More quick tips:

1: if you got a 'single shower' (not a shower/bath combo!) record vocals in the shower with the door closed! Laugh not! I find this is a great way to record vocals. It gives you a great natural room reverb that is hard to beat with plugins! Also, the enclosed quarters gives you the 'vocal room' effect used in high-quality studios for pretty much nothing!

2. Smaller amps are wicked for guitar. I use a Vox AC30 live, but in the studio I disconnect the interal spearkers and goto a smaller 25 watt powered single 12' speaker cab. I prop the cab up on a stool or chair, angle it upward about 30 degrees and mic it with my bluebird or Audix I5 staring right into the cone. I then take a second SM57 or Audix I5 and back mic the cab. The mic usually sits about 5mm from the speaker paper. Send each mic to separate inputs and each input to sepearte tracks. Blend to taste and record. (this will help the lower range frequencies to not overpower the mids....which is what guitar is mosty made up of!)

For gutiar mics it really depends on the sound you want. I use a Sennisher E609 for more percussive peices, a 57 for rhythm tracks, and the I5 for lead tracks.

3. For bass I like to use the combo method again. But this time with four inputs.
A: Mic'd bass cab (D6)
B: Straight into the sound card
C: Ampeg SVT DI
D: MXR Bass Distortion DI
Once again, plug them all into sperate ins and tracks and mix to taste.

4: For Acoustic guitar, two mics (one of which I forgot to mention earlier) are what I primarily use. And if the guitar has a built in pickup, I also use that.
A: SM57 on the frett board
B: Sennisher E609 on the sound hole
C: internal pickup.
Believe it or not, the internal pickup is usually set the quietest, and the 57 loudest... Dunno how it works out that way...but it does. :P

4. Recording everything at once is the best way to capture a rock bands 'live' feel. It is a hard thing to do with multiple input soundcards, and even harder if you just got a stereo input box... I've done it both ways!

For a stereo input box: Three mixers for this mehod are required. Usually your local music shop can rent you what you need. One mixer handels JUST drums and runs stereo out into a smaller mixers stereo ins. Mixer two handels guitars and bass and runs stereo into the smaller mixer. If you wish to do vocals, straight in to the smaller mixer is the way to go. Headphone out from the smaller mixer into a headphone splitter and off to however many sets of headphones you need for each musician.

Mix every instrument seperatley. Starting with the drums. Move your guitar amps into seperate rooms/areas as to help get rid of that terrible microphone bleed. Also, hit the 'low end roll off' switch on all channels but the 'bass' and 'bass drum' channels. To help get rid of low end rumbles. Get everyone to jam on the track for a while while you mix everyone on the smaller mixer. Hit record! You can also muti-track vocals into the mix at latter date (my preferance!) [url]http://www.rolodexmusic.net/lwh.mp3[/url] is an example of this method.

For multi-in boxes: I had an 8 channel in for the following method:
Rhythm guitar went one mic into input 1 (guitar was in a seperate room)
bass split signal into two DI's, mixed into a mini-mixer, mono out to input 2
Kick drum input 3
snare drum input 4
overheads inputs 5 and 6
toms were sent to a mixer, then stereo out to inputs 7 and 8
Each input had a seperate track in Cubase.
This yields great results that give you that 'live feel' and the flexability of a 'muli-track' recording. (ie mixing things later and re-recording fudged gutiar/bass parts) as long as the drummer dosn't screw up....it's allllllll good! [url]http://www.rolodexmusic.net/trebuchet.mp3[/url] (a great show of what you can do in this method with vocals and guitars added later!)

Finally... what if you want to get rid of the terrible mic bleed from that loud guitar amp even though it was 30 feet away, down a hall, and locked in the bathroom? Simple. Same situation as above, but use a Pod or Tonelab to do the guitar tracks. Use the gutiar/bass tracks as scratch tracks. What this enables you to do is record more guitar and bass later without having the original 'live' recordings guitar tones bleeding into the drum overheads. Go back later, add in the guitar parts later, and there you have it. Multi-track with that 'live' feel!

