Need help setting up in home studio

[blueicedj]

Basically I'm trying to get everything I need to make an at home studio. I have a computer and Logic, but I don't know which of what I should get.
I know I need mics, mic stands, a mixer, and monitors. Is there anything else I would need? And what would you suggest for these things? For the mixer I can't really afford anything over $500 and would prefer it to be closer to the $200 range.

 

[ashjamben]

you're being far too vague.

what instruments/type of music do you plan on recording? this can affect what mics to buy, what mixer/audio interface to buy and so on

i'd love to help you out on this, but i need more details 🙂

also, what's your overall budget for everything?

 

[blueicedj]

I would want to record Trumpet, Sax, guitar, Keyboard, drums, and vocal.
My budget is between $800-$1,200
Thanks for your help!

 

[ashjamben]

sorry, should have been more specific, how many instruments will you be recording at any one time?

also, how experienced are you in the recording side of things? and do you have any software (i presume garageband at least)?

 

[ChrisA]

I would want to record Trumpet, Sax, guitar, Keyboard, drums, and vocal.
My budget is between $800-$1,200
Thanks for your help!

How many of the above at one time? Is the keyboad going to connect midi or audio or spdif? Is the guitar electric? will use use direct input, mic the speaker cab

You say you want a mixer. Why? Buy an audio interface that has enough inputs.

You are also going to need a disk drive for recording and a few more for backups.

My suggestion: Start smaller. Do one or two tracks at a time and build up equipment in baby steps as your ability improves.

 

[blueicedj]

I don't really need to record too much at the same time for right now...I'd want two at least though...I would say my experience would be intermediate. I know garageband pretty well (mostly recording guitar, trumpet and vocal *my problem with these are the audio quality as I used a USB mic to record all of it*, I've had experience making musique conrete (which is mostly recorded sounds you sometimes manipulate and put together to form music) and electronic music with Pro-tools, and I'm just getting started in Logic. Logic is the program I'm going to be running all of this with.
I'll be using Midi for the Piano, and it's an electric acoustic guitar...which I'm not sure how I'd want to go about recording.

 

[ashjamben]

well you want to start with an audio interface. although you only want to record two instruments at any one time you listed drums as one of the instruments. i'm not sure how good you want the quality to be, but i'd say you'd at least need a 4 in audio interface (two overheads, bass and snare) although you could get away with 2, but that wouldn't be the best quality at all. im talking sketchy demo style at the best, which could work depending on the type of music.

so i'll presume you'll be using a 4 in audio interface, you're gonna need 4 mics. i'd suggest 2 large diaphragm condenser mics, which can be used for the majority of things such as the drum overheads, trumpets, sax, acoustic guitar and vocals. then a sm57 style mic for the snare and would also work as a vocal alternative and electric guitar (you said guitar, not sure if that meant electric or not) and then you'll need a dedicated kick drum mic. obviously if these are all being used at the same time you'll need mic stands for them all.

next thing to think about is monitoring headphones. these aren't entirely essential, you could just use earphones for this but it's not recommend. you could also use some headphones you already have, just make sure they're closed.

next is monitors. a fairly good consumer pair will cost you around £300 in the UK, not sure about the states. it's worth investing in a really good pair because theres nothing worse than listening to your recordings on rubbish speakers.

next i'd think about maybe getting some sort of external hard drive to record onto. depending on what system you're running will determine if you can/want to use firewire or usb. bear in mind if you decide to cut back the costs abit and go for a 2 in audio interface i wouldn't say an external hard drive is essential.

let me know if a 4 in audio interface sounds good or not, and then i can try and recommend you some gear for everything within your budget. 🙂

 

[blueicedj]

now that I'm thinking about this, price wise, I'm thinking the drum set I could record at the University. It sounds like a lot of work, and I think I'll need to work my way up to that.
I do have an external hard drive already though. It's a 320gb firewire 800.
Would a four in audio interface still be alright? Or would something smaller better suite my needs?

 

[zimv20]

Would a four in audio interface still be alright? Or would something smaller better suite my needs?

how many mics do you need to record at once?

no fewer than 2, imho.

 

[blueicedj]

right now..probably 2 at once

 

[ashjamben]

ye, i'd say go for a 2 in audio interface. even though you only have two tracks and don't necessarily need to use an external drive, you have it so may aswell use it.

as for mics, from the list of instruments you listed 2 large diaphragm condensers would work well, unless you're recording electric guitar from an amp, in which case you'd maybe swap one for a sm57 style mic. you might want to do this anyway, just to get some flexibility in your setup, as most of the instruments you listed would sound fine with just one large diaphragm condenser anyway.

 

[blueicedj]

what products would you reccomend I get specifically?

 

[zimv20]

what products would you reccomend I get specifically?

for $500 and with Logic? Apogee Duet.

 

[Fonzijr1964]

defiantly record the guitar via a mic never plug in an acoustic for recording

 

[michael.lauden]

defiantly record the guitar via a mic never plug in an acoustic for recording

+1


infact, i usually used a dual mic set up set up

but that requires a LOT of know how. using the 3-1 rule... the distance between two mics should be at least three times the distance between each mic and the sound source.

that way, phase cancellations are kept to a minimum, which gives off a smoother sound.

i.e

if you've got each mic seven inches from the guitar, the 3-to-1 rule mandates that you spread the two mics at least 21 inches apart from each other




recording is a lot more than having the right equipment.

for quality recordings you need to have 4-8 mics for recording drums
and if you are going to record electric guitar - sure, a SM57 is fine for live.


but you definitely should dual/stereo mic. that way you can blend the two signals getting exactly what you want and will be able to create a thicker tone in the recording.

vocals, a condenser should be fine - but a ribbon would be nice to have to add that certain sound only a ribbon mic can produce. also, this can be nice to include in your acoustic recordings.


i would recommend recording bass DI - it would save you A LOT of trouble. same thing for keys - unless you have something like a twin reverb where you get most of your TONE - then you should mic it.


recording is an art! haha 😛