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I am hoping to do some recording at home, not trying to make anything too polished as I don't have a lot of experience. My setup is pretty small, it's just an iMac with Garageband 10, a Focusrite interface, and a Yamaha MIDI keyboard. What I want advice on, is what microphones can I get on the cheap that will be good for recording from a guitar amp, acoustic guitar, and vocals?
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Apr 25, 2014 00:36
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An SM57 is the cheap gold standard for a reason.
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Apr 25, 2014 01:36
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So, I am a three-chord simpleton whose eyes glaze over whenever I read something like the OP when I'm trying to understand computer things. So my biggest impediment at the moment is that because my current recording setup is mics->Behringer Xenyx 802->line in, I only have the one line into my pc, which means I basically have to pre-mix everything on the board, then actually go and play that part with the rest of the band/direct what they're doing/whatever, splitting tracks left and right to get two tracks out of it and hoping they sound okay instead of getting reference tracks down in Audition and then tweaking them. If I were to get one of these audio interfaces that have, according to the OP, a bunch of inputs and outputs, would I be able to send each output from one of those to a separate track in Audition? I assume that's the point of them, but the language (especially on the m-audio website [the avid website 404s when you try and find the mbox stuff, that link is ooooooold]) just doesn't come out and say YES THE NUMBER OF OUTPUTS IS THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE TRACKS YOU GET AT ONCE IN YOUR SOFTWARE. (gently caress, I'm tired, sorry for  , but it's still a valid question. If dumb.)
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Apr 25, 2014 04:13
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I'm not sure about Audition, but yes, in general if you have an audio interface with multiple inputs, then each of those inputs will show up as a separate useable input within your DAW. As an example, my mobile ProTools rig has a MOTU 828mkII with 2 XLR and a slew of send/returns which is daisychained with another pair of MOTU 8Pre's, which each have 8 XLR. Protools simply sees that I have 18 choices of inputs (I'm simplifying, so bear with me) to choose from whenever I create a new track. You can scale those numbers up or down however you like and generally te mechanics will be the same. Hopefully that helps.
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Apr 25, 2014 04:30
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Like I said, my eyes glazed over. I read the first sentence just fine, then it went "As an example, my mobile..." And then I started understanding words again somewhere around "...a new track." I am so bad at this.
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Apr 25, 2014 04:36
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Allen Wren posted:YES THE NUMBER OF Again, it's hard to be 100% specific with so many hardware/software variants out there, but this is pretty much a good rule of thumb. If your interface has 2 mic inputs on it then you SHOULD be able to record 2 separate, independent tracks simultaneously, at one time, in your software.
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Apr 25, 2014 05:29
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iostream.h posted:Maybe that makes more sense? For clarification though, most interfaces list every type of input/output format they can use in their "# of ins and outs". Make sure the interface you're looking at has as many XLR or 1/4" INPUTS as you want. That should be in the specs of any interface on the manufacturer's website.
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Apr 25, 2014 15:32
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himajinga posted:For clarification though, most interfaces list every type of input/output format they can use in their "# of ins and outs". Make sure the interface you're looking at has as many XLR or 1/4" INPUTS as you want. That should be in the specs of any interface on the manufacturer's website. yeah a lot of interfaces like to say "up to 20 inputs!" when they only have 8 physical inputs. The other 12 they're talking about are potential inputs you can get by connecting other interfaces etc to your main interface (I think.. right?)
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Apr 25, 2014 17:28
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Ericadia posted:yeah a lot of interfaces like to say "up to 20 inputs!" when they only have 8 physical inputs. The other 12 they're talking about are potential inputs you can get by connecting other interfaces etc to your main interface (I think.. right?) Yeah that and by using things like SPDIF, etc. Always check how many actual physical inputs something has no matter what it says on the box!
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Apr 25, 2014 19:21
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Oh also, is Drumkit from Hell worth the money? I love Devin Townsend's Ziltoid, and would love to have a good programmable drum sample kit.
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Apr 26, 2014 04:10
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Yousomuscle posted:Oh also, is Drumkit from Hell worth the money? I love Devin Townsend's Ziltoid, and would love to have a good programmable drum sample kit. Yes, it is. The loops it comes with are good too. ezdrummer in general is a tough thing to turn ones nose up at
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Apr 26, 2014 07:47
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My drummer just picked up a Behringer XENYX X2442USB mixer secondhand, and now we're trying to hunt down rack ears for the thing. Anyone have any suggestions, or know where to ask?
