Starting Up
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Posted on Dec 03, 2004 08:04 pm
chmil
Member Since: Dec 03, 2004
Hi I'm new here and Im somewhat new to home recording. I play in a band and we record our practices on my p3 800 computer with just a single input soundcard (mic the room). However I want to take the recording up a level, where we can start recording demos even EP's. I will definately be going the computer route seeing as im very good with computers and I have experience with multitracking on them. However, the rest of the recording setup is kind of a blur to me. Im not sure what exactly I will need. Aiming for a setup that will allow us to record the band live, 4-6 mics on the drums, bass player, and guitar. Plus do vocals after. Could you guys help me out and tell me what stuff I need to get this done. I'm looking at getting the M-Audio Delta 1010 PCI Digital Audio System, plus I use cool edit pro(adobe audition). Will an external mixer work with that, like a behringer or a mackie? or are those just for analog recording? would it make more sense to just run the instruments directly into the soundcard and just do the mixing with cooledit pro? anyways I know im babbling on and asking too much but your help is appreciated.
If you could just list out everything that I need to get this going(excluding mics).
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zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Dec 04, 2004 01:14 am mackie
I don't use the Delta1010 myself but I think you need the mixer because the 1010 doesn't have built in mic preamps nor phantom power for condenser mics. Having the analog mixer before the D/A converters is nice when you realize you will need to adjust the input volume during the performance... like in emo vocals...
you would basically need
the 1010
a mackie mixer 8-12 channel with phantom power
a pair of condenser mics for drum overheads
a bass frequency mic (Shure Beta52 or AKG D112 or similar)
Then mics that you like for specific things
You may later find it nice to have an external compressor/limiter and tube preamps.
I generally say to stay away from berhinger stuff because it is the cheapest... except for the really crappy stuff. Mackie makes mice mixers... ART will make a good starting tube pre,,, then with tube pres you later start collecting them like mics... I have an old Roberts 770 reel to reel just for the mic pre...and because it was $50... Next thing you know you have a bunch of stuff cluttering up the studio... :)
I use a pair of Rode NT1's as drum over heads but they also do vocals and guitar. I have 3 Shure SM57's for snare, toms and stuff... both the Beta52 and D112 for bass and kick. A VOM harp mic ... just beacuse it was cheap, makes my voice some what bearable too :) and a couple electret condenser mics because they were also "priced to go" :)
However I don't need an external mixer because I use an Aardvark Q10 soundcard which has builtin phantom power and mic pres...but I'm thinking of getting a Delta 1010 simply because it has ALSA drivers for Linux.
also bear in mind a 800mhz computer will struggle when you start adding reverb effects... it's should handle the audio fine. I use a 1.3ghz PIII and it will do about 20 tracks with reverb/compression/other-stuff
...also have at least 2 seperate hard drives in the computer... one system and one audio. partitions won't help they need to be different drives otherwise windoze probably won't keep up...as it will be trying to write to virtual memory in the same place as the audio data and eventually it'll screw up. :)
chmilMember
Since: Dec 03, 2004
Dec 04, 2004 08:48 pm Ive been looking around and now im thinking of going with the mackie control universal. what else would I need to get with that?
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Dec 05, 2004 09:02 am Take a look in my profile chmil, I looked around and had the same basic direction as you when I started; looking to record a band. I went with the 1010LT as it's 1/2 the price of the 1010, then I got a yamaha board and a hosa 8 channel snake. The LT has spdif in and midi in as well to bring it up to the 10 inputs.
Also, bear in mind that writing 8 & 10 channels at once is pretty disk intensive, you may want to make sure your audio drive and HD interface is up to the task.
The mixer has been worth it cause you can very quickly change your levels that you hear when recording (instead of just sitting in front of the PC fiddling with the mouse) because the mixer controls the monitor levels. For the PC, just set the gain (or trim) and leave it alone. Mix the levels later.
Just an afterthought; I chose to go with the yamaha to better utilize my resources. The 400 $ not spent on a mackie could be better used to improve your overall project in a different area, say, a better computer, or maybe better software ;) Same goes for the 1010LT vs. a 1010.
HTH
Dec 05, 2004 09:07 am Consider running guitar and bass direct (at least initially) and monitoring over headphones, that way the first take could be all drums without other instruments bleeding into those mics. Bass can often stay direct, guitar is done more and more direct with the advent of things like the POD, Vamp and other tools, but, if not then recording that after the fact like you would with vocals could result in a very nice, clean multitrack recording.
