Home Recording

[Crusader]

Hey waht gear would i need for my comp to enable me to do some home recording with electric and acoustic guitar. I have read about midi and you need some card is that right? I would what to be able to plug my electric into the comp and record like that.
Cheers

 

[horndude]

regular sound card will work, just need software, try audacity

 

[molsen]

you cant record your guitar through MIDI. any sound card will do (although i recommend some high end equipment if you're really serious about sound quality). you'll probably need a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter because most sound cards don't have a 1/4" input. Then any old recording program will work. Cubase SE is a nice program packed with features for under $100. Also, Cakewalk makes some good programs for the budget-minded.

If I can offer some tips:
-when mixing and adjusting EQ for your takes, do not use headphones. also, do not use crappy speakers.
-don't go crazy with the EQ. small adjustments will make the best sound usually. take breaks from listening to the mixes every so often, or fatigue will throw your mix way off.
-if you are plugging your guitar directly into the comp. you will want some sort of guitar modeling software (for your electric). there are plugins you can download for Cubase and other programs that will allow this.
-if you dare to get a little fancy, i recommend a 2-channel mixer before the sound card. plug your guitar into one port, then plug a mic into the other. record both at the same time into one track (or seperate if it's supported). make sure the mic is positioned to pick up sounds from your guitar picking and strumming. this will give you a much more detailed guitar sound and will be more sensitive to your picking nuances.
-most importantly: have fun


-edit- important note: if you use the mic + direct input idea, make sure your external speakers are off, and you are listening to the metronome (also highly recommended) through headphones. otherwise, the mic will pick up the sound of the metronome and the guitar, and will sound echoey and bad.

 

[Crusader]

So i just have to chuck a sound card into my comp and then i do direct recording into the comp. Thanks for the tips ill keep those in mind, u sound like u have had some experince do you play guitar and do you do home recording on your comp, if so how do you do it(or is it basically in your last post).
Cheers

 

[molsen]

yea i play many instruments, and im in charge of all the recording and mixing for my band.

my setup is rather complicated as my goal is sound quality, not necessarily ease of use. But what I described for you is both easy and can sound pretty good.


--my setup--

I have a 6-channel mixer with Phantom Power, and a rackmount fx rig going out of the aux send and into the aux return of the mixer. any instrument or mic input on the mixer can use any of the fx at any level. all of this goes into an external Sound Blaster Extigy. that connects to my pc via USB (wish it was firewire) and is output to a pair of 100-watt studio monitors powered by a 200w stereo amp.

i also use a rackmount multiband sound enhancer that can be used inbetween of the mixer and sound card (for recording) or the sound card and stereo (for music playback).

also, there's a mic tube preamp that's useful for its features and not necessarily with microphones. it has a compressor, de-esser, tube drive, noise gate, and other bells and whistles that can come in handy.

on my computer, I use Cakewalk Pro Audio 8. Kinda old, and I need to upgrade, but it does the job nicely with lots of plugins.

if you ever have any recording questions though, PM me.

 

[Crysalis]

omg......... someone made a correct post before me. THANK YOU!!!!!!!

Molsen is exactly right.

MIDI only sends data... no audio signal at all.

EDIT: at home, i use sonar 4.... school i use vegas 6 and at the studio i use protools

 

[Crusader]

Ok thanks you guys, yea im quite new to this actually so sorry bout the midi question. I guess i look into buying some stuff then.
Cheers