J-kwon and Ty-rael are coming over...

[GreendayIdiot]

Okay so I promised some of my friends that they could come over and freestyle on some instrumental tracks at my house. What is a good makeshift recording studio I can put together in my basement for these guys?

All I have pretty much is a single Mic, plugged into my computer which is running Audacity (free recording software). And some headphones for the freestyler to wear.

I've gotten pretty good recording with the program, but I think I need to make a Booth or some sort of room they can go into, and also a Microphone screen.

Any other vital parts or any tips I'm missing?

thanks :lol:

[Motleyguy]

For a pop screen (mic screen), use stockings stretched over a bent coat hanger frame. God there's so much to get into I don't even know where to start.

[Schadenfreude_Delight]

What I'd suggest is be prepared in what you're doing otherwise it'll be not worth recording. With limited gear preparation is the key. Write out charts so they can follow them, have speakers set up for playback.. little things help.

[fuzzyhair]

Just make sure everything works. If you guys are just messing around bring a tv and pizza down there.

[Aaron]

What I'd suggest is be prepared in what you're doing otherwise it'll be not worth recording. With limited gear preparation is the key. Write out charts so they can follow them, have speakers set up for playback.. little things help.
Exactly.

[Hobbes]

If they can do it, double-track their vocals and highly compress them (if you have a compression plugin.) It's a cheap short-cut to decent vocals that don't sound like a 2-year old recorded them.

[GreendayIdiot]

If they can do it, double-track their vocals and highly compress them (if you have a compression plugin.) It's a cheap short-cut to decent vocals that don't sound like a 2-year old recorded them.

yes i actually was doubling theyre vocals like i just copied a track after they spit and put it right under the original one, but im not sure what exactly compressing does. I have the option to compress them on my program but im not sure like to what extend there's a couple options and stuff to tweak around with it.

After setting up my fake little studio basically i have the "booth" as a walk in closet with a mic and the pantyhose wire hanger screen. outside the booth I have my computer setup recording, which works fine, and all i have to do is throw on the instrumental track and then record the vox over it. But I have my mic running directly into my computer via a cheap 2 dollar converter, and each track recorded comes in as MONO. Do I need a mixer to get stereo? And if so whats a good one I can buy? Also I do need a new mic, mine is some cheap radio shack bs. Whats a good Mic + mixer package that would suit me as an amateur producer.

Also one more question! (sry im very new to this!)
When the track is being recorded the freestyler wears the headphones to listen to the beat, but then I can't hear anything outside the booth. Do I need like a Y cable to stick into my speakers so I can plug in two headphones? or is there another way that people use?

Thanks

[Motleyguy]

As you are recording from one source (mic), you don't need to be recording in stereo, record everything in mono. Even a stereo mic'd source is recorded as two mono tracks, panned some degree left and right.

As far as doubling vocal tracks, get them to do 2 takes, there's a big difference between two takes, and copy/paste. Copy/pasting the vocal track will really only add volume, it's the little bit of time delay and subtle differences between takes that add the texture of a doubled vocal track.

What you're probably going to want to get is some sort of USB or Firewire interface to run the mic(s) into your computer. I'm not sure about pricing and what not, and don't really have much experience with any interfaces aside from Digidesign (Pro Tools) hardware.

As for mics, try the Audio Technica 2020 for tracking vocals, it's fairly budget, and I've heard it gets fairly decent results.

[GreendayIdiot]

As you are recording from one source (mic), you don't need to be recording in stereo, record everything in mono. Even a stereo mic'd source is recorded as two mono tracks, panned some degree left and right.

As far as doubling vocal tracks, get them to do 2 takes, there's a big difference between two takes, and copy/paste. Copy/pasting the vocal track will really only add volume, it's the little bit of time delay and subtle differences between takes that add the texture of a doubled vocal track.

What you're probably going to want to get is some sort of USB or Firewire interface to run the mic(s) into your computer. I'm not sure about pricing and what not, and don't really have much experience with any interfaces aside from Digidesign (Pro Tools) hardware.

As for mics, try the Audio Technica 2020 for tracking vocals, it's fairly budget, and I've heard it gets fairly decent results.

Yes, I ended up copy pasting 2 takes, compressing them, then making them into a stero track and it sounded way better. Im going to take your advice and try having my vocals do two runs through and see how it comes out.

I found this basic 4 channel mixer online that is ideal what I need im just not sure if its a good quality, or if I can find one for cheaper that does the same thing.

http://www.mackie.com/products/402vlz3/

(basically i dont need to mix anything I can do that on the pc, I just need something compatible with multi mics and LDC and phantom power)

Also, I want to connect my keyboard to the pc. I need MIDI cables and Whats a free or cheap program where I can start making some beats and such?

thanks for your patience guys

[Motleyguy]

You don't need a mixer, you need a USB or FireWire interface that can send multiple tracks simultaneously to your PC.

Think about it, once you plug, let's say, for example, 3 mics into the mixer, you then have to send it into your PC via the soundcard. The soundcard only has 1 input, so all 3 of your tracks will be coming into the PC as one mono track. Look into Presonus Firepod or something like that.

[GreendayIdiot]

You don't need a mixer, you need a USB or FireWire interface that can send multiple tracks simultaneously to your PC.

Think about it, once you plug, let's say, for example, 3 mics into the mixer, you then have to send it into your PC via the soundcard. The soundcard only has 1 input, so all 3 of your tracks will be coming into the PC as one mono track. Look into Presonus Firepod or something like that.

Hey i checked into firewire and PCI cards and your right that is exactly what I need. All my mixing can be done on the computer but I have a question.

If I purchase something like this:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Yamaha-Audiogram-6-Computer-Recording-System-703328-i1423714.gc

Will I be able to connect my mics with XLR jacks? Or will I need a converter, because it dosent look like it has an XLR input dock. And I heard somewhere that I need phantom power when recording vox with a condenser mic. Can someone explain exactly what that is?

thanks again

[Tripp_chaos]

The xlr inputs are the two black ones up in the right corner but with that specific connection there is no phantom power and you can hook a 1/4" jack to it...