Home Recording Studio

ktoal

I've just setup a small home recording studio (more like a bedroom studio) and I was just looking for some advice. Here's the equipment I use :

1.8Ghz PC with Win XP (256MB RAM)
Tascam US 428 DAW
Cubase SX and VST (comes with all the normal VST plugins)
Evoluation 449C Midi Keyboard Controller
Yamaha DD55 Drum Machine
Sennheiser E845 Mic, Shure MS58 Beta
Several electric and Bass guitars with all Korg and Boss effect boards.

There are so many pieces of hardware and software out there, that I'm not sure what else I need. Does anyone else have a recording suite at home? Any advice?

Thanks.

feylya

Have a look at Guitar Rigs and maybe a POD XT too, just for direct recording?

ktoal

Yeah, I was thinking about get a POD, but I use a KORG AX10B for recording the bass directly and a BOSS GT-6 for the guitar. Both effect boards have tonnes of amp sims.

feylya

Ah right. The GT-6 is a nice pedal. I was just thinking the POD XT is designed for direct recording for those late at night sessions.

Doctor J

1gB of ram.

What do you need? You tell me. What have you found your stuff is lacking? Well you could buy a whole load of cheap crap you'll never use. Rather than buy loads of cheap untils and plug ins, maybe save and buy a really good sound card, the cheaper ones have **** Analogue/Digital coverters, even expensive ones can have ****ty converters and the converter is what codes your analogue signal into digital, so if your converter is garbage, no matter how good the rest of your rig is, you will always be recording lesser sounds. People often make the mistake of spending a couple of hundred €€€ on a sound card and think they have something good. You get what you pay for in this area, especially when it comes to bringing analogue signals into your PC. Avoid Behringer etc. Spend big here and it will improve your sound.

Also, given the advances in VST's, the days of the drum machine are coming to an end. There are some very good drum programs like BFD from FXpansion which can add a more human sound to programmed rhythm as VST's.

feylya

Jaysus, I didn't even look at the computer spec. Definately a gig of RAM. Possibly a mixing desk of some description for recording stereo signals from the amp.

Also a large hard drive and really good speakers and headphones as well as a ****e pair of speakers.

Doctor J

A good sound card (ie at least four inputs) and I mean, good sound card, and you won't need a hardware mixer, unless you prefer mixing on a console. But then, you may prefer using automated levels which SX is well capable of and mix with a mouse.

ktoal

The Tascam US428 Audio Workstation replaces the PC soundcard... And the quality is really impressive. This also has a built in 32 track mixer (8 Audio & 16 MIDI) This is connected to the PC via USB, so the sound is crystal clear. Recording and laying down the tracks doesn't seem to be a problem, it's the mixing. I've got some really good Compression and Limiter VST's that I try to add into the final mix, but something is lacking And I'm not sure what exactly!!!!

feylya

http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/thoiw6_boss_br1600cd_16spur_hdrecorder_prodinfo.html A mate just got this. Absolutely incredible. 8 simultaneous tracks, voiced for drums as well as guitars, auto levelling, the **** tbh.

Doctor J

ktoal wrote:

The Tascam US428 Audio Workstation replaces the PC soundcard... And the quality is really impressive. This also has a built in 32 track mixer (8 Audio & 16 MIDI) This is connected to the PC via USB, so the sound is crystal clear. Recording and laying down the tracks doesn't seem to be a problem, it's the mixing. I've got some really good Compression and Limiter VST's that I try to add into the final mix, but something is lacking And I'm not sure what exactly!!!!

They may not need compression or limiting. There isn't a formula for making things sound good. Compression can actually make things sound worse unless you really know how to use it properly. Also avoid over EQ-ing everything.

machiavellianme

Doctor J wrote:

A good sound card (ie at least four inputs) and I mean, good sound card

What would you consider to be a good soundcard? I am thinking of setting up a home studio of sorts myself, but I dont think my soundcard is up to it. Any advice would be welcome

Doctor J

I would say something like this

ktoal

Here's what I use.... http://www.tascam.com/Products/US-428.html

I have my PC sound card disabled, and I use this console as a volume controller even when I'm not recording.

daram

What appears to obviously missing to me is a good mic.
Sennheiser E845 and SM58 are good, but not good enough for vocals etc.
You should have a good condenser mic and something to power it.

ferdi

alot more ram

Idgeitman

Get yourself a few Shure SM57's, those are pretty universal, can be used on guitar and on the drum toms

Idgeitman

www.homerecording.com <-- check out their BBS, all you'll ever need to know

Doctor J

What I would say to any home recorder is this though: if you want to record acoustic drums, then go to a studio and record them properly in an acoustically treated room. The room plays an enormous part in the sound of mic'd drums and if the room is has **** acoustics it will adversely effect the sound of your recording. If you're going to do it at all, you might as well do it right.

