. I want to record some stuff of my own. Just some basic stuff, nothing supernatural or the next Billboard smash hit.

I have a Boss DR-670 so I can make my own drums. Not the best sounding drum-machine but it's better than using just loops. I don't have a real-life drummer to work with at the moment.

All I need now is a decent/affordable audio interface and a good mic right?

For audio interface, I was thinking about this: M-Audio Fast Track Pro USB Audio Interface. Here's a link to it:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOFTRACKPRO

Would that be a good audio interface for me just starting out? Is there something better but also affordable?

Also, what would be a decent microphone for recording my amp?

If I have this all correct, basically all I do is the following?:

-Hook up interface to Mac
-Plug microphone into interface
-Hang microphone over amp to record my amp
-Turn on Gargageband
-Start jamming, recording??

Of course i'll have to equalize settings, tweak knobs and etc. But is this generally the right direction i'm heading in?

Help this newbie out guys!

 

[Clumsy Fingers]

Sounds like you have the gist of it, as far as the how-to aspect.

After a few very bad encounters, I couldn't recommend M Audio products to anyone. Other people may have different experiences- mine were abysmal*, to put it mildly. I think Presonus, Edirol and others offer I/O boxes that would be better quality at a similar price. And, if you need a minimal number of inputs, the Solo or Duet from Apogee is hard to beat.



Good luck, and have fun!












* a friend of mine had the exact same issues w/ their products as I, so I know that I'm not crazy paranoid.

 

[FractalGarden]

All things being equal, get a firewire interface vs. USB. http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOFWSOLO would be the replacement. Though the poster above isn't happy with M-Audio, I've used my FW solo for years without issue. The only problem -- waiting for them to come out with new drivers for new OS versions. But as far as function, I've been waiting for the damn thing to die so I can get something fancier, and it keeps ... on ... working.

 

[ToddK]

I have an Maudio firewire 410 that has always functioned perfectly and sounds great.

My main card is an RME though. I think PCI is the best way to go, but firewire is the next best thing.

 

[Voodoodude69]

How about for a Microphone for my amp? Any recommendations?

 

[FractalGarden]

-Hang microphone over amp to record my amp

If hanging is important, than you need something shaped like this Sennheiser, which can be draped over the top of the cab:

If you weren't being literal, and you don't mind also getting a mic stand, the Shure SM57 is considered the standard. While it's the standard, finding the right placement for this mic is not entirely without its struggles. You'll find a lot of recording people will "X" the sweet spot on the grill of their cabinet for the SM57, since it took so long to find it. For that reason, I like the Sennheiser I mentioned (the e906 is what I have), since it's a lot easier to find the right placement.

I've only been recording for a few years, so I'm also a noob, but I've found the combo of an e906 and a SM57, dual miked, gives me my best tone. I can then mix the two according to taste to get the sounds I'm after.

Hope this helps. You're at the top of a very slippery slope of cost, time, effort and personal reward.

 

[otaypanky]

A friend of mine who works for M-Audio hooked me up with a Firewire Solo two years ago. I think it was a used or refurbed unit. It's been fine for my novice attempts at recording on my iMac. I use 2 small Art Tube pre-amps before the Solo so I can have 2 XLR inputs instead of just the 1 on the Solo.