Hi! I'm just getting about knee deep into some home recording. I wanted to share my experience thus far. The first thing I have learned is this...put a good mic in a great sounding room, and you won't have too much trouble. I think the majority of home recording "blues" come from recording in a sh*tty sounding room and/or with a crappy mic. I've used this approach with a very lowbudget, well almost free, setup...and I love the sounds I'm getting. Using a GrooveTubes GT-1 large diaphram condensor mic, through my Tascam portastudio 424 MkIII as a "pre-amp/eq", into a $40 USB audio interface (Creative Soundblaster MP3+), I get great drums, good vocals, etc. Guitar and bass have been running straight into the 424, into the MP3+. I just ordered an M-Audio DMP3 preamp, so I can kick out the 424! Can't wait to check that out. I also have some Event TR5 monitors on the way, so I can finally mix down some stuff. My software is all free! Anyone who is looking at home recording on PC should look into this. A program called Kristal Audio Engine is available for free from http://www.kreatives.org/kristal
This is a 16 track recording environment with a ton of options, supports VST effect plugins (but not VSTi plugins), and runs reliably on my off-the-shelf 2.56 Ghz Celeron PC w/ 256 Megs of RAM. I down-loaded a ton of free plugins, notably the Kjaerhus Audio Classic series http://www.kjaerhusaudio.com/.
Keep in mind I am recording only one track at a time with this gear/software, but if this is what you are looking to do, the Kristal software, some free plugins, and some way to get a good mic into you comp are really all you need. Now that I'm at this point, I'm beginning to look into some more "high-end" options for the future. My goal would be to build a rack-mount, portable PC based recording system, with at least 8 channels I/O, and collect enough decent mics and pres, to be able to record bands "on location". In other words, to help out bands on a budget by recording decent sounding demos for as cheaply as possible by making "house-calls" and recording them in their own rehearsal space or at live shows. I think it would be great if other "home recordists" posted their setups and even product reviews for other "low-end" readers of these posts to check out. I will post reviews for the DMP3 Preamp and TR5 monitors once I've evaluated them. Share you thoughts! You can check out a song I recorded on my setup at
MKH 800's
Please tell me what you think! OK I'm done rambling! ANDY
Comments
IF it sounds good to you and you are happy with the end result..
IF it sounds good to you and you are happy with the end result..thats all that matters.
I have had various home studio incarnations since the first Tascam 2340 4 track..and one thing I have learned is there is always something better out there........I have also learned that expensive can be heard to a point...and that place is a lot closer to affordable than many "pro engineers" would have you think.
When digital came out it was the thing to have....then it was "okay lets buy this to get that warm analog sound" Then it was can we find an antique to capture the 60's sound...........which was terrible in the 60's but ok today..
Its about marketing and change. Stay knee deep and concentrate on the music instead of neck deep in technology and debt....
The final word is YOURs and your only......Its easy to get caught up in the technology and get gear envy. I did that for 20 years and now realize there is gear out there that blows away what many used on great records years ago for very affordable bang for the buck.