Hi everyone!
I'm ready to go broke and spend every penny I have on a new recording setup! I'm a beginner but I want to buy the best rig possible. .not interested in a beginner setup! I don't want to have to buy a new rig a year or two from now...I'd rather get great gear from the start..but I don't know what I'm doing so any and all input is encouraged and appreciated!
MY GOALS: I want to be able to do everything myself. I don't want to have to rely on other people to get things done. I want to be able to do everything start to finish (guitar, bass, program drums, vocals, samples, synths etc...) by myself and have it sound really really good. I would also like to record other bands. and be able to record a fully mic'd drumkit. I play metal but I like all kinds of different music and play a lot of clean stuff/not metal. I'd like to be very well rounded and able to record whatever. I'm very aware that no matter what I get I can't buy talent and knowledge. .I just really don't want to buy crappy gear!
What I'm interested in and well... what I think/know I'm going to buy so far. unless you have any other sugestions?
Pro Tools LE
Toontrack Drumkit from Hell 2
Shure sm57
Other than that I have no idea and need help...
WHAT KIND OF AUDIO INTERFACE SHOULD I PURCHASE? I would like to use Pro Tools . .and like I said I want to be able to record a fully mic'd drumkit and I don't want to buy things twice/have to upgrade a year from now. I also want to use the DFH2.
Mics? I'm goin to get an SM57 for sure. what kind of drum mics would you suggest? What about vocals?
MONITORS? I have NO IDEA where to start with this one...
COMPUTER? What would need to run all this stuff? The computer I have now is junk but I'm willing to get a new one. .Mac OSX 10.6 or Windows 7?
OTHER? I'm sure I'm missing a bunch of stuff. help? What else should I be looking at?
LEARNING RESOURCES: Books, Forums, Websites, Magazines, Online courses. whatever. post anything that will help me learn!
Thanks in advance for any input and advice. .I would like very much to learn from your mistakes/experience and do things right the first time. your help is much appreciated!
Comments
You are not going to be able to record a full drum kit with mult
You are not going to be able to record a full drum kit with multiple mics using a Digi interface under $10k. I pretty much had the same requirements as you a few months ago. What I did is I went with PT M-Powered and used an M-Audio 1010LT card. I have 10 ins and 10 outs. Plenty to record a live band with a fully miced drumkit. I'm using Windows 7 64 and haven't had ANY problems with PT 8. As for a computer, an i7 with 6GB of RAM will do you good.
You CAN record a drum kit with just a few mics. You could easily
You CAN record a drum kit with just a few mics. You could easily record a full kit with a Digi 003. Either way you have to have either a Digidesign or M-Audio interface. Recently Mackie has a mixer that will run M-Powered. The difference between M-powered and LE is that you have to Buy M-powered separately. LE comes with your chosen interface.
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Indeed, I thought this was something different. Go all out on an
Indeed, I thought this was something different. Go all out on an LE + i7 system then. HD systems are going to the wayside. A Digi 003 factory will do you good. I did in face misspeak when I said you couldn't record a full kit with a digi product under $10K. The 003 series slipped my mind.
A few beginning thoughts: Budget? Beyond that - to record live
A few beginning thoughts:
Budget?
Beyond that - to record live drums, you'll probably want 8 channels of preamps/interface. You really only need 4 for drums, but it's nice to have the guitars, keys, and/or bass play w/ the drummer.
Fortunately, most interfaces come with an LE or "light" version of recording software.
Sm57 is a great place to start. Get 4 of them. Snare, toms, guitar amp, and many other uses too.
Whatever mics you get, do your research. Search here and elsewhere on the web - you'll find mics that get mentioned again and again and get used again and again - those are pretty good bets.
Monitors are a must for serious recording/mixing, IMHO.
Powered vs. passive, 5-8inch, there are many choices.
But you also have to consider the space(s) you will be using. Information on that would be extremely helpful as well - and not just for monitors.
Don't forget a good assortment of mic stands and cables, instrument cables, cables to connect your monitors, headphones for the bands, a headphone amp, etc.
I'm not the person to ask about OS's and computers.
Learning resources -here, Mix mag, TapeOp, SoundOnSound, and many many others. Again, the search engine is your friend. There are a MILLION helpful articles/how-to's lurking out there.
I for one would shy away from courses, unless you really know what you're getting.
Hope that helps - get back to us w/ a little more info, do some more research, and I'm sure you'll be able to make good decisions.
Finally, a caveat - this is an expensive hobby, and even more expensive as a serious endeavour. It has broken many a bank, and life, for that matter. Don't spend what you don't have!