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Apr 26, 2014 14:07
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I'm interested in making field recordings, and it seems like toting around an audio interface and my laptop might not be the best way to go about this in terms of workflow (or financial risk). I don't really know the first thing about digital recorders, though. The TASCAM DR-40 looks like what I need after some googling around, and it's in my price range. Has anybody used one? Is there some other device in the same section of the market (<$200) that you'd recommend instead? The uses I anticipate right now are sampling weird sounds from nature, sampling old music boxes from my grandmother's house, and soundboard recording at friends' concerts/practice sessions, so I like having both built-in microphones and balanced inputs. I'm somewhat biased towards SD cards for storage media since my new laptop has an SD slot, but that's not a big deal.
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Apr 26, 2014 18:21
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ejstheman posted:I'm interested in making field recordings, and it seems like toting around an audio interface and my laptop might not be the best way to go about this in terms of workflow (or financial risk). I don't really know the first thing about digital recorders, though. The TASCAM DR-40 looks like what I need after some googling around, and it's in my price range. Has anybody used one? Is there some other device in the same section of the market (<$200) that you'd recommend instead? I've got one of those and I love it - you can even hook up 2 additional mics and record 4 tracks simultaneously (well, 2 mono plus 1 split stereo with the built in mics). I wad pleasantly suprised by the quality for the price, and I see it go on sale pretty frequently on Amazon as well as Hello Music.
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Apr 26, 2014 18:59
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One of those things of some sort currently has a rebate so it's down to $100, look in the 'Recent Purchases' thread I think.
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Apr 26, 2014 20:02
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Hey recording dudes, I'm looking to record drums in the near future but I have a bunch of questions - hopefully not enough to overwhelm the thread. First of all, I have two of these drum mic packs. My interface is a USB Fast Track Ultra...it has four XLR connections on the front, and six 1/4" inputs in back: In Cubase, one of these inputs seems to be taken up by "VSL," whatever that is:  So before I even think about mic placement or whatever, here are the main questions on my mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_DFEW1t_I0 That's it for now, thanks in advance for any answers.
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Apr 27, 2014 00:32
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Seventh Arrow posted:Hey recording dudes, I'm looking to record drums in the near future but I have a bunch of questions - hopefully not enough to overwhelm the thread. First of all, I have two of these drum mic packs. My interface is a USB Fast Track Ultra...it has four XLR connections on the front, and six 1/4" inputs in back: 1: I'd say A kick, snare, two overhead and if you really want to a hi-hat mic, personally I'd go with a mic set behind the drums, above the shoulder on the drummer since I think having one mic that way really brings the way the drums actually sound together well, extra boost not only on kick drum but gives a pretty good 'central' overhead tone to cymbals. 4: I think the kick and two overhead mics need stands, the toms and snare mics got clip-on it seems from that link of yours.  5: Essentially, two overhead mics are gonna cover the way the drum sounds good enough if you place them right, hell most of the drums recorded back "in the old days" were essentially just two overhead mics placed in such a way that they would really get the whole kit, I think putting mics on each separate drumpart is a rather new thing since they didn't have the luxury of gigantic mixerboards back then so they really had to make due with what they had.
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Apr 27, 2014 01:02
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Ok thanks, that helps. I think my desire to have a mic on every drum is just sort of OCD on my part. If I have three distance mics and three (four?) closeup mics, then it might be good enough. No harm in trying it out, at least.
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Apr 27, 2014 01:38
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Seventh Arrow posted:Ok thanks, that helps. I think my desire to have a mic on every drum is just sort of OCD on my part. If I have three distance mics and three (four?) closeup mics, then it might be good enough. No harm in trying it out, at least. I'm exactly like you, love being able to really flesh out each and every part of the drum, I'm a huge fan of panning things (and especially gateing things) so being able to mic up every part of a drum is just ace, having three distance mics and four closeup is gonna give you the possibility to mix the drums just the way you want it, show us a raw recording (no mixing done to the tracks beyond volume level) when you've done recorded the drums with those mics, seems like just the thing I want and knowing how it sounds beforehand would be awesome.
