Several months ago I decided to devote NAP Wednesday’s to home recording. I am a sorry devoter though so nothing came of it. Also, since the flood, I haven’t done any home recording.
I want to set up the computer room so that I can be one of those crazy dj‘s, chopping up the sounds and creating loops and stuff. I want to stay pc and keep the budget small.
Got Cakewalk Home Studio 2004, wondering if I should get something else??
Lost my drum machine in the flood. What should I get?
What about an analog interface so I can record to pc more than two tracks at a time?
Got a Dell Precision Laptop (2ghz processor 1g ram), wondering if that will get the job done?
Back to analog in the Sunken Monastery. I want to lay down acoustic drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, whatever to 8 track and transfer upstairs for the chop block. I’ve been recording drums with a small set – kick, snare and hi-hat. I noticed the toms make a lot of noise just picking up vibrations so I took them out to get a tighter sound.
What say ye?
I wish i could be more help, but i am very un-technical about recording. I generally try to find someone that knows all the zillions of options available, then i describe to them what i want it to sound, they then figure out which mikes to use and how to set them up and we go back and forth a bit this way until we get the right sound. I like the collaborative aspect of working like that, and it doesnt destroy the illusion that little unicorns record sounds onto their horns and then transfer the various formats (digital, analog, etc) so we can hear them.
Got Cakewalk Home Studio 2004, wondering if I should get something else??
I’ve never used Cakewalk 2004, but I used some earlier version of Cakewalk which was never very stable on the machine I was running it on. I’m currently using Logic and I really like it because it doesn’t have stability problems and the interface is really intuitive, so I don’t have to go comb through the help every time I want to figure out how to do an auto-punch or something. You’d have to get a Mac to use Logic, though.
Lost my drum machine in the flood. What should I get?
I bet you could get an old drum machine on eBay for pretty cheap. The one that I have is an old Alesis HR16 and it always worked pretty well for my purposes. Plus, if you’re a real nerd, you can bend it. I’m not that big a nerd, though, so mine just has the factory spec.
I’m currently using the drum sounds that come with Logic and I’ve found them to be surprisingly good. I like being able to edit a drum pattern graphically, which is something you can’t really do on most drum machines.
What about an analog interface so I can record to pc more than two tracks at a time?
I’ve always had good experiences with Mackie gear, but I’m still rocking my cheap two input Tascam. One day I’ll get something better.
Got a Dell Precision Laptop (2ghz processor 1g ram), wondering if that will get the job done?
Probably, but I’m guessing that would depend on how many tracks you’re trying to do simultaneously and how much other processing you’re doing. I would stick another 1G of RAM in. Also, some audio A/D interfaces are Firewire, so depending which one you get, you might have to get a Firewire card for your laptop.
Let’s start sharing mic techniques pronto – how do you like to record a drum kit? What about snare, kick? I need a kick mic, maybe special preamp or compressor. What say ye?
The best luck I’ve had with drums is using an SM57 on snare, a couple overhead condensers (if you have them), and Sennheiser 421s on everything else–even on kick. I’ve tried lots of other mics for kick, but the 421 sounds best to me. For example, the EV RE20 sounds way too precise and the AKG D112 is exactly the opposite. Also, try to work in a room mic because that helps make drums sound like drums.
I’m hoping the unicorns stick around but I’m going to try to help them nevertheless.
Justin – awesome stuff. I agree that Cakewalk isn’t very intuitive, plus there’s some dj jargon involved with the features that I just don’t know. Still I’m hoping not to have to invest in an entire different os – again it’s a cost thing. Anybody using Qbase or some other pc based editing/recording software?
On drums I have an sm57 on the kick (because I have nothing better right now), two 57-ish audio technica mics on the snare (one on top, one underneath), a 57-ish audix on the hi-hat and the big fella Audio Technica 4047 as an overhead, and yes makes a big difference.
Gonna try running the kick through a Joe Meek compressor, but I think upgrading the kick mic is the first big purchase.
two 57-ish audio technica mics on the snare (one on top, one underneath)
You might try putting the bottom mic out of phase to avoid any cancellation resulting from having two mics on the same source. Some mixers have a button that does this, but you can just get a short XLR cord that is wired out of phase and get the same result.
I think upgrading the kick mic is the first big purchase
I think that’s a good plan. The AKG D112 is the cheapest of those ones that I mentioned (I think there’s a similar Shure mic that’s even cheaper), but the Sennheiser 421 is a better all around mic that you can use for things other than just kick. I really hate the 421′s mount, though. It’s totally awkward.
I loves me some D112. If you were here, Lost, I’ve lend you mine.