bare minimum for home recording?

[Morgray]

Whats the bare minimum that I would need to start recording guitars at my house (by mic'ing my amp)? I just want a run down of everything I need and how much it would cost me

[sgmypod]

well if want cheap by computer music has all progs on DVD to start recording...what pc you got

[Morgray]

Well I dont mean about programs I'll worry about that later but I mean which mini desk and such should I get...

[donovan.x]

A tascam us-122 (or 112, I cant remeber) a lead a stand and an SM57 would be a pretty good start.

[hamfist]

I don't know any model numbers and makes, but an all-in-one digital recorder, a lead and a mic is the way to go (plus a pair of headphones).  To use your PC to record can be much more powerful, but also much more expensive to set up.

[gamesandy135]

I just recently got a Boss BR-900CD.  Fairly steep learning curve, but from what I've got out of it, it's a fantastic bit of kit.
A good set of headphones and a good mic are also pretty much essential I think.

[Morgray]

so umm... something like this

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Tascam-US122L-USB2.0-Audio-Midi-Computer-Interface?sku=242192
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Audix-I5-Instrument-Microphone?sku=270644
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ProLine-Desk-Boom-Microphone-Stand?sku=454312
and http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Monster-Cable-S100-XLR-Microphone-Cable-?sku=331643

and I can start making some basic recordings? (with some software of course)

[_tom_]

The EMU 0404USB is meant to be one of the best lower priced mic interfaces. It comes with Cubase SE as well :)

[JJretroTONEGOD]

Shure SM57
XLR lead
mic stand
M-audio or Emu interface
mackie 802 mixer
Softare such as Cubase, Sonar, Pro Tools ect
A decent PC or Laptop

these are the things I would recommend buying, what is your budget though?

[Nadz1lla]

I built my home recording PC for around £300 about 3 years ago. You don't need mega hardware, the main things you need to take into consideration are a good sized hard drive and a good amount of RAM. I'm running 512 DDR on my recording PC and it does exactly what I need it to do. I also have and external sound card called a Novation Speedio. Dunno if you can still get them but it's great as it has 2x XLR and 2x Jack inputs as well as Midi in and out, and Phantom power on both mic channels if you need it. That cost me less than £100 which is great value. I am also running Cubase SX.

Because I am a vocalist, however, I did invest in a rackmount compressor, a valve mic and a seperate 4 channel mixing desk with phantom power, but all that I only got the cheapest I could find and it does wonders for me.

If you want to see how it performs click my band link in my sig, all the recordings on the Myspace were created by me (vocals, guitars and bass) on my really cheap recording PC. I'm pretty happy with them, they're just above demo quality I think, heh. All the drums are midi from a VST plugin called Groove Agent.

[Morgray]

I don't have any real budget figured out I just want to get an idea of how much it will cost to hook up a cheap way to make demo quality recordings...I will probably only record 2 tracks at a time I am only using this for guitars

I don't think my computer will be a problem I built it maybe 2 years back but it will suffice I think? 1GB DDR ram 1TB hard drive, etc, but it is lacking in the category of decent sound card, I just use the onboard...

dumb question here, is the Mackie 802 mixer essential? And how do you hook that up, microphone straight into the XLR in that and than out into the usb interface? I know nothing about recording, I just want to be able to record some stuff in my own time at my house so i dont have to bring all my gear to my friends house to use his protools rig every time.

Help me along here I don't know what I am talking about at all  :roll:

BTW Nadz1lla the songs on that myspace sound way better than I can hope for :)

[ailean]

I made my first foray into recording a few weeks back. I got an E-Mu 0404 USB 2.0 (don't get the internal card), a Shure SM57 (careful, I was stung with a fake), and a XLR lead. I haven't bought a stand yet. I paid just over £200 for everything including delivery. The software that come with the E-Mu is eough to get you going (and I haven't even begun to understand what most of it does). I bought this gear just for the hell of it really as I'd have liked to be able to post sound clips when requested (see below).

I'm happy with the set up, it seems pretty good. The software took a while to install (5 disks I think all told), and you need to tweak your PC settings after installing the E-Mu as it tries to replace your PC soundcard (let it, and change after).

I would have posted clips but I have discovered that my playing is far worse than I thought when I listen to it recorded and am far too embaressed to post just yet.

Edit: The E-Mu will take a direct imput from your guitar / pedal board for silent recording or taking the amp out of the equation, and it's useful for silent practice too (just use headphones).

[Nadz1lla]

I don't have any real budget figured out I just want to get an idea of how much it will cost to hook up a cheap way to make demo quality recordings...I will probably only record 2 tracks at a time I am only using this for guitars

I don't think my computer will be a problem I built it maybe 2 years back but it will suffice I think? 1GB DDR ram 1TB hard drive, etc, but it is lacking in the category of decent sound card, I just use the onboard...

dumb question here, is the Mackie 802 mixer essential? And how do you hook that up, microphone straight into the XLR in that and than out into the usb interface? I know nothing about recording, I just want to be able to record some stuff in my own time at my house so i dont have to bring all my gear to my friends house to use his protools rig every time.

Help me along here I don't know what I am talking about at all  :roll:

BTW Nadz1lla the songs on that myspace sound way better than I can hope for :)

I'm not entirely sure if mixers are essential, I had to buy a seperate one out of necessity because of the way I wanted to hook my compressor up in the chain. I would say save yourself a lot of money and buy an external soundcard with XLR inputs if all you are going to use is an SM57 to record with, rather than something like a valve mic which needs phantom power.

This is the one I have: http://www.innovativemusic.com.au/Products/Novation/speedio.htm
Although the price here seems massively excessive, as I bought mine for about £99 through a website. As you can see, it has all the ins and outs a budding home recorder will ever need. I haven't found any reason to replace mine so far, it's great value for money.

Your computer sounds like it is more than ample for home recording. Hell, there are people out there who are still quite content using their Atari ST's with an old copy of Cubase to record with, or an ancient Mac will also be more than enough in most cases.

I've not had any experience with E-Mu so I wouldn't hazard a comment on that, but if you can "find" a Cubase CD somewhere, it's really easy to use and plug-ins are a doddle also to "find".

Oh, and thanks for the compliment. That's what happens when inspiration hits you on your day off, lol.

[jpmaxxy]

Has anybody experience with the recording aspect of the Novation X-Station?

Cheers

[Lew]

This probably isnt the budget way of doing things(not high end either) but it's what I did.

Macbook £700
Headphones/speakers £50
Audio interface £120
Used SM57 £50

Software was "aquired" from the net.

I already had a stand and I bought a used bass for £120 ;P