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Hi, I'm planning to build a recording studio at one part of my room. What do you really required? I want to record a 4-track EP. Are microphone, pop filter, a stander, and of course Macbook Pro enough for it? I also want to be able to hear what I'm singing when I'm actually recording. Not sure what is required here though.. I'm kinda of new, really want to record a demo but not sure what is required..

Also, how can you make the background voice of the music? I'm recording a track Because Of You by Kelly Clarkson, and I know that YouTube has the instrument version, but I want the background voice to be sang by me.. How do I do it? Can GarageBand enough?

Please help! Thanks! xx Really not sure what to do about it..

Comments

Boswell Thu, 06/20/2013 - 07:31

Hi and welcome!

What you are missing from your list of needed equipment is an audio interface to go between the microphone and the MBP, an XLR-XLR microphone cable, a pair of good closed-back headphones and an acoustically-treated room in which to do the recording.

GarageBand will work for this, or you could use the low-cost Reaper software. Reaper has a 28-day free trial period and nags you on start-up after that. If you don't already have one, you should get a Shure SM58 dynamic microphone for this job. Avoid the clones and counterfeits.

You imply that you can get hold of a version of the track without the vocals, although you don't say what quality the track will be. Assuming it's significantly better than the usual YouTube poor quality, you would play this track out of the computer through the audio interface into the headphones while recording you singing into the microphone on a separate track. After recording, you apply effects (equalization, reverb, compression etc) to the microphone track and then mix it with the backing track.

If you give us some kind of idea of how much you have available to spend (your budget), we can give you a few pointers as to the sort of interface you should be looking for.

Todzilla Thu, 06/20/2013 - 07:54

princemini, post: 405774 wrote: Hi, I'm planning to build a recording studio at one part of my room. What do you really required? I want to record a 4-track EP. Are microphone, pop filter, a stander, and of course Macbook Pro enough for it? I also want to be able to hear what I'm singing when I'm actually recording. Not sure what is required here though.. I'm kinda of new, really want to record a demo but not sure what is required..

Welcome to the crazy world of learning about recording. Make sure you get into it for the right reasons. Otherwise, you can spend a lot of money only to get frustrated. I encourage people to build their own studio if their primary interest is learning the discipline of recording. Don't do it just to have a shortcut to making a demo. It is cheaper to just find a commercial studio and ahve them handle the technical details.

princemini, post: 405774 wrote: Also, how can you make the background voice of the music? I'm recording a track Because Of You by Kelly Clarkson, and I know that YouTube has the instrument version, but I want the background voice to be sang by me.. How do I do it? Can GarageBand enough?

If you have a stereo audio file of all the tracks of the songs with no vocals, you can pull that into GarageBand and then layer your voice over it separately. GarageBand is not the best software out there, but it should be more than enough to start learning how to record.

princemini, post: 405774 wrote: Please help! Thanks! xx Really not sure what to do about it..

princemini Sun, 06/30/2013 - 04:22

Boswell, post: 405775 wrote: Hi and welcome!

What you are missing from your list of needed equipment is an audio interface to go between the microphone and the MBP, an XLR-XLR microphone cable, a pair of good closed-back headphones and an acoustically-treated room in which to do the recording.

GarageBand will work for this, or you could use the low-cost Reaper software. Reaper has a 28-day free trial period and nags you on start-up after that. If you don't already have one, you should get a Shure SM58 dynamic microphone for this job. Avoid the clones and counterfeits.

You imply that you can get hold of a version of the track without the vocals, although you don't say what quality the track will be. Assuming it's significantly better than the usual YouTube poor quality, you would play this track out of the computer through the audio interface into the headphones while recording you singing into the microphone on a separate track. After recording, you apply effects (equalization, reverb, compression etc) to the microphone track and then mix it with the backing track.

If you give us some kind of idea of how much you have available to spend (your budget), we can give you a few pointers as to the sort of interface you should be looking for.

Around $100?

Reaper software? Around $100?

princemini Sun, 06/30/2013 - 04:23

Todzilla, post: 405776 wrote: Welcome to the crazy world of learning about recording. Make sure you get into it for the right reasons. Otherwise, you can spend a lot of money only to get frustrated. I encourage people to build their own studio if their primary interest is learning the discipline of recording. Don't do it just to have a shortcut to making a demo. It is cheaper to just find a commercial studio and ahve them handle the technical details.

If you have a stereo audio file of all the tracks of the songs with no vocals, you can pull that into GarageBand and then layer your voice over it separately. GarageBand is not the best software out there, but it should be more than enough to start learning how to record.

I meet the background vocal of the song..