Basic Home Studio Setup

[Fleghand]

Hi, would any of you care to enlighten me on the basics and bare minimums of home recording?

I bought a used computer basically just to put the songs in my head and note book into audio format. 13 tracks later, the CD feels "done", and the question of what to do with it, particularly the older tracks that have no skill or quality evident, has arisen.

Originally thinking to just go to a studio and have the whole thing re-recorded, I realised that for the same amount of money (13 tracks is not cheap), I could have a decent home studio.

I have therefore turned my attention to investing in a home studio that can produce high quality music, at least in the early phases, if a final mastered product is not cheaply feasible.

So the question is: what more do I need? I'll tell you what I have so far, and even though the setup is only as good as the weakest unit, please tell me what more I need to get to have a basic setup.

Everything is pretty ghetto at this point:

I just upgraded the computer, it's an Athlon XP processor running with an 80 gig hard drive, partitioned into some six different drives (10 to 15 gigs each). I have win XP.

The sound card is just a Soundblaster Live!, nothing special, but since I have an old 4-track running as a patch bay, it runs fine.

I have two bass guitars (frets, fretless), and a low-end casio keyboard, running through my bass pod (the gigable non-rackmount version).

I have two mics, both the same, that Radio Shack put out about ten years ago. They are tiny things mounted on metal plates, square in shape, and I think the actual mic is a piezo condensor.

That's it. What I've done so far sounds fine, at least as far as recording quality goes, but my lack of engineering skills is quite disabling at times. Also the fact that I don't even own a guitar, and am the only musician on the CD, makes the sound a little thin and, since the keyboard came into the setup midway, inconsistent.

So what else do I need? I read that the engineer for Alanis Morisette basically has her record voice and guitar, and then adds everything else (pretty much virtual instruments) later. So I am thinking that he has a lot of nifty stuff to play with.

Go ahead and describe your dream studio, but keep in mind that a) I pay in Canadian dollars, and b) my financial situation makes a $200 purchase an expense, and a $1000 purchase an investment. More than that is doable, but not if there are several such "investments" to be made.

Also, please describe anything you prescribe, since I really don't know what a sequencer is, or how to use a sampler with my work. I have many plugins, so any rackmount accessories would be last on the list.

Thanks if you've read this far, thanks moreso if you reply.

Alex

[Umom]

Hi.... well it really depends tha kind of music you wanna record...

maybe you should start by the heart of your recording system... a nice powerfull computer for audio... (2 hard disks, the first for the system and the second just for your audio recordings... ) a lot of ram.. and a good audio card that suits your needs( two or more ins) it really depends what you´re lookin for your recordings(one track? two tracks?? ten??)... maybe you should explore better your soundcard in your be$$t interest....

...now the software, a good sequencer will help you to start assembling and mixing your tracks once the sound is inside the computer.
try different ones to see whats best for you.

this will hellp you start for now..

Try to discover more forums this will help you a lot....

All the best...a nice X-mas.. http://www.audioforums.com/forums/smile.gif

Umom

[GZsound]

It sounds like you have a very basic, very low end system. There is a lot you can do to improve your sound. All of which cost money.

The first issue is the unit you are using to record the music. Buying a new computer with a "pro" level sound card is a good start. You might also look into simply buying one of the stand alone hard disk recorders that are now available for very reasonable prices.

Korg, Akai, Fostex, Yamaha all make decent units that cost less than a good sound card and offer good recording quality.

The Fostex VF160 retails for $899 and will record up to 8 tracks at once, offers effects, 40 gig hard drive, and a built in CDR to record your finished product.

The VF80 Fostex unit is only $500 and includes guitar inputs, XLR mic inputs with phantom power, etc. without the CDR.

You also need to invest in some better mics. The plate mics you have are not nearly as good as an inexpensive large condenser like a Rode NT1, C1, or as versitile as a Shure SM58 which is less than a hundred dollars.

All in all, you can spend several thousand dollars on computer, sound card, etc. or spend fifteen hundred bucks and improve your quality by a thousand percent.

If I was in your position, I would get the all in one unit, a couple good inexpensive mics, some good inexpensive monitors and be done. You can also take the unit to your friends house to record there or add tracks anywhere. Hard to pack your computer around.

Last point. If you just use your computer for word processing, net surfing, etc. there may be no reason to upgrade. A music computer should be free of modems, printers, etc. and actually should have at lease two hard drives, one for program and one for audio files. You can spend a ton of money really fast and still get the same quality you can achieve with a stand alone unit.

[Fleghand]

I like that point, GZ.

Now, since I already have the computer, would these all-in-ones be able to communicate with it? Could I run the software from the computer, but do the actual recording from the unit? That kind of stuff.

Also, I would like to refine my question further:

I would like to know less on a case-specific scale what elements are involved in a home studio. I understand little more than that there is a sound source (guitar, mic, whatever), it goes through some sort of analogue to digital converter (perhaps through some analogue effects, or pre-amps, etc.), and ends up on the hard drive where you can play around with it in terms of plugin effects and its position in the song.

So what are the extras that allow one person in their home to make such full-bodied songs with synths and drums and all that? I have heard some work from a guy that does spoof songs for radio, and he doesn't play anything more than a guitar. I was curious to know what I can get for my home studio to make my recordings sound like more than just me and my bass/casio keyboard.

Any hints?