5. Learn when to use certain techniques:
Seems like a given...but the two main techniques I'm talking about are 'mulitrack' (one instrument at a time) and 'live off the floor' (my perfered way of recording)

Multi-track is great for more technical music. Usually a 'click' track will be the 'bed' track (first track laid) and is played to keep the drummer in time. Then another 'click' made for the guitarists, bassists, etc is made if the time signature differes from the drummer and they record their tracks. This is great for making everything match up perfect. It's the perfectionists dream! Great for technical stuff, metal, country, ska, pretty much everything! The major con to this however is that it does suck out a bit of the life force. When your not playing with other musicians at the same time your adrenaline dosn't get pumping as hard, and can make the recording lose 'life'.

Life off the floor gives you that 'feel' of a live band. I find its great for bands that are very straight ahead and basic. I also encourage this method for when a song has a solo, as the soloist can feed off the energy of the song and his/her bandmates. Making for an amazing solo! I have found that the best 'solos' in the bands I've recorded were played this way, instead of 'dubbed in' at a later date.


I hope the above info was helpful to some, and I'll answer any questions I can.

While I don't have tons of experiance, I've only been doing this 5 years. I still got a lot to learn, and I could have used all the tips in this thread when I was getting started too.... I just want to lend a helping hand! :)

dude you f[COLOR=Black]uc[/COLOR]king rock! i'm gonna use some of this advice for my studio/label now.

thanks \m/

so i've tried several times in several threads but this one seems to get posts so i'll try it here.

i've got a mixer and i'm going to buy mics to amp my guitar cab, but for software do i need the interface? i'm not sure what it does. guitar center guys suggested protools with the interface but it's $200 more than I want to spend. and also is there an easy way recording drums with just the on screen midi and not buying a keyboard or drum kit?

sry if this sounds newbie but how do u plug ur guitar into ur sound card??????

[QUOTE=Up)iN)SmOke]sry if this sounds newbie but how do u plug ur guitar into ur sound card??????[/QUOTE]

well i'm not very educated about this either, but is your soundcard just like the line in or something? if so, then you take your guitar and use a normal plug and get a 1/4" to a 1/8" adapter. or you can buy a new chord, one end 1/4" and one 1/8"

[QUOTE=gocaps99]well i'm not very educated about this either, but is your soundcard just like the line in or something? if so, then you take your guitar and use a normal plug and get a 1/4" to a 1/8" adapter. or you can buy a new chord, one end 1/4" and one 1/8"[/QUOTE]


Get the interface, you'll save yourself a lot of troubles.


To plug your guitar straight into your computer (which will sound like poo) you CAN go from your guitar LINE in (not Mic in) right into the computer via a 1/4' mono cable to a 1/8' mono cable.


To really get a better sound you should get an interface, like the pro-tools system. But if it's $200 more than you wanna spend... Then I think your SOL.

Decent software is $100 to start with. Then an interface that has at least two line/mic in's is at least another $200. More if it's Midi.

The pro-tools Mbox sells for just under $500 here in Canada and is a good starting point.


To get your guitar to sound half decent by plugging directly into your soundcard I highly recomend pickuping up a copy of Native Instruments Guitar rig or Guitar Combos' software. ($450 for rig, $200 for Combos) and that will give you an okay tone.


WHAT EVER YOU DO when recording tones, DO NOT (and this is a hard thing for a lot of people I've talked to that are getting into this) go from your SPEAKER OUT of your amp head or combo (on many this is the only kind of output that are on your amp!) into your sound card or interface. You will smell smoke and have either a toasty computer or interface...neither of which is really covered under waranty. To make matters worse you may also fry the output transformers on your amp... to give you an idea of this non-waranty repair its about $200 per transformer... usualy 2 per amp...and $50 an hour for shop time.


Your best and safest bet for recording and getting started is:

Protools Mbox or Presonus Firebox (the firebox comes with Cubase SL recording software)
Shure SM57 microphone
25 foot mic-cable.

That should give you what you need to get started easily.

wow theabstracts you have helped so much. Thanks

[QUOTE=Wire]Get the interface, you'll save yourself a lot of troubles.


To plug your guitar straight into your computer (which will sound like poo) you CAN go from your guitar LINE in (not Mic in) right into the computer via a 1/4' mono cable to a 1/8' mono cable.


To really get a better sound you should get an interface, like the pro-tools system. But if it's $200 more than you wanna spend... Then I think your SOL.

Decent software is $100 to start with. Then an interface that has at least two line/mic in's is at least another $200. More if it's Midi.

The pro-tools Mbox sells for just under $500 here in Canada and is a good starting point.


