A relative Newcomer looking for some tips

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:41 pm

Hey all, so here is my situation, music recording/producing has been somewhat of a passion of mine for sometime now. I had hoped to go to school for it but things didn't happen to pan out the way I hoped, but I haven't given up on this passion yet. This is what I am looking to do.

I am hoping to start up, a sort of mobile recording resource for people at my school (University of Massachusetts - Amherst). Trying to offer an affordable recording solution for those interested in getting their work on tape. As far as equipment goes, right now I pretty much have nothing, but am looking into investing a bit into it. As of right now I have a Macbook Pro with Logic 8 and M-Audio MobilePre USB and am looking into acquiring some mics.

Really, I'm just looking for any advice anyone might have for me. I have a feeling that I have a general idea of what I'm doing but at the same time not really, if that makes any sense.

Thanks a lot.

PS. As far as mics go, I've been looking at this pretty inexpensive pack by Audio-Technica, the AT2041SP. From the reviews I've been reading they sound like a good deal and a decent starting place.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:52 pm

ge the basics...xlr's -- 57's 58's if you want to do live stuff you can save some money on mic's by using Y cables wait let me us proper capitalization I would hate to offend anyone here (sorry I couldn't resist)

Get the basics first. You will need some 57's and few 58's. XLR cables are a must. If I looked up the correct pre you stated, you may eventually need/want more preamps.

Given what you have so far I would get a pair of condensers. Maybe some Studio Project c4's to start out with, depending of course on what your budget is.

Get some room recordings under your belt running XY or ORTF. Use these to learn the in's and out's of your software.

I just think it really tough to do too much with just 2 preamps especially if tracking drums is in your future.

If you have money to invest I would start with a new preamp. There are obviously many to choose from. Again decide on your budget and how many pre's you need.

Hope this helps, get more specific with you short term goals and more information will trickle in. I am new to the mobile setup so feel free to ask. My many mistakes may help you avoid them.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:56 pm

lol, my "mobile" setup consists of unplugging my PC, and hiking it a mile to the Church (have walked it once, carried my screen once (and broke it) and the other half dozen times got a lift...stick with a laptop.)

If you're on a budget, (no offence to donthaveone) don't get condensers. If you can get a cheap condenser it's probably crap.
I agree with donthaveone though, you might need more pre(amp)'s soon. Anything more than a vocalist and guitar at a time is going to give you problems.
What you could do is get a mixer, and turn [X] inputs into 2 outputs, but this sort of makes your interface's preamps useless. You can still use it though.

And if you want any specific tips, such as micing guitars or good capture of a single vocalist, be more specific Smile

Guitars: don't point it at the soundhole. Vocalist: get them a few inches away from the mic if possible, and maybe angle it in relation to their mouth.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:57 pm

Hey, thanks for the suggestions so far. I forgot to mention that this is my first post and that I am hoping to take what ever knowledge I can from this forum. Now what I am attempting to do is provide a studio like recording where ever the artist happens to be. I understand that this can be quite tricky considering how variable acoustics can be, but being that I am a student I don't have much other choice.

As far as my limitations, I realize how limited I am with my preamp. Unfortunately I do have a budget, being a student, and i am really looking to get as much bang for my buck.

As far as specifics, I have two people looking for some recordings. One is a fairly basic female songwriter accompanied by piano. The other one is a solo harp player, that one I have a feeling might be quite tricky and I have been trying to do some research.

Thanks

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