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Apr 27, 2014 02:42
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Greggster posted:I'm exactly like you, love being able to really flesh out each and every part of the drum, I'm a huge fan of panning things (and especially gateing things) so being able to mic up every part of a drum is just ace, having three distance mics and four closeup is gonna give you the possibility to mix the drums just the way you want it, show us a raw recording (no mixing done to the tracks beyond volume level) when you've done recorded the drums with those mics, seems like just the thing I want and knowing how it sounds beforehand would be awesome. I like very discrete miking of kits most of the time, but I think I'm moving away from it. The first time you do "one great mic in front or over the kit, one pair room mics, and maaaaybe one mic in the kick or the snare position" in a nice sounding room, it can be really really liberating. As long as the drummer doesn't suck, your drum sound is just THERE. strangemusic fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Apr 27, 2014 |
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Apr 27, 2014 13:50
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I found one of the cheapest recording interfaces in the form of Behringer UM2, and apparently it sells like hotcakes, and also has the exact number and quality of inputs that (I think) I require (mic and inst), but it has an alarming dearth of reviews, and a more expensive brother UMC22 which sports knobs in addition to inputs; while the guy at the store insists that I should think about future growth and the more inputs the better, and points at mixers with alarming numbers of holes and knobs!  Oh, there's also the fact that I'm intend to record an electric guitar direct into linux.What should I choose? Edit: Excuse my noobility, but I've just discovered that UM2 also has knobs, but on the top, instead of in front. So what could be the difference except the size? All specs are the same... Oh, UM2 is Xenyx, UMC22 is Midas. supermikhail fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Apr 28, 2014 |
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Apr 28, 2014 14:19
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Here's a dumbshit question: For some reason, I can't set ProTools 11 to monitor audio while recording from 2 different interfaces, even though they're connected via Firewire. Here's the situation: MOTU 828MkII + MOTU 8Pre both connected to each other via Firewire with the 828 connected to Mac via Firewire. I can RECORD just fine from both with no issues. I can listen to playback through the 828 with no issues. I can monitor instruments plugged in to the 828 with no issues. I can NOT monitor instruments plugged in to the 8pre. Help.
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Apr 29, 2014 22:51
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I... I'm not sure exactly what path I've just stepped on to. I pulled down Reaper last night to evaluate. The last time I touched sound editing software was 20 years ago. Eep.
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May 1, 2014 18:14
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Do and of you know what microphone this is? I don't recognize it, and I haven't been able to find any info about what mics Opie & Anthony use on their show, just pictures. I'm curious, because I can usually identify broadcast mics by eye—RE20, PR40, Procaster, SM7B, etc.—but I don't know this one.
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May 3, 2014 07:04
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That looks like the Neumann logo on the mic closest to the screen but with that big foam windscreen on it I can't tell the specific model. KMS105 maybe? (but those have built in windscreens)
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May 3, 2014 17:32
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Declan MacManus posted:That looks like the Neumann logo on the mic closest to the screen but with that big foam windscreen on it I can't tell the specific model. KMS105 maybe? (but those have built in windscreens) Ooh, good call. I think you might be right.
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May 3, 2014 18:22
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I do all my recording on an old Asus laptop with a Core 2 Duo CPU running at about 1.3ghz with 2gb of DDR3 ram running Reaper as my DAW. Now, before you laugh, it gets the job done and works fine for small projects. However, Reaper begins to get unstable and the audio gets distorted and crackly if I run too many VST's or effects and bog down the CPU. I want to upgrade to a better recording PC but money is really tight right now. I was looking at picking up a used Desktop on ebay with 4gb ram and a better Core 2 Duo processor (E8400 or better). Would this be a decent enough improvement, or would it be better to save my money and get an i3 processor? The only thing I need it for is audio recording, it will not be used for anything else.
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May 4, 2014 18:46
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Reaper, unstable? What is this madness you speak of?
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May 4, 2014 19:34
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Cmdr. Shepard posted:I do all my recording on an old Asus laptop with a Core 2 Duo CPU running at about 1.3ghz with 2gb of DDR3 ram running Reaper as my DAW. Now, before you laugh, it gets the job done and works fine for small projects. However, Reaper begins to get unstable and the audio gets distorted and crackly if I run too many VST's or effects and bog down the CPU. You'll be happier in the long run by saving up for a very nice machine. Preferably one that exceeds your current needs.
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May 4, 2014 22:23
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Ericadia posted:You'll be happier in the long run by saving up for a very nice machine. Preferably one that exceeds your current needs. This for real. I mix on an i7 2.0 ghz MBP and certain awesome sounding plugins will still crash my admittedly fairly old computer. Plugins are only going to get more CPU heavy as computer speeds improve.