To get your guitar to sound half decent by plugging directly into your soundcard I highly recomend pickuping up a copy of Native Instruments Guitar rig or Guitar Combos' software. ($450 for rig, $200 for Combos) and that will give you an okay tone.


WHAT EVER YOU DO when recording tones, DO NOT (and this is a hard thing for a lot of people I've talked to that are getting into this) go from your SPEAKER OUT of your amp head or combo (on many this is the only kind of output that are on your amp!) into your sound card or interface. You will smell smoke and have either a toasty computer or interface...neither of which is really covered under waranty. To make matters worse you may also fry the output transformers on your amp... to give you an idea of this non-waranty repair its about $200 per transformer... usualy 2 per amp...and $50 an hour for shop time.


Your best and safest bet for recording and getting started is:

Protools Mbox or Presonus Firebox (the firebox comes with Cubase SL recording software)
Shure SM57 microphone
25 foot mic-cable.

That should give you what you need to get started easily.[/QUOTE]


Finally! Thank you very much.


Ok so tell me some more. What actually is the interface? What do you plug it into and what do you run to it? What does it do? Do both of the programs you recommended have it and which do you like better? I have a mixer already, do I run...

Guitar -> Pedals/Amp -> Shure SM57 microphone -> Mixer -> Interface -> Software? that makes sense to me, but I'm not very smart when it comes to this stuff

[QUOTE=theabstract]OK folks It's time for

[B][U]LESSON 3 PART 3[/U][/B]

Hey all, i'm still at home sick so i just thought i might aswell get this done...

All right guitars and bass. Well theres and age old question when it comes to recording guitar and bass... To mic the amp or to go strait in... the answer: well you decide i'll just run through both options

[U][B]GUITAR[/B][/U]

Micing: to mic a guitar amp, a dynamic mic is used, athough a large diapham condenser can be used. The closer you put the mic to the speaker, the more in your face it is in the mix and vice versa. SHURE SM57, are pretty much the standard mic used by producers everywhere for guitar amps.

Direct In: Pretty much a big fat no no in the world of recording. Guitars sound small and lifeless when going direct in...UNLESS, you have an amp simulator like a V-amp or a POD, in which case, going direct in sounds awsome, and you have no problem of the guitar amp mic picking up the drums or whatever!

[U][B]BASS[/B][/U]

Micing: you can get a very good bass sound by micing an amp, however you need a great mic that can handle the...well...basiness. This is where having a job comes in handy because mics that handle low end sounds can be partuculary expensive. The good news is that you can use the same mic on your kick drum, so maybe your drummer will go halves, or maybe not?

Direct in: Bass direct in can sound good. Isuggest going out of the line out of the bass amp and into some rack gear, like compressors limitors etc. Spending alot of time, can get you a great warm sound. A amp modeler like a Bass V-amp is reallly good too.

Both: If your sound card has a few inputs, then this is your best option! Mic the amp and go direct in, record them onto separate tracks and blend the two in the mix. The mic should have a big phat warm tone, and the direct in will have your more mid-high end sounds and sultle pick noises etc.

Remember: the better your instrument is, the better it will sound once recorded..
Next Lesson: recording vocals, (i might put off piano for a while cos I don't think many people will find it interesting, stop me if i'm wrong)
Have Fun Amigoes![/QUOTE]

Is this the kind of V-Amp thats being reffered to or is it some program
[url]http://www.musiciansnews.com/guitars/99/behringer_x_v_amp_guitar_recording_live_sound_multi_effect_p.shtml[/url]

broekn link, but yes, he means somehting like the behringer v-amp 2.

However, you linked to the X V-Amp. Get the V-Amp 2, with the 2, or the V-Amp Pro, they are better.

kudos to theabstract and wire :thumb:

[QUOTE=gocaps99]Finally! Thank you very much.


Ok so tell me some more. What actually is the interface? What do you plug it into and what do you run to it? What does it do? Do both of the programs you recommended have it and which do you like better? I have a mixer already, do I run...

Guitar -> Pedals/Amp -> Shure SM57 microphone -> Mixer -> Interface -> Software? that makes sense to me, but I'm not very smart when it comes to this stuff[/QUOTE]


The Interface is a small box that connects to your computer via a USB2.0 port or a Firewire port. (I recomend getting a firewire card as they are a LOT faster and reduce 'latency' which is the time it takes for your input signal (guitar) to get processed in the computer and spat out as a wav file.)

