Most important
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Posted on Feb 08, 2006 11:10 pm
Bloodsoaked
Death Metal Freak!!!
Member Since: Feb 05, 2006
What would you say is the MOST important peice of equipment to ahve for home recording? This is being asked by someone that is just starting out.
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zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Feb 09, 2006 12:44 am the issue is that recording is a system. The quality of a recording is limited to the talent of the artist, the equpment of the artist, mic used to capture the artists equipment, the preamp to make the mics signal usable, the recording medium to contain the captured information, the way to reference what is recorded, and the talent of the engineer. all of that is equally important IMO
Feb 09, 2006 08:39 am I would say, the source.
If you've got a crap guitar, into a Crate combo amp, with a Boss MetalZone pedal cranked, you're never gonna get a satisfying tone recorded. I don't care who says what, but all the talent and all the song writing genius in the world means nothing if your instruments or gear sounds bad in the first place.
If you've spent a pretty penny on your gear and have tweaked and experimented and listened and are confident that your gear has a good sound, then from that would be good microphones. If you're using Radio Hack mics or sticking a vocal mic into a bass drum or using a dynamic mic to record overheads on the kit, you'll not be very happy. EQing and compressing and tweaking and filtering only helps so much, if the source signal is bad.
Feb 09, 2006 08:43 am Most important piece is ingenuity, the clever engineer that can make it happen.
Feb 09, 2006 09:00 am Yeah, knowing your gear is the best tool to have. Lotsa practice, lotsa trial and error, and everything should get figured out with time.
Well... that and not getting pissed off after 6 straight hours of knob turning!
lucky13Your mom's favorite sonMember
Since: Feb 07, 2006
Feb 09, 2006 06:52 pm I would say it's knowledge. When I was in school I did a session on an SSL 4000 G++ console with Neumann, AKG, Blue, Rode, and many other great mics. I recorded on to 2 inch 24 track analog tape on a Studer A-827. My signal flow was impecible from beginning to end, but it still came out sounding like ***! Now that I have some experience, I've made recordings on my Mbox2 with an AKG Precision 200 that sound way better than that. My knowledge of acoustics, mic placement, and mixing techniques are what make these recordings on my $2000 system sound better than the one I made on multi million dollar equipment!
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Feb 09, 2006 07:31 pm For the enthusiast who's just starting out, there are 4 main pieces of equipment that you'll need:
- a microphone
- a preamp or a small mixer
- a sound card
- multitracking software
I kind of consider this the "starter kit" for a PC-based home studio. Without any one of these items, you won't be able to get a signal to hard disk. So I couldn't say that any one of these items is more important than the others because they're all essential for computer-based home recording.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Feb 10, 2006 12:37 am Patience!
That is what is needed to really get a handle on what you can do with the gear you have. There is a long time member here who made some very good recordings using nothing more then a soundblaster, a cheap plastic PC mic and free recording software and he made what are to me some very memorable recordings. But the key was he had the patience to make do with what he had, and make it sound good.
af_analogcrazy canuckMember
Since: Nov 25, 2004
Feb 10, 2006 09:47 am good room acoustics...
If the room sounds like ***, then so will the recordings, no matter how good the source sounds.
Feb 10, 2006 09:48 am how does "***" sound exactly?
Kaos62Kaos is only a form of insanityMember
Since: Feb 03, 2005
Feb 10, 2006 10:00 am Hey dB "***" you know what that must sound like. Imagine a saurday night out on the beer then following it up with a very spicy mexican/indian meal after.
That is the sound of "***" LOL ;-)
Feb 10, 2006 10:01 am According to my wife it's the sound one hears when my mouth is moving...
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Feb 10, 2006 10:07 am LOL
af_analogcrazy canuckMember
Since: Nov 25, 2004
Feb 10, 2006 02:46 pm dB, I think Kaos62 has got it nailed...
joking aside, room acoustics are definately number 1 for me. You can't accurately capture a source if you've got bad room modes, ringing, early reflections causing comb filtering, etc, etc.
It is actually quite easy to correct for some of these problems too. I brought this up because it's something that a lot of people don't consider spending money on...It's not as cool as buying flashy gear but it's more important in my opinion.
Feb 10, 2006 03:15 pm my computer....i'd be rendered useless without it...well, almost.