daram

Its true. Drums have the best sound when theyre micd with overheads/snare/kick only. Just in a nice room with a nice sound. (I'm gonna have such a room in about two weeks, its being built now). 57s are good, but you already have a 58 which is very similar. I still say all you're lacking is a good condenser mic

bombidol

if its just a home studio, a 58 is fine, 57's sound good on vocals too. you'd be surprised how many big bands dont like the sound of expensive condensers and ****. Give em a 58 or a 57 for vox and they are happy.
I finished building my Vocal Booth Yesterday, and im buying a wooden shed to fix up for a drum booth for recording. gonna be sweeeet.

musician.ie

Pay a visit to kvr-vst and load up on freeware VST instruments and effects. I would recommend a mixing desk and a patch bay, though. I know they make my life so much easier, and most of my work involves tracking just one instrument at a time.

daram

I always thought the same, but the difference a condenser mic actually makes for recording vocals or piano or nearly anything is fairly ridiculous. Depends on the style of music though I suppose. Some style dont really need the clarity of a condenser mic. I have a rode nt1 and its such an unbelievable sweet deal. Seriously is probably my favourite piece of recording gear.

Doctor J

There is no right or wrong way to record, you do what sounds best for the piece of music in question. Listen to The Times They Are A' Changin' by Bob Dylan and listen to his bracelet knocking off the guitar as he strums, especially in the first few bars. In this day and age, where people are too worried about perfection and everything being clear, that would have been taken out of the song. But really, can anyone say there is anything at all wrong with that song or that recording? It's timeless, probably one of the greates pieces of music of the modern era IMO. Sometimes character is removed in place of sterility. In the same way there is no one right drum mic'ing technique for every song and there is no right mic for every occasion. If a 57 sounds good on what you want to do, use it. It's the right tool for the right job. Recording is as much an art as playing.

WetDaddy

Personally, I don't know an awful lot about the techicalities of recording and obviously, every different band/musician will probably want their own unique sound (unless they inherently want to sound like someone else).

But, in my opinion, a "good" recording would be one which captures the characteristics of the instruments played, impurities and all. Now, I don't necessarilly mean bum-notes and all that, but if the musicians are of a caliber where they can play well, then to capture that as naturally as possible would be *my* opinion of ideal.

I know there's always gonna be a case of "Oh ****, the bass drum was rattling nastily in that" or "x is resonating off y", but I think like Doc said, the sound of Dylan's bracelet rattling is something fantastic. It doesn't detract from the song at all, and you can bet your life that it'd be difficult to reproduce.

That may all sound a bit idealistic, but has anyone ever done a really interesting take and not recorded it? Ever get the feeling it's lost forever?

On a more techincal note, along with the acoustics of the room, don't underestimate tuning the drums properly (to each other / to the room itself) when recording. Can make a big difference!

Doctor J

deathfunk wrote:

On a more techincal note, along with the acoustics of the room, don't underestimate tuning the drums properly (to each other / to the room itself) when recording. Can make a big difference!

and a drummer who can play in time/to a click

rob1891

I too vote condenser mic and preamp. Look at the linked forums to see what you can afford, but I think you'll be parting with 5-600 minimum for the pair which isn't cheap. Justify it by considering that you've spent nothing on your voice "instrument" but probably a few hunderds or thousands on guitars and amps over the years

Bracelet or no braclet, Bob Dylan was in a CBS studios with acres of expensive gear recording that, and if you dared put a 57 infront of his amazing voice I'd have ye shot!!

WetDaddy

Amazing?

"A strange you man called Dylan, with a voice like sand and glue..."

A bit more apt, perhaps... Any lyric-spotters out there?

Eoin Madsen

You could do with doubling your RAM, but you don't really a GB unless you're using software samplers with big samples. With 512mb, a 1.8ghz processor will bottleneck before your memory in most recording applications.

The general "use the right tool for the right job" is great, but an sm58 is a live mic - it's the wrong tool in the studio (except for recording guides), unless you're the sort of person that thinks hammering in nails with the back of your screwdriver is better than using a hammer.

Get a large diaphram condensor (even a cheapish t.bone one) for vocals and ambient/room micing. The extreme proximity effect, and the (deliberate) off-axis colouration make live dynamic mics completely unsuited to anything but close micing. With a condensor you'll get a more accurate reproduction of the sound. Also, if you haven't got a pop shield for vocals, get one! Don't waste money on a preamp worth less than €200 (per channel), it won't be much better than what you have already.

If you're looking for high quality but cheap plugins, I'd recommend http://www.voxengo.com.

If you're going digital, use it to it's full. Dampen your recording room completely so it has no reflections and no reverberant sounds, and add the sound of a nice expensive room to your drums with convolution.