([url]www.presonus.com[/url] for info on the Firebox)

I like Cubase better as I've been using it longer than Pro-Tools. But converting a guy from Cubase to Pro-Tools is like converting the kid from Pepsi to Coke.


AS for hoook up:

Guitar -> Amp -> Shure SM57 -> Interface -> Computer

Now thats if all your doing is recording guitar.

Guitar -> Amp -> SM57 -> Mixer
Bass -> Direct Box -> Mixer Mixer -> Interface -> Computer
Drum Mics -> Mixer


Any help?

[QUOTE=Kirk's Puppet]However, you linked to the X V-Amp. Get the V-Amp 2, with the 2, or the V-Amp Pro, they are better.[/QUOTE]

thanks ill try to get one off eBAy

Hi, I was wondering if you could help me. I have the program audacity and I need to convert those files to Mp3 format. I'm from the Metallica forum and some of the guys (including me) want to upload a cover. I want to record the Rhythm part of "For Whom The Bell Tolls", and upload it so the other guys get a feel for my playing. Any suggestions as to how I might be able to do that? I've tried using lame.com and it really is as the name suggests. Any other good decoder suggestions?

google mp3 encoders...

[QUOTE=Wire]The Interface is a small box that connects to your computer via a USB2.0 port or a Firewire port. (I recomend getting a firewire card as they are a LOT faster and reduce 'latency' which is the time it takes for your input signal (guitar) to get processed in the computer and spat out as a wav file.)

([url]www.presonus.com[/url] for info on the Firebox)

I like Cubase better as I've been using it longer than Pro-Tools. But converting a guy from Cubase to Pro-Tools is like converting the kid from Pepsi to Coke.


AS for hoook up:

Guitar -> Amp -> Shure SM57 -> Interface -> Computer

Now thats if all your doing is recording guitar.

Guitar -> Amp -> SM57 -> Mixer
Bass -> Direct Box -> Mixer Mixer -> Interface -> Computer
Drum Mics -> Mixer


Any help?[/QUOTE]

sweet, thanks.

ok here's a completely different problem. i downloaded cakewalk (so i can record while saving up for something better) and when i record on the program the speakers come back with the guitar but it's extremely fuzzy and static-y and echo-y. anyone got any idea as to what it is? it's sonar 2

[QUOTE]google mp3 encoders...[/QUOTE]

those ones suck.

ihhh the sony one is ament to be epic... thought of buying it... its £17 (i think) but it is ament be fantastic

The sony one is meant to be epic.. good joke

im glad you saw it...

I don't think many did

sorry if this questions been asked before but which recording program would you recomend for a beginer recorder? and also would you recommend fruity loops for a drum midi program for beginer?
thanks

audacity

yup audaccity for beginers although i find that recording to logic hit kit (on pc this is) then mixing on audacity is **** fine... due the teh fact you have plug ins via audacity and midi/synths via hit kit...

[QUOTE=theabstract][U][B]LESSON 1[/B][/U]

Seting up your Home Studio
The following are essentials in [U]decent[/U] home recording setups
-PC
-Soundcard
-Mixer
-Microphones
-recording software
-Monitors
-headphone
-a spare room

[U]P.C.[/U]
In a big studio like mine, the mixer is the heart of the setup. In a home recording setup, the computer filles this space. Your computer needs to be good enough that it's not going to blow up, or freeze while your in the middle of recording. Any new PC bought from a shop nowdays is ussually pretty good. I suggest spending about $600 on the PC, unless of course you have one already!

[U]SoundCard[/U]
The souncard you choose really depends on how many different sources your going to record at the one time. Soundblaster make really great cards for home recording. If your only recording one thing at a time, then you can use the sound card that comes with the PC. If your a 3-4-5 piece band then I would sugest the Sound Blaster Audigi 2 platnum external card. They Have 5 inputs and are great for bands!

[U]Microphones[/U]
Depending on what your recording, a studio needs a good microphone, or several good microphones. I will run down different models and how to use them effectively in a later lesson. Just to give you an idea, you can spend anywhere beween 50 and 700 dollars.

