Getting into recording

Calum13

Hello everyone, I’m thinking about getting into recording guitar and making instrumental songs on my own. What’s the best free software with drum presets? My laptop is an HP Pavilion G6. I know nothing about recording so what gear will I need? 

spark240

Hi - welcome to a venture that will take over you life and render you penny less...but a fun ride all the same ;-)

I would start with a basic interface ( checkout Thomann UK) that will get your guitar ( or Mic) etc connected to your PC, this will probably come with software but lots of people start with Reaper or Ableton, not sure if they have drum presets ?

If you get a Presonus unit, it will come with their free Artist software I think.

Interfaces pop up regular on the classifieds here. 

This thread will soon populate with options...Stand by.


  

Keefy

For free drums I use MT Power Drumkit - loads of usable drum patterns, and the sampled drum sounds are decent.

Calum13

spark240 said:

Hi - welcome to a venture that will take over you life and render you penny less...but a fun ride all the same ;-)

I would start with a basic interface ( checkout Thomann UK) that will get your guitar ( or Mic) etc connected to your PC, this will probably come with software but lots of people start with Reaper or Ableton, not sure if they have drum presets ?

If you get a Presonus unit, it will come with their free Artist software I think.

Interfaces pop up regular on the classifieds here. 

This thread will soon populate with options...Stand by.


  


My amp has a line out if that would be any use. I’m not sure if I could plug this into the audio interface, and if I could it might not get the sound of the speaker like a mic would.

spark240

Guitar sound is a very personal thing....Im not fussed about a cab as I use. Kemper and that's fine for me, some folks much prefer to mic a cab or mix the 2, so when it comes to that you will need to decide on your own preference.

But you could line out of your amp into the interface, or...you could use some amp sim software.

Branshen

Any interface with a line/instrument + XLR mic input and phantom power should keep you going for a longtime. Something like a Focusrite Solo is a good starting point, and it's not too expensive.

Any DAW will work, but i believe the focusrite stuff comes with pro tools first and ableton lite.

Fuengi

I've spent a free afternoon trying to remember how to use Ableton with a Focusrite Scarlet. Unsuccessfully.

I can't get anywhere near the quality of sound from the software that I get from my amp, but this means I have to use the mic and headphones to record everything which is a giant pain in the arse.

The latency was a pisser, it was just out and I couldn't be arsed to fix it after an hour trying to work out how the hell to play only one track at a time, play through my speakers and headphones... I need to go to a class to understand how to use it. 

Gave up in the end as didn't want to waste an entire afternoon and just played the crap out my Mustang through my Mesa. Fun returned! 

andyoz

I'd recommend using the Presonus family of software and interfaces to get going.  They bundle in Studio One free with there stuff as a poster mentioned above.

Studio One is a good enough package that you will not feel like dumping it if you get really serious about things.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/presonus_audio_interfaces1.html

tekbow

Drum wise, I just discovered SSD5. Bit of a process to install, but seems to be way more fully featured than MT PowerDrum

Keefy

tekbow said:

Drum wise, I just discovered SSD5. Bit of a process to install, but seems to be way more fully featured than MT PowerDrum

Ooh I'll check that out!