Recording Advice, Getting Started |
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Recording Advice, Getting Started |
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Jun 21 2012, 05:15 AM |
My family as a Macbook Pro and they are amazing computers. I highly recommend them.
-------------------- Never miss an opportunity to play
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Jun 21 2012, 06:44 PM |
Most computers these days are powerful enough for home recording. I still use a computer I bought like 7 years ago with only 4 mb of ram. It has dual processors, but it's by no means as fast as computers these days. Running windows XP, I record in Cubase 5.
I was using Firestudio Mobile, a firewire audio interface, but it burned down after 2 years, so I decided to save a little processor power by purchasing an M-Audio Audiophile interface card for like a 100 bucks. Only 2 ins/outs but I have also have Mackie soundboard so I can route what I need, plus I never record more than 2 things at once anyways - usually just a line in for my guitar, then I'll record vocals at a later time. It's a low budget solution ~ and it has been working fine for me. Computer - Audio interface and a microphone are all you really need for the essential package. Good headphones / speakers come a bit later when you really want to start the trek of getting a good mix. Chris! oh! and I should also add - count on a single recording project to consist of a directory of unused audio files : that is, you'll record solos several times, but use only one in the end - so count on eating drive space. If you value your music, you'll get a back-up drive in case your main drive bites the big one - and back up your files daily. Just sayin -------------------- The more I practice, the more I wish I had time to practice!
My Band Forum: http://passionfly.site/chat |
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Jun 22 2012, 07:50 AM |
Macbook Pro's are nice, but you definitely get a lot more bang for your music making buck with an iMac. The quad cores are especially valuable when multitracking. Plus you get the nice, high quality large display. Unless you need portability, the iMac is an excellent computer to host a digital audio workstation and it would leave you money left over for software and monitors.
I swear by Genelec monitors myself, but Adam and KRK make some excellent monitors as well. Cubase, Logic, ProTools, and Digital Performer are all excellent and you can't go wrong with any of them. But choosing a DAW is like getting married. It's a significant commitment, not just of money, but of time as you learn to use it, so you want to make sure you're compatible with each other. Do some research to find one that fits the way you think about making music. Depending on whether you'll be mic'ing an amp, using an outboard guitar processor like a Line 6 Pod, or using an in-the-box amp simulator, you might need an audio interface to get audio from your guitar into the computer. P.S. Somebody mentioned RAM being soldered in a Macbook Pro, but that's only true in the new Retina model. -------------------- Cyber-industrial music and video animations:
https://vimeo.com/channels/thedignitymachine https://vimeo.com/channels/somewheretohide Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RodrigoSpacecraft |
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Jun 22 2012, 09:52 AM |
Most computers these days are powerful enough for home recording. I still use a computer I bought like 7 years ago with only 4 mb of ram. It has dual processors, but it's by no means as fast as computers these days. Running windows XP, I record in Cubase 5. ... Absolutely right Chris. Whilst having a more powerful computer is nice and may help speed things up and allow you to have more track count it is not essential. Seriously, years ago we seemed to manage on analogue 16 track split consoles but now adays home recording 'needs' unlimited track counts? Any reasonably up to date pc or mac should be able to cope with a properly set up audio project in a daw. I actually went with a Boss BR-1600 Multitrack Digital Recorder for $1599.00 It came with a package that included a MIC stand. An okay $100.00 Mic Audio-Technica AT-2020 and 2 KRK 5inch monitors. I love it. I realize this is not a computer based DAW but me being new to recording I needed this all in one solution. I'm able to make some pretty good CD's off of it also. ... Nice idea - a digital multitrack can be a really good if you have no previous experience as it is more immediate and obvious. Signal path/work flow and so on are not often that obvious in a daw. As Zoot says if you go the daw route you need to invest in a good quality ad/da audio device. Think about what your needs are - the number and types of inputs, types of connections, number and types of outputs, bit depth and sample rate and so on. Cheap AD/DAs will often have both limited features and will also be based around poor quality pre-amps, chip sets and algorythms for the convertors. Spending a bit more here can often improve the quality and also give you a more flexible unit that you will keep for longer before it needs to be upgraded. -------------------- Get your music professionally mastered by anl AES registered Mastering Engineer. Contact me for Audio Mastering Services and Advice and visit our website www.miromastering.com
Be friends on facebook with us here. We use professional, mastering grade hardware in our mastering studo. Our hardware includes: Cranesong Avocet II Monitor Controller, Dangerous Music Liasion Insert Hardware Router, ATC SCM Pro Monitors, Lavry Black DA11, Prism Orpheus ADC/DAC, Gyratec Gyraf XIV Parallel Passive Mastering EQ, Great River MAQ 2NV Mastering EQ, Kush Clariphonic Parallel EQ Shelf, Maselec MLA-2 Mastering Compressor, API 2500 Mastering Compressor, Eventide Eclipse Reverb/Echo. |
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Jun 22 2012, 10:19 AM |
... I want to get a full blown song editing program like protools or cubase, and a computer that can run all that stuff. ... Just to add that neither PT nor Cubase are a guarantee of a good final project. One of the worst mixes sent to me to master recently was recorded and mixed on a high end Pro Tools HD system by pro engineers. One of the best was from a home studio that used an old basic 16 track version of RML. In the case of the last one the engineer didn't have an unlimited number of tracks and toys but he knew how to get a good result with what he did have. Arguably the rise in the use of DAWs has resulted in a lowering of standards as it seems that there are fewer and fewer people who actually know, understand or perhaps care about issues like correct gainstaging, signal flow, bouncing, how and why effects and dynamics work and so on. Similarly few now seem able to listen critically to their own mixes to identify issues let alone understand what needs to be done to improve their mix. I have to say that this includes a lot of people I've come across who studied some college/university course or other about music production. What I'm getting at is that it isn't just about getting gear, it's about learning how to use it properly. Sometimes it is easier to learn the basics on more limited, and less intimidating, equipment then by jumping in to the deep end. -------------------- Get your music professionally mastered by anl AES registered Mastering Engineer. Contact me for Audio Mastering Services and Advice and visit our website www.miromastering.com
Be friends on facebook with us here. We use professional, mastering grade hardware in our mastering studo. Our hardware includes: Cranesong Avocet II Monitor Controller, Dangerous Music Liasion Insert Hardware Router, ATC SCM Pro Monitors, Lavry Black DA11, Prism Orpheus ADC/DAC, Gyratec Gyraf XIV Parallel Passive Mastering EQ, Great River MAQ 2NV Mastering EQ, Kush Clariphonic Parallel EQ Shelf, Maselec MLA-2 Mastering Compressor, API 2500 Mastering Compressor, Eventide Eclipse Reverb/Echo. |
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Jun 22 2012, 02:40 PM |
Thanks for all the advice guys! I am reading the thread and trying to figure out what to do!
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Jun 22 2012, 04:42 PM |
Off topic but that's very ridiculously !! See now Apple forces customers to buy "their" expensive memory. I just bough 4 GB Kingston ram for the 25 euros. Apple charges 4 GB for like 100 euros. And I mean one chunk of memory. Two 4GB memory blocks is 200 euros. I can get two blocks for 50 euros !! Okay it's the new Macbook Pro with Retina display. It's comes already with 8 GB memory and you can max it to 16 GB. But still...if this is the future. To Hell with it !! Of course, things in life are never that simple . The Retina model has soldered RAM and no optical drive. But that's precisely what makes it so light and thin. For some people that is an excellent tradeoff. -------------------- Cyber-industrial music and video animations:
https://vimeo.com/channels/thedignitymachine https://vimeo.com/channels/somewheretohide Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RodrigoSpacecraft |
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