[U]Mixer[/U]
A mixer you can live without, but they are truly very, very, helful. The mixer is always conected to the sound card, so you can plug whatever you recording into the mixer and ajust the eq and input level on the mixer. Mixers can also be very handy to record drums, for example, you plug all the mics on the kit (snare, kick, toms etc) into the mixer, adjust the levels and eq and then all the mics come out as one stereo signal, therfore only taking up two of your inputs.

[U]Recording Software[/U]
There so much recording software out there today that its not funny! The best program by far for begginer recordists (is that a word?). The only problem it wont record from multiple sources. Enter Cubase. Cubasis takes a very, very long time to figure out, but once you have, it is well worth it. Other programs include cakewalk, fruity loopz 4, sonar, logic. Its really up to the user to decide which one they like. You can download them all from Kazaa.

[U]Monitors[/U]
Monitors is a fancy word for studio speakers. Monitors arn't just like your average CD player speakers. CD player speakers are designed to make the music sound as good as possible. Thats not what you want. Thats why studio monitors are designed extremely nuetral, so that they play exactly whats coming out of the computer. This prevents the following scenario:
Jonny Producer Dude records a local rock band. This is his first time he's recorded a band because he's just set up his studio. Johny has just spent heaps of hard earned cash on gear for his studio, but Jonny doesn't know ****. Jonny and the band have spent a week on the new demo. They are listening to the songs through the monitors, which just so happen to be his CD player speakers, and it sounds awsome! The band pay jonny lots of thier hard earned cash, get thier CD and go home. On the way home, Bill Drummer, and Frank singer decide they are going to put on the CD. It starts playing but it sounds like ****. Frank and Bill turn around and drive back to johnnys house and lets just say he wont produce another CD in a while! If your music sounds good on real monitors, it'll sound good on any CD Player! Behringer Truth monitors rock!

[U]Headphones[/U]
You NEED these. In my studio I have 5 pairs of headphones. You need these. There is nothing worse than having a great vocal track ruined because the vocal mic picked up the monitors! the soloution: headphones! Not Earplugs, Headphones! When your recording something, the only thing the mic should hear is the thing you want on that track.

[U]A Room[/U]
You might say yeah whatever I can do it in my garage, or bedroom, and thats fine... If you want to be P***ed of while you record and p***ed of when your doing stuff in your room. Besides it being anoying trying to record while theres mess everywhere, acoustics are very important also. So a room that you can do stuff to the walls in is great (i also wouldn't want to live in a bedroom that has blankets hanging on the walls!
I'll go through how to treat a room for acoustics in another lesson...

[U]Conclusion[/U]
So thats what youll need!
Please comment on the lessons and ask questions and i have a go at answering them!
If you want you cant tell me to shut my big mouth too.

Next lesson, I'll go through how to connect the studio together, and some basics on how to get is running. Also I'll go through acoustic design and studio layout

Have fun buying all your Gear![/QUOTE]

Do the monitors need to be active or passive?

uhhh i dnt think it matters

depends if you want to buy an amp for them or not

okay, here's wahat i have in my "setup"

tascam 4 track recorder (not really necessary, is it?)
2 shure sm57's
behringer eurorack ub802 mixer
lots of leads
audacity
the 2 inputs in the back of my computer (line and mic)
50 dollars (american)
my family pc
my laptop (with only a mic input)
a noob band that's broke as ****
the need for an ok quality demo

now, here's my questions:

1.do i need to buy a special soundcard and if so what kind and why?
2.if i don't need a soundcard, then which plugin should i use?
3.will you send me some money?
4.do i need monitors or studio headphones?
5.what should i record together? (ie guitars,bass,and drums and do the vox seperately or what?)
6. do i need more mics?(obviously for the drums, but any special mics for the vox?)

ok thats a nice set up now yo answer your question

1) no the one ytou have will record BUT the quality will be poor and you will HAVE to get the levles right on the mixer

2) i recomend another sound card however the can be expensive one with 8 tracks as pci should be ok as for plug in's i dot understand

3) no will you send me money

4) Both idealy however if your short on money normal closed heads phones will do

5 i recomend them all seperatly but thats only best done with a large sound card with multipul inuts

6) more mics, you could use a condenser however for a live demo (which i guess you will be doing i think a sm57 will be nmore than fine

some asdvice is to Mic the gutair cabs and run the bass directly into the mixer but ddeffanatly more mics...