Hi all.
I'm new to the whole recording scene and am in real need of any help I can get. I've been a musician for a while and have done a little recording about 5 years ago with cakewalk. I recently purchased a few things for my "home studio":
Pc: P4 2.4 mHz, 1024 MB ram, 2 HDD 200Gb, Delta Audiophile 2496 sound card, Cubase SL/SX(production), Wavelab(mastering), HAlion, VSTi, etc.
I own a Korg Triton ProX which has great sounds and works perfectly as a midi controller :) .
A band with awesome musicians and with the best instruments.
A couple of AKG instrument mics, Shure beta 87, a few cond. mic's, 8 AKG D9000s, and a few other AKG mics.
As of now I have very little knowledge of the software and have little or no knowledge of what it takes to produce a CD, but I am eager and willing to learn.
Is there anything I am missing and sure purchase before I get "started"? Should I get a hold of any certain books for different aspects of recording?
Thank you in advance for any help!
Best regards,
switchfoot
Comments
Hi Steve. The sound card i currently have is not a mulit-ch
Hi Steve.
The sound card i currently have is not a mulit-ch card. I'm working on getting an RME card in the near future. I do have a farily good mixer(Allen&Heath Mix Wizard 16:2DX) which is mostly used for live, but if needed can be used to set up 16 mics and out it as one into the comp if needed. I'm also working on getting a preamp.
2) I don't have a room yet. I'm planning on making a "basement" studio in the house that i'm currently building. It'll probably take a full year to get the house built and then work on the acoustics. I've thought long and hard on where to make this studio and decided to use a room that has 6 in of concrete surrounding it(walls, floor, ceiling). It's already fairly soundproofed and such.
Greetings! Recording drums down to 2 channels can really make
Greetings!
Recording drums down to 2 channels can really make your head hurt, but other than that you're probably good to go with the tools you have.
As far as the drums go, you can try to mic the whole kit up and submix everything, but it's going to be a long, slow, tedious process- the drums will have to be perfectly mixed before they get recorded, and you won't be able to tweak them too much when you lay down the rest of the tracks.
It might be easier on you to just use 2 mics on the kit for now- I'd recommend a kick and 1 overhead in the middle. You won't have much control over the drum sound, but if you get the mics placed well, and have the drums sounding good before you record them, it won't be too bad.
I read somewhere that almost all the Led Zeppelin albums had the drums recorded with 2 overheads and a kick- that's all. So it can be done. It'll be a good lesson in 'do what you can with what you have', too- if you can get an acceptable sound with 2 mics, then it'll just be that much better when you can mic the whole kit.
Without knowing what kinds of condensers you've got, I can't recommend what to use for the overheads. Kick sound isn't too tough to get right, and you'll be able to tell right away if the mic you've used isn't working.
Ask your band to be patient, and help you try stuff out. I'd think they'd be aggreable- you're not going to be turning out perfect recordings in a month's time, and they know this. Make it fun- lots of working engineers wish they had more of it.
Do everything you can with your current tools, and upgrade one piece at a time. Learn to get the most out of the least equipment. When you do upgrade, you'll be able to make the most of the new stuff, too.
Good luck!
Hi switchfoot! Looks like you have a good list on the go. I wo
Hi switchfoot! Looks like you have a good list on the go. I wonder only about two things.
1. Do you have enough separate channels of preamp to power your microphones? Enough to record a drum set maybe?
2. I see no mention of acoustic tratments or the actual room itself. Do you have a dedicated space to use for recording? Have you looked at acoustic issues?