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May 4, 2014 23:02
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This is how my podcast is set up right now. The laptop is for Skype guests. Everything is fine, but as it stands the H4n gets a mono mix, and I would like instead for the H4n to get the 3 guests on the Left channel, and the Skype guest on the Right channel, so I can then get rid of the crappy Skype audio in post and replace it with audio that the guest records of themselves on their end with a good microphone. The only way to do this currently would be that all of us with headphones have that annoying L R polarized audio in our ears, rather than a mono mix. I want the headphones to get a mono mix, and the H4n to get polarized audio. How can I do this? What's the cheapest thing I need to buy in order to do this? Huge Version: http://codyclarke.com/podcastsetup.jpg
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May 5, 2014 21:46
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Anyone know of a good newbie's guide to EQ?
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May 6, 2014 15:21
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Seventh Arrow posted:Anyone know of a good newbie's guide to EQ? Cut before you boost. I have some links saved but I'm posting from mobile, I'll get them later.
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May 6, 2014 16:35
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Seventh Arrow posted:Anyone know of a good newbie's guide to EQ? I had better luck finding youtube tutorials when it was specific things. Search for "rock vocal EQ tricks" instead of just "EQ tutorial", that should help you out better. The Recording Revolution guy on youtube has some really good tutorials that cover all aspects of mixing and recording, and they're relevant across a wide range of music.
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May 6, 2014 18:28
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I'll give that a shot, thanks. Searching for just "EQ guide" gets a lot of results for EverQuest 
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May 6, 2014 19:15
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I'm doing a lot of live shows where I need access to channel-specific FX like phaser/chorus/flangers, as well as feedback squelching and limiting/compression. Would something like the Mackie Onyx-i w/ Waves Multirack be a pretty effective solution for me? It looks like exactly what I'm looking for, but it's uncharted territory for my experience level. While $1100 is a little pricey for these boutique live radio plays, I imagine I'd be hard-pressed to find a cheaper turnkey solution. edit: I realize this is the "home recording" thread and not "Live Recording/Performance", but I didn't see the latter anywhere, so if there's a better place to ask this, please let me know! RaoulDuke12 fucked around with this message at 19:57 on May 6, 2014 |
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May 6, 2014 19:37
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Yousomuscle posted:Oh also, is Drumkit from Hell worth the money? I love Devin Townsend's Ziltoid, and would love to have a good programmable drum sample kit. It is absolutely worth the money. And get all the expansions as well. After the Nth time our drummer hosed up a recording session I canned him and did the poo poo myself in DFH. People who heard my demos said that our drummer had really improved and his drum sound was awesome. It was kinda funny to say that I'd punted our drummer. I'm seriously considering doing the whole Big Black thing and having a drummerless band and just using DFH on a laptop direct to the PA. What is it with drummers anyway?
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May 10, 2014 05:58
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Drummer joke: Guy walks into a pawn shop, starts browsing around. He sees a golden rat statue on the wall behind the counter and decides it would look cool to have at the practice space. He asks "how much for the golden rat?" The man at the counter says "I will sell it for $25, but only if you promise you will never bring it back to my store". The guy thinks for a second, and agrees. As he walks out of the store and back home carrying his new decoration in a paper bag, he notices while crossing the street, that a rat is following him around. A few blocks further, he looks back again and sees several rats following him. He starts walking with more urgency, but after another block goes by, he's now being followed by dozens of big rats. He starts running towards the Brooklyn bridge, and as he gets halfway across the span, he sees hundreds of rats skittering after him. In panicked desperation, he pulls the golden rat out of the paper bag and throws it over the bridge. The hundreds of rats leap after it, plummeting to their doom in the water below. The next day, the guy returns to the same pawn shop, to the horror of the owner. "I told you never to bring that golden rat back here!" the owner screeched. "Oh, I wasn't bringing it back," the guy replied "I was just wondering if you had any golden drummers."  Another one: Q: how many drummers does it take to change a lightbulb? A: none, they have a machine for that now.
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May 10, 2014 11:38
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Agrikk posted:It is absolutely worth the money. And get all the expansions as well. I did it for years - we ran drums off of my MBP, directly into the PA (and then later, when we couldn't find someone to replace our departed bass player, we ran the bass that way as well).
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May 11, 2014 21:20
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| # ? May 15, 2024 02:47 |
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"So when my girlfriend left me, I didn't think long." Drumkit From Hell - replacing humanity one person at a time.
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May 12, 2014 06:00
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