hmmm... home recording ingenuity to the max

[moaner]

see next post

[moaner]

Wow, i just bettered myself to the max...

Me and my friend were thinking about joining up and forming an amateur recording ""business""- recording demos for people, etc.

Here's what we have:

Me:
Pretty good knowledge of audacity, mixing, and very good knowledge of how to use computers, mixers etc.

An amp modeller to go straight to mixer

An instrument mic

Pair of semi-decent headphones

A fairly cheap vocal mic

Here's what he has:

A laptop with USB audio interface

A Full set of drum mics inc. 2 condensors

A behirnger Ub series mixer

Pair of semi-decent headphones

We also have all the leads we need

Do we have everything you need for demo/EP quality recordings? We'd be doing one instrument at a time to PC, then mastering the whole thing, burning a CD and giving it to them. Using headphones for our monitoring.

[moaner]

And a thought...

Studio monitors are very expensive, but neccessary because they're very neutral, right?

So, do they make specifically studio monitoring headphones? Or are normal headphones sufficiently neutral?

[Jovianknight]

I can't help you out because you seem to know more than me. In fact, I even have a question for you!

"We also have all the leads we need"

What's a lead?

[moaner]

I can't help you out because you seem to know more than me. In fact, I even have a question for you!

"We also have all the leads we need"

What's a lead?

http://www.lma.sageweb.co.uk/promicxlrlead.jpg

like, alead? i.e. a guitar lead, a mic lead etc.

[Aes820]

Get yourself a DI box, for bass.
A 2x15 band graphic EQ could also be handy.
A compressor/limiter/gate is a must.
Some sort of dynamic processor would also be handy. (Behringer Virtuliser)
A condensor mic or two, perhaps for vocals, piano or drum overheads.

I'd reccomend studio monitors. But If you can get a set of headphones that are neutral enough, they'll work too. When shopping for recording monitors, check out the frequency responce curve of the speakers. You'd want it to be as flat as possible.

[KKKKKocaine]

Get yourself a DI box, for bass.
A 2x15 band graphic EQ could also be handy.
A compressor/limiter/gate is a must.
Some sort of dynamic processor would also be handy. (Behringer Virtuliser)
A condensor mic or two, perhaps for vocals, piano or drum overheads.

I'd reccomend studio monitors. But If you can get a set of headphones that are neutral enough, they'll work too. When shopping for recording monitors, check out the frequency responce curve of the speakers. You'd want it to be as flat as possible.


A question, Does it make any real difference whether you use a compressor before or after the recording?
I.e. If I record something then slap it into audacity and compress it there, will it make any real difference to if I compressed it before recording?

[Phototropic]

ha ha ha wots a lead, stupid

Moaner you seem to have everything coevered, only possible trouble you'l come across is recording drums

[Jovianknight]

Oh, a lead is a cable. I've never once heard them called leads in my life, which is why I was confused. I guess they call them different things in different countries!

[Aes820]

A question, Does it make any real difference whether you use a compressor before or after the recording?
I.e. If I record something then slap it into audacity and compress it there, will it make any real difference to if I compressed it before recording?
Compression in recording should be used to avoid distortion due to clipping. Less so as an effect. If you have it early on in your signal path then it can be used to prevent clipping further on in your signal path.

With digital recording. You want to have your audio signal get as close to this 0dB limit without ever going over. Recording at levels of around -12dB and then normalising it up a few dB with a software compressor is the cheat way, you wont get the best recording quality and can introduce excessive white noise.

Using an compressor/limiter/expander in between the mixer and the recording device is very useful for recording. Because it will continually monitor your signal and make sure that it does infact never peak over this 0dB limit. Helping you achieve the best quality recording.

And then, you are free to modify it any way you desire afterwards.

[moaner]

ha ha ha wots a lead, stupid

Moaner you seem to have everything coevered, only possible trouble you'l come across is recording drums

We have a set of drum mics.

[Phototropic]

My bad

Go and do it :)

Post your recordings in the audio arena, Cant wait to hear

[Vitriolic Rage]

We're recording our upcoming demo ourselves, we're going to hire some decent equipment (better amp, compresser, decent mic pre amp (I use my guitar pre-amp to amplify the mic signal at the moment).
I'm investing in a Shure SM57 soon, I use a cheap uni-directional mic at the moment, it gets the job done but it's a bit fuzzy when like say the guitar or whatever is being recorded isn't playing and it's recording silence, it's not silent.
I have Audacity and Cool Edit Pro, so that should do.
Or if a dude wanted to be tr00 and kvlt, they could record it all on a tape recorder, with a mic hanging from the ceiling, Darkthrone-esque!:lol:
Nice idea though, moaner, good luck with your recordings:)

[moaner]

ugh, so angry, online shop say behringer are behind with a shipment and i have up to 2 weeks delay for my amp modeller.

bah.