Monitoring
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Posted on Jul 08, 2003 05:06 am
mac74
Show me to the beer....
Member Since: Mar 23, 2003
I have a rather stone age set up and have reached the end of my spending prowess, which was not much to purr about anyway. My studio is a closet space,5 1/2 feet x 3 feet, shared with rather too many clothes kindly made available by my girlfreind. Regardless of this i am as happy as a pig in s**t cos i'm gonna record, which i haven't done in five years due to work and popping out of sprogs.
The set up is thus-
Old but quality Yamaha 4 track.
Joe meek mic pre amp
ADK condeser, shure SM58 microphones
Fender tube amp
Various guitars, bass and a drum machine.
I'm ready to go apart from one bit thats bothering me. I can monitor levels and mixes via nothing more that the the recorders peak metres and a crappy old stereo to actually listen to the mixes without headphones (which i don't trust anyway.) I had a bad experience on my first recordings 7 years ago where i monitored on a 15 watt guitar amp (go on, laugh) and basically recorded something that sounded like a tape of underwater marine life when mastered on a good stereo. I Don't know what to do. Whether to use my judgement, go slowly and do it with what i've got or put everything on the backburner and wait till i have the money for some monitors. Do you think i could get away with perhaps buying a decent stereo second hand and monitoring through that? What do others use if not proper monitors.
Thanks
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zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Jul 08, 2003 09:17 am hey don't underestimate those 15 watt amps they can sound killer when recorded at their max volume (and you still might not go deaf :) ) but for monitoring, guitar amps just don't work :P
... and you have headphones to monitor with while tracking right? if you tracked while monitoring through a speakers then that would have been the main source of problems with bleed through... I know this can be done well though because I had a friend do it.. :) head phone will still bleed through though so you will need to be careful while recording vocals and some people use sweat bands to clamp th headphone tighter to the head... when we recorded with a similar set up to yours (a few years ago) we had the singer wrap a couple twoels around his head to cut down on noise from the headphones... just remember... it's recording...it doesn't have to be pretty :)
real monitors make a huge differenc in mixing... but read these articles www.studiocovers.com/articles13.htm
...and just book mark the main site www.studiocovers.com as it's a great resource
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Jul 08, 2003 09:29 am For myself, the next step would be a small mixer. Behringer makes some very nice units. This way you can better control the input volume to your recorder as well as use the mixer post recording to alter volumes to your taste. Because the mixer has line level outputs, you can still use your stereo for listening.
Jul 08, 2003 12:04 pm i find that while headphones and home stereo aren't the best options (they're all i've got!), each has it's own downfalls so I find myself using both from time to time. I mostly listen on heeadphones while tracking/sequencing to hear the subtle details, but as a couple of my projects begin to enter the mixing phase, i realize that a quick listen on the Sony surround sound does wonders to tell me where i am with track levels. for instance, a lot of reverb on the headphones sounds like no reverb at all on the stereo!
monitors aren't the highest priorty on my list of "wants"
juesContributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002
Jul 08, 2003 02:00 pm Likewise, I use a set of Warfedale S600 Speakers with a Pioneer A-110 Amp. Although fairly hi-end for consumer products, they are definatly not studio monitors.
The key is to learn your speakers - listen to lots of music on them and then you should be condifent mixing on your home setup.
And yes, headphones are not a good idea for mixing.
jues.
Jul 08, 2003 03:09 pm agreed, you have to learn your speakers. I've learned to judge the frequency response curve of a playback system by listening to a song i'm super familiar with called "cherub rock". When I eventually decide to buy studio monitors i'll more than likely take that CD along with me to help me decide which one's i want.
LokiCone PokerMember
Since: Apr 07, 2002
Jul 08, 2003 06:16 pm Jamie- good choice with music there, that is a great song. I'm a huge smashing pumpkins fan.
Jul 08, 2003 08:25 pm right on. yeah, the first 30 seconds of "Siamese Dream" has got to be the most familiar music recording to me i know.
mac74Show me to the beer....Member
Since: Mar 23, 2003
Jul 09, 2003 03:26 am Thanks for all the replies. They are a big help and also a comfort to know that some of you monitor the same way.
I had the use of a decent stereo for a few recordings ages ago and after familiarising myself with the sound, got great results.
I do have a good stereo but "it lives in the lounge, not your closet"
What i'll probably end up doing is carting the four track down there for crucial stages, like bouncing down the rhythm tracks and obviously the final mix down.
Thanks again
