Novice Recording Questions

[RedLizard]

I dig all the clips guys have posted to the soundclips forum and would like to contribute a few of my own, but I'm technologically challenged...make that illiterate. Could you guys provide some advice on some basic equipment I'll need to create my own clips? I definitely don't want or need anything fancy right now, just a setup that's good enough to allow me load up a backing track, record a solo, do some minor edits (i.e. reverb, delay) and then spin out a clip to post here.

I know software is a big part of this, so some pros/cons on the most popular options would be appreciated. Please keep in mind I'm a beginner and simpler is better. FWIW, I have a Koch Pedaltone preamp that has an unbalanced PA/Rec out, as does my Koch attenuator. I also have a Pod XT that I understand can shoot something to my PC via a USB connection.

Any help appreciated.

 

[tedm]

What's your budget, and how many tracks would you need to record simultaneously?

Originally posted by RedLizard
I dig all the clips guys have posted to the soundclips forum and would like to contribute a few of my own, but I'm technologically challenged...make that illiterate. Could you guys provide some advice on some basic equipment I'll need to create my own clips? I definitely don't want or need anything fancy right now, just a setup that's good enough to allow me load up a backing track, record a solo, do some minor edits (i.e. reverb, delay) and then spin out a clip to post here.

I know software is a big part of this, so some pros/cons on the most popular options would be appreciated. Please keep in mind I'm a beginner and simpler is better. FWIW, I have a Koch Pedaltone preamp that has an unbalanced PA/Rec out, as does my Koch attenuator. I also have a Pod XT that I understand can shoot something to my PC via a USB connection.

Any help appreciated.

 

[RedLizard]

Without knowing what even the most basic recording gear costs, I'll say my budget is $350. I'll have very little need for multiple tracks simultaneously. I just need something that allows me to add a single track of guitar to an mp3 backing track and then a way to add reverb, delay, etc... Something intuitive and straightforward. I'd lean toward something for direct recording, rather than using a microphone.

 

[tedm]

These are just my opinions, but you could start with an EMU1212m 2 channel PCI card with great A/D converters, and go with a budget Behringer or other 4-6 channel mixer with at least a couple of channels with mic preamps.

Then a Shure SM57- or Sennheiser e609 mic.

The EMU comes with Wavelab lite, and Cubasis VST, but I've found cubasis VST cumbersome with a handful of decent plug-ins.

You might want to check out Cakewalk Guitar Tracks or Sony Acid, or the Adobe product that used to be Cool Edit.

Originally posted by RedLizard
Without knowing what even the most basic recording gear costs, I'll say $350. I'd say have very little need for multiple tracks simultaneously. I'd just need something that allows me to add a single track of guitar to a backing track and then maybe tweak that track with reverb, delay, etc... Something intuitive and straightforward. I'd lean toward something for direct recording, rather than using a microphone.

 

[RedLizard]

Thanks, Ted! I'm off to research.

 

[Deaj]

I just purchased a USB audio interface for my laptop so that I can record at home. It is an M-Audio product called the Fast Track USB. It's a mono interface with an XLR input, 1/4" TRS input for both line and instrument level signals, direct hardware monitoring with mix control, stereo RCA outs, 1/8" stereo headphone out, and 24bit/48KHz A/D-D/A converters. These sell for $100.

M-Audio Fast Track USB site

You should be able to pick up a copy of Cubase SE (which will include a variety of audio effects plug-ins) off of Ebay for less than $100.

Example auction (no affiliation with the seller)

There may be a cheaper way to go but for around $200 you'll be able to do all of what you describe in your post and more.

 

[mwoeppel]

Thanks for the low end rig.

I'm trying to figure this out, too. I have a Pod 2.0 that can interface with my computer, but there is no software on the thing. It won't work with the riffmaster - so ----

I'm thinking, dump the gear on eBay, update the Pod to the XT version and buy Cubase or Cakewalk if riffmaster won't work.

Am I trying to over-analyze this?

I'm running on a laptop with windows XP. Any advice would be appreciated. thanks!

Mark