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Hey guys. I have a question for all of you. I'm going to the Dominican Republic in December to start recording with a band and I have to set up a studio to work out of. I already have a nice place with proper acoustic treatment, so what I need is gear. I'm taking a Pro Tools HD 2 rig with two 192's. So then my plan was to get some decent pre's at a good price and maybe a controller (more for the aesthetics) like the digi procontrol (maybe too expensive though) or a Tascam US-2400 (not sure its compatible with Pro Tools). Anyway, I'd like to ask you for each of your individual set ups in a case like this (keeping it relatively inexpensive). Money is a big issue, but of course so is quality. Thanks to all that reply.

Comments

natural Sun, 10/29/2006 - 11:48

- Hard drives for recording and archiving.
- DVD's, CD's for redundant archiving,
- CD burning software
- Computer monitor (2 would be better)
- Monitors and power amp (if not self powered)
- mixer with line and mic inputs (or a dozen outboard mic pre's)
- Headphones
- Talkback system to communitcate with artists.
- Microphones
- Balanced mic cables
- Patchbay
- Soldering gun
- electrical tape
- wire strippers
- Various connectors for when things don't quite match.
- Enough cable, snakes, etc to connect it all together
- Speaker wire
- extra Firewire and USB cables
- Midi cables and interface if using control surfaces that require those connections.
Other's might be along shortly to add to the list. But this is a start.

natural Sun, 10/29/2006 - 18:04

Fortunately I'm not going.
If I was going, I would need to know the budget, and how much time I have to set it all up.
If I don't have at least 12K and 45 days, for equip and set up, then I'm not going at all.
Am I getting paid for this adventure? I need room, transportaion, gas, food for the 6 weeks.
So add another 5K.

Major Item grocery list,
CONSOLE - Control24 (used around 4K and has 16 mic pres)
MIC'S - At least 2 Condensers like AKG 414 - (used around $1200/pr)
- For drums, an assortment of Senn 421's, SM57's, Audio Technica ATM25's, (about 1K)
MONITORS - KRK, JBL, YAMAHA, EVENT Anything like that is fine. Don't get the cheepy ones. At least get into the midline selfpowered stuff, ( 1K)
COMPUTER MONITORS- At least one large size (20+") and a smallish one would be great (maybe 1K for both?) But only if they can both hang on the stock video card. Otherwise, just go for the one big one
The remaining 4K should be enough for snakes, headphones, Hard drives, etc, and all the other stuff that you don't know that you need yet. ( Like direct boxes, maybe a CD player or an IPOD, maybe a couple dozen XLR Male and female connectors for snakes)
Oh, And I'll need a trackball mouse, and quickkeys for the computer.
Are there quality plugs in the 'puter? Something like Waves gold or Diamond or UAD or Autotune? If not, add another 2k or 3k for that.

Plus I need an occasional Snickers bar.

anonymous Sun, 10/29/2006 - 21:40

lol I like that, but I'd rather take a lot of my own stuff if I was doing something like that. Also it doesnt cost thousands of dollars to keep a human being alive from day to day.

No mention of what is actually being recorded! I think it makes a huge difference in terms of the type of gear you need. Rock band = good desk & tape if possible.

If you could illuminate as to what you were tracking it might help.

mercurix Mon, 10/30/2006 - 08:54

..

Fair enough alimonirack. It's a rock band (stripped down drums, bass, guitar, vocals). I don;t think I can move a tape machine across an ocean though. Portability is a must. This will only be a tracking situation, as I'll be mixing at my studio in Austin, TX (where I have most of the goodies Natural mentioned before, plus a couple more).

P.S. Natural, you'd use the waves plugins while tracking? I was thinking about using an SSL Duende in case a track needs some help at tracking, but I normally track as clean as I can. But enough about my gear and what I'd do, I'm interested in all you guys' ideas.