You will need mics, cables and monitors.

:D

Greetings Erik

erik346x wrote: Everything you guys said in your posts was good, yea i know i sound like im just doing this as a project on the side, but no...i serioulsy want to get into this. I have a fairly new computer to work with, but I want a new setup....an Apple would do nicely....and yes i do have an insulated room to work with. We've got 2 guitar amps and a Bass amp (about 600 watts each). Now the thing i really wanted to know is....if i buy the Yamaha AW1600 All-In-One Recording Bundle, that have my basic needs for everything right? What else would you guys add on to that setup?

You're gonna need some mics; large diagphram condenser (or two) for vocals, small diagphram condensers for overheads and/or acoustic instruments and some dynamics for drums, guitar cabs, etc.

I don't have any personal experience with the Yamaha but I've read that the pres are okay but not what you'd want for a decent vocal, so a channel strip (or two) would be a good idea.

A couple of pieces of (half-)decent outboard gear; a dual-mono/stereo compressor, a reverb and/or multi-fx unit, etc. will give you added flexibility when it comes to tracking (and mixing too).

Some decent, closed-back headphones and possibly a separate headphone amp for the artists/musicians + a very good pair of semi-open headphones for you to track and check mixes on.

Of course, you'll need one or more pairs of monitors for stereo reproduction (6+ for surround) and, like most things in life, you get what you pay for where these are concerned so expect to pay quite a lot (in comparison) for these.

Don't forget to budget for cables (mic, instrument, monitor, etc.), racks, stands, etc.

Also, it's good that the space is already soundproofed but don't confuse this with acoustic treatment. Once you've chosen your monitors you'll need to 'adjust' the acoustic environment to get the optimum performance from them. Acoustic treatment can be done yourself but if you've got no experience with acoustics (which most of us don't) you'll probably be better off buying ready-made broadband absorbers and fitting them over as many corners as you can afford (both financially and spacewise).

It's annoying for a newbie to be told to read this and listen to/for that and not be given specific 'buy X from Y manufacturer' type answers, so I apologize. However, it's only after you do these things that you realize how vast the amount of knowledge needed to be an engineer is.

HTH

Erik,

Yup, me agin'...

OK, you may be a newbie, but you do have one thing going... and a major thing at that. At least you are a musician! So, you at least got some ears to start training. Your original post made it sound like you were a kid in search of a hobby... like fishing or bowling.

The advice of a channel strip for vocals is a good one, IMHO.

You'll be well served to look for a compressor or two. You'ld be well served looking for an RNC. (Really Nice Compressor) No shit, that's what it's called the RNC. made by [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.fmraudio…"]FMR Audio[/]="http://www.fmraudio…"]FMR Audio[/]. Hunt around, you can usually find two of em' in a Funklogic rack for about $400.00 or so.

Until you get into gearslut mode, I'd at least start out with an SM58 for vocals. (Yeah, there's plenty of folks that'll argue the point for a large diaphram condensor, but if your primarily into metal, you're not going to suffer too badly with the 58. They stand up to the road on many a tour, so they should hold up real well in a studio environment.

Drum mics are all important in metal. If you can swing it, look for a drum mic kit. I use the AKG kit. On a lot of kits, the D112 sounds fine. I've not found that I like the NADY stuff, but that's personal taste. The main point is to look for the kits. They're usually about 25% cheaper in a kit than purchased seperately.

Don't automatically think that because you've got a sound isolated room (or 2) to work with that you don't need to worry about the acoustical qualities/treatment. Head over to the acoustics forum and start browsing. It ccan get as in-depth as you can possibly imagine.

If your room sounds like crap, most of the time, no amount of gear, skills or talent can get a really good sound.

Have at it!

Max