Recording Noob

[benji1138]

Hey guys, this has probably been asked a million times over.
What do I need to get a relatively decent home studio going?

I just picked up a fire wire card, looking at mixer/interfaces , drum mic kits and recording mics.
What else should i put on the shopping list?

My band was going to just go to a studio but when we started demoing tracks on my pc they sounded decent enough to get us thinking, we could do it ourselves.

I have a little bit of knowledge in recording, and the demos sounded really good for using a crappy sony mic that plugged into my pc's mic in and adobe audition.
Keep in mind we are a punk band, so a little bit of a raw sound works for us. Our last album was done by a guy who uses all techniques for metal so the mix was thin and mid scooped, not the best for a punk band but still great work.

Any help would be great!

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Interface
Monitors
Mics
Cables
Mic stands
Computer
Headphone amp (IMO)
Headphones
Software (unless you want to stick with whatever OEM stuff comes with the hardware you choose)

 

[xmortumx]

Interface
Monitors
Mics
Cables
Mic stands
Computer
Headphone amp (IMO)
Headphones
Software (unless you want to stick with whatever OEM stuff comes with the hardware you choose)

+1

By the way your going to need quite of bit of cash to start because everything is not cheap. Look into used interfaces on craiglist, perhaps a firepod 8 channel interface, Sm57's, OverHead mics, Maybe KRK monitors, and you can Start with Reaper daw.

 

[benji1138]

Thanks a lot guys! I have most of the basic stuff ie cables, pc, monitors, stands.Could you recommend any cheap but good products? brands etc?

Would i need anything specific for multi tracking the drums?

Thanks again.

 

[Trevoire520]

Thanks a lot guys! I have most of the basic stuff ie cables, pc, monitors, stands.Could you recommend any cheap but good products? brands etc?

Would i need anything specific for multi tracking the drums?

Thanks again.

Cheap and good don't necessarily go hand in hand.

"Buy cheap, buy twice" is something that I've learned the hard way. Mic wise I wouldn't go for anything lower quality than a SM57/I5 for example.

For multitracking drums you need at a minimum:

2 x Overhead Mic's
One trigger for each drum in the kit
(Preferably) Once mic for each drum in the kit (probably 2 for snare)
A interface with enough inputs for all of the above.

 

[benji1138]

this is setting me in the right direction, thanks guys!

how do i record drums so that each mic records as a separate channel in my software, so i can adjust levels in post?

Cheers- Benji

 

[Trevoire520]

Plug mic's into interface
Open session in your DAW
Bring up one audio track for each mic that you're using
Set each track's input to it's corresponding mic (so if your snare mic is in input 1 you'll take your first track and set it to be fed from input 1)
Record

Simples!

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Get a decent book on setting up a home studio and recording, something that covers all the basics. I haven't checked it out myself, but I've heard a lot of good about the recently released Killer Home Recording: http://www.recordingreview.com/killerhomerecording/ . There's also quite a bunch of book recommendations available on this forum, search around a bit. Whatever book(s) you decide to get, read them through until you're sure you comprehend it. This will save you a ton of trouble in the future.

Also, don't jump straight into sample replacement, parallel compression, getting your recordings loud as fuck or any of that. Just throw the mics at things and see if you like the sound. Move the mic a bit and figure out how the sound changes. It's a lot more fun and a lot more educational.

Good luck!