I'm looking for a relatively soft/low cost introduction to home recording. There's some stuff I definitely want to do, but I don't know if I'll have the time, patience, or talent (although I can sing to a point, I hate hearing my own voice, and some of it needs singing) so don't want to drop significant cash.
I have an Alesis iO2 bought years ago and never really used (couldn't get my head around Cubase, and the monitoring issue with it cheesed me off).
I've just downloaded Reaper and will try the Alesis with that (as well as working through the videos), so I may be OK for an interface - if not, I'm thinking Focusrite 2i4 based on reading around on here and elsewhere?
However, I'll also need one or two basic mics suitable for use with vocal, acoustic and amps. Happy to get one for vocals and one for "other stuff" although as it's a cheapo project. Not a clue what to get here. I know what the default 'good' stuff is, but not at the cheap end.
In terms of general competence technology holds no specific fears (day job involves IT support and consultancy across a broad range, and I have a programming background too, although a long time ago now). Can happily plug up a basic PA and drive a basic desk for live stuff, so the noddy bits are covered. Utterly clueless about kit, brands, recording, and studio side of things, however.
Pointers?
Comments
So in the first instance I guess this boils down to mic recommendations?
:-)
I've ordered some cheap stands and cables that I'm thoroughly expecting will need replacing if I ever get serious. For the mics I guess it's a case of spending enough to make it worthwhile, but swallowing pride and recognising that "budget" or "value" items are good enough for my needs. Hence keeping the Alesis and not replacing it with a Focusrite (which is probably also budget really!).
I appreciate this could be like when people ask me about getting "cheap computers"; because of what I do, I can't usually bring myself to recommend anything they consider cheap. I'm just on the wrong side of this conversation =D
As you go, you'll start to find out things about your personal workflow that will tell you what needs to change and if you need to change anything.
Enjoy the journey.
I've been recording guitar and vocals with my gig mic Shure SM58 and a Boss GT 100 pedal which I use as an effect/amp channel switcher for his but also had a basic audio interface built in. I use Reaper with a handful of free plugins. It war the gear I had and I've not yet got around to buying more specialised stuff because it works.
Yes it's not the same as recording in a professional studio guided by a top producer but it's not that bad in terms of quality. I actually won the most recent fretboard composition challenge using that basic a setup. And remember that some studios use cheap gear, especially for recording distorted guitar, and some classic albums have been recorded with SM58 mics for the vocals.
Just get recording. It's more important getting experience - learning how to play slicker than is needed in gigs, getting the confidence to just sing and not worry about the sound of your own choice, making small tweaks to get your sound here and there.
I recently bought a GT-100. I didn't intend to use it for recording, but that's where I've ended up. I don't use it as a recording interface - even though it offers the ability to re-amp. What I've done (and I'm just making demos of songs, not polished recordings for posterity) is used it to replace the amp plugins in GarageBand and Logic. I get better sounds out of the GT. I've got a PreSonus AudioBox iTwo (basic, budget audio interface) and that has better options for monitoring existing tracks as I record another one than the audio interface on the GT does. The level balancing in my headphones is better. For my purposes, I'm also getting usable acoustic guitar sounds with a single coil electric and the acoustic simulator effect block on the GT. I don't mic up an acoustic any more just to get a part down for demo purposes. No, it's not what I'd use to record a solo acoustic instrumental, but for an acoustic inside a band mix it's fine.
I use a XLR to 1/4 inch mono cable for vocals! I just boost the master input to +13 and run a clean amp with a compressor in front and it works okay. Not tried recording fake acoustic yet to record but I use it in a live mix and it does the job.
I don't bother with the built in cab sims. I either use my real amp as a preamp in 4cm setup or just the GT preamps and then use cab IRs in Reaper.
Do you use the guitar to midi at all? I tried that after a couple of glasses of wine last night but couldn't get it working
Dodgy uploads to SoundCloud may be forthcoming
https://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_pra_628_mkii.htm
I bought the GT to see if I could swap an old school pedalboard setup for a digital one without spending Fractal, Kemper or Helix money (which I don't have). I've had a few Line 6 offerings over several years but none of them were satisfactory. The recording capability is a bit of an unexpected bonus.
I'm recording using the GT cabs sims at the moment, but I've used 3rd party IRs when recording my AMP1 direct into Logic. I might see if there's enough difference with the GT.