Looking to record songs

[StoneRosesFanatic]

I am looking cheapo gear but stuff that does the job, not ebay.

What will I need?

I have seen a Tascam 4-track recorder for about 80 quid - any good?

[allthegoodnamesweregone]

depends on the size of your band for a 3 pice it should be ok to make a demo eg 1 mic deums di bass amp up gutair one track for vocals

for a four peice you will have to start bouncing tracks to make more room...

but the more you pay the better you get, alot of people ues audacity which is ment to be Very good, only problem is you need a good sound card ie with inputs... (you can get daughter boards cheap though) the other option is a 4 track with an external mixer but then your getting into high prices..

so yeah to start with it should be fine

[StoneRosesFanatic]

I am a solo artist matey. :)

[allthegoodnamesweregone]

what solo guitar? piano keys??... genraly if your solo that should be fine

[StoneRosesFanatic]

Solo acoustic guitar at the mo, until I can find a band.

[airborne50caliber]

Tascam 4 track is nice to get starter but somewhat only suitable for solo musicians going one track at a time.

edit: I just read you are a solo musician. The 4track will be good to start out! :thumb:

[StoneRosesFanatic]

How many mics do I need? I reckon I need two - one for me and one for guitar. Do I need a different style of mic for the acoustic guitar though?

[airborne50caliber]

Acoustic guitar, its nice to have a condenser mic. This almost dictates you buy a preamp, such as the 'ringer mic200. Vocals, you can get away with a nice '57 or '58 but its nice to have a condenser. A condenser and mic200 can run you from 200 to whatever depending on the wuality of the former. So if you buy a double of that for voals and acoustic, 500 euro is about the price when incuing a cheapm consenr

[StoneRosesFanatic]

Oof that is about 300 pound sterling isn't it?

[allthegoodnamesweregone]

yeah... it is the other option is you DI the acoustic that sounds better and di boxes are cheep and cheerful... but then you still have the vocal problem... a phantom black box mabey... it would work out cheeper than the mixer i think but the question is how many inputs does your porta studio have...?

[gaz12369]

On the subject of DI boxes, iv been told its best to DI bass.

Basically, a DI box changes an unbalanced signal to a balanced one yeah?

So assuming my soundcard has unbalanced inputs, is there much point in using a Di box, as its only going to end up unbalanced when it goes into the soundcard?

Gaz

[airborne50caliber]

yeah... it is the other option is you DI the acoustic that sounds better

Not if you know what you are doing, have a nice guitar and nice mic. That works infinetely better than DIing.

[allthegoodnamesweregone]

yes i know you made a (very good point)but as he is just starting out i assumed he didnt know how to do it...yet

[Moseph]

DI the acoustic that sounds better and di boxes are cheep and cheerful


I keep reading this on this forum. I don't get it. I don't think you're using the term DI correctly when you say this.

Acoustic instruments don't have electrical signal outputs. You can't DI them. Saying you're going to DI your acoustic guitar is like saying your going to DI your DI your saxophone. You can't plug anything into a DI box that came out of a saxophone, b/c nothing comes out of a saxophone that has a plug.

[moaner]

I keep reading this on this forum. I don't get it. I don't think you're using the term DI correctly when you say this.

Acoustic instruments don't have electrical signal outputs. You can't DI them. Saying you're going to DI your acoustic guitar is like saying your going to DI your DI your saxophone. You can't plug anything into a DI box that came out of a saxophone, b/c nothing comes out of a saxophone that has a plug.

i'm pretty sure they're all referring to electro acoustics, with piezos and pre-amps.

that reminds me of somehting quite funny... I saw a yamaha electro acoustic described somewhere as having a "passive pre-amp"...

oxymor'owned

[allthegoodnamesweregone]

i was refering to the inbuilt pickiup but i should have made it clearer

[airborne50caliber]

You can install a pickup on any acoustic guitar hence the consequent DIing of it.