I was looking all over for a "newcomer's" forum but this site doesn't have one. Guess I'll put this here then.
Greetings from Northwest Florida. Name's Tom and I ran across this site accidentally. As most all of you likely do, I have a home recording studio which I use to (try) to make a living as a voice-over talent...and I also record my own compositions. My studio is rather humble compared to what I've seen some of you folks running, but it serves me fine. I was once a drummer, but after 20 years of hard playing, I ended up needing surgery to correct damage to my wrists. It was at that time I was told by my doctor that I should seriously consider retiring from the drumset unless I wanted to lose the use of my hand(s) permanantly! That wasn't an easy thing to do, but I did it. However- one can take the musician away from the music, but one cannot remove the music from the musician! I went nuts for lack of a musical outlet for a few years until I decided to turn to a different instrument so I went to keyboards. I have always been interested in keys and synths, but never really tried to play until about 3 yrs ago.
As to my studio, at the risk of being accused of wasting space or bandwidth, allow me to describe what I'm using and it's ok if you laugh- hey, I'm not rich.
Instruments:
ENSONIQ ESQ1
ENSONIQ HALO (aka E-Mu PK6)
Arturia virtual Modular Moog
Arturia virtual MiniMoog
Arturia virtual ARP 2600
(right now, all the the Arturia stuff is the free demo models. When I get a better $ flow, I'll be buying them outright.)
Audio eqpt (here's where you can laugh):
Radio Shack 3 channel audio mixer
Radio Shack Dynamic mic (the most expensive one they sell)
Computer/recording
Cool Edit Pro 1.2 running on a custom built PC with an AMD Athelon XP2600+ CPU running at 1.9 gHz. The CPU is working on an MSI KT6V Mobo with 1 GB of RAM. I have a 160 GB hard drive and I use a Creative Audigy SB400 sound card. Win XP Home platform.
Well, I just wanted to let you folks know a bit about the newbie here.
Comments
Thanks, moon for the welcome. Now, honestly, what are the chance
Thanks, moon for the welcome.
Now, honestly, what are the chances that I meet someone who knows someone who worked on those VS's?? Geez! the world really is a tiny place with the WWW. And yes, I can't believe how good the Modular sounds. To be honest, this is the first time I've ever had a chance to work on a Modular, but I did use to tinker from time to time on the 2600 and the Mini at music stores and on band mate's eqpt.
I appreciate your advice on the mic and associated VO eqpt, but until I start getting work in my VO endeavour, the Shack stuff will have to do. I've answered thousands of leads (literally) but as yet, I've not hit the pay dirt. Like I said the cash flow is pretty thin right now so any investment in eqpt. will have to wait.
Welcome to RO, Beal! I live in NE Florida and do VOs and all sor
Welcome to RO, Beal! I live in NE Florida and do VOs and all sorts of audio-for-hire. Just closed down a studio here with a Neve Melbourne console. BTW, my partner in crime developed the demos for the Arturia Modular Moog. He was Bob Moog's assistant at Big Briar for several years.
Great sounding VSTs, eh?
I can't fault you for the instuments (hell, I still have a Rhodes Chroma Polaris!), but if you want to get serious about doing VO work, you really need to get a decent mic. Even a Shure SM58 will be a step up. I use a Beyer M99 and an E-V RE-20. Even hooked up to a little Mackie 1202VLZ will be a BIG improvement over the Radio Shack gear.
Anyway, nice to see that you found this site and good luck in your endeavors!!