COMPLETE NOOB- I NEED ALL THE HELP I CAN GET
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Posted on Jan 09, 2006 03:13 pm
sonsoflilith
Member Since: Jan 09, 2006
I am going to build a recording studio in my basement, and i need all the help i can. Im serios, i don't even know what a mike preamp is or even what a mixer board does! I found a nice article called building a home studio part 1-3. it told me to gat a mixer board and such, but i have no idea what to do with them when i get them. Im guessing ill probably need other things because i am planning on recording bass, guitar ,and drums. For the love of god, help me.
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Jan 09, 2006 04:06 pm Well, first, Welcome to HRC, you came to the right place for help.
That said, I have to ask, if you know nothing about nothing, what is prompting you to build a studio? Are you a musician, in a band, have friends in bands or just want to start a recording business or what?
I might suggest you look at a local community college or something for a quicky "intro to recording" course or something...
Are you looking at building a physical room or just need the gear? Are you going computer based digital?
www.homerecordingconnecti...story&id=18
www.homerecordingconnection.com/faq.php
are decent places to start...
Jan 10, 2006 05:29 pm I am just a kid in high school incredibly interested in music. I play many instuments and i want music to be my career.
I am actually building a room in my basement meant for recording. I am also going to go digital
sticadokid*sticado: short and LOUD!*Member
Since: Feb 25, 2005
Jan 11, 2006 10:11 pm Welcome sonso,
im in high school too... im doing the same thing u are but with my band in my room. luckly my dad does live sound for a church so i got a head start on knowing this stuff. if u want more in depth with this just ask and others and i will help out. but like dB said, u definately came to the right place. these people helped me out with so many things.
basically this is how it goes:
1.mic picks up sound
2.xlr cables connect mics to mixer
3.depending on the amount of inputs on a mixer u have, u can put more mics in. a mixer mixes the sound of all the mics u have in into ur outputs. also they EQ ur mic's sound (just like changing ur settings on a guitar amp).
4.the outputs on ur mixer go to ur computer inputs.
5.the computer is were u should add effects and master ur work (like extra EQing and leveling the volumes of ur instruments into a stereo (left and right) sound).
so ur gonna need mics, a mixer, a sound card for ur computer with the desired inputs, and some software like sonar, cubase, or pro tools.
good luck!
~mikey
sticadokid*sticado: short and LOUD!*Member
Since: Feb 25, 2005
Jan 11, 2006 10:15 pm oh yeah.
theres this thing called line level. its a pretty much unheard sound that the mic picks up. a pre amp just amplifies that sound so u can here it.
most mixers have built-in pre amps (a nob on there called gain)
Jan 12, 2006 02:08 am *Line level is high volume signal. Mic level is a source signal captured by a mic. This is very a low level without amplification. Pre amps boost a mic level (low) to line level (high).
Gain can also be called trim.
Sorry sticatokid, I thought I'd touch your post up a bit there :-)
SK's got it bang on in the previous post tho'. Those articles are a V. good read as well. Helped me out heaps when I was starting out.
Go Team.
sticadokid*sticado: short and LOUD!*Member
Since: Feb 25, 2005
Jan 12, 2006 09:28 pm lol my bad... that makes since :P
xlr-low z
1/4-hi z
oops lol
Jan 13, 2006 06:32 pm and how do i record drums?
I was looking for a cheap mixer board for under $200 but it seems that all of them only have 2 or 3 mic inputs?
And perhaps i need different mics for the different drum heads? A picture of a setup of the mics would be nice.
i also made a plan for the room on my basement. it hasn't been drywalled or any thing so its going to pretty abstract, with no walls parralel.
i dont know if thats gonna help, but i read somewhere on these forums that square rooms were the worst shape, and to make the walls irregular.
Can you also help me in ways to make the room sound better?
Thanks sticadokid, you have been a real help.
sticadokid*sticado: short and LOUD!*Member
Since: Feb 25, 2005
Jan 14, 2006 12:49 am ur welcome.
irregular rooms do help. the sound never bounces of the walls into the same direction causing an echo. irregular walls get rid of the echo.
depending on the loundness of ur room, u might need some reinforcement (wedge or pyramid panels). u can find those on www.zZounds.com
now the drums part. well, u sould get all toms, kick, and snare mic'd. as well as some overhead mics for the cymbals. some people do 2 overheads, kick, and snare only but, being as im a drummer, go with the full kit mic'd... its sounds better.
for the mixer: let me tell u. inserts help a whole lot! they click in once and and give each individual channels theyre own output (channel is an input on the mixer). if u buy a mixer w/ about 10+ channels then they usually have inserts on channels 1-8. with the insert, u can control, for example, the kick on the computer as an individual track but still record the drums all at once. some people just make the drums sound good on the channels and run them as stereo chnnels into the computer as just two tracks (and trust me, u got to be one telented person to make that sound good.
since u wanted a picture of a setup, ill finish mine (i was already doing one) and then sendit to u on monday or something by email i guess. mine is [email protected]
peace
sticadokid*sticado: short and LOUD!*Member
Since: Feb 25, 2005
Jan 14, 2006 12:56 am o and also, checking other people's profiles on here and pricing their equipment after asking them how good the thing is, is helpful too.
i just buy nessissary things that r the cheapest to get. but that mixer is gonna be more them $200 unless u can find a good company. behringer and alesis has good stuff for a low price.
Jan 14, 2006 11:55 am jeez man all that equipment must of costed a lot.
Right now i am cleaning all of my dad's tools out of the room. Its probably gonna be a while before i post again and ask more questions.
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Jan 14, 2006 12:26 pm Yeah, sonso, it's a real money pit. Every upgrade seems to attach itself to another. Better mic means better preamp, better preamp means better converter, better CPU means better memory, mobo, etc.
It all seems to keep spiralling out of control - eek.
sticadokid*sticado: short and LOUD!*Member
Since: Feb 25, 2005
Jan 15, 2006 05:49 pm well my band gets donations fron random people at shows and the other members buy their stuff cuz they have jobs. i need a job but im stuck between 2 cities that r 20 miles apart (damn i wish rockledge was close to satellite...)
anyways... after we got all the good band equiptment, we started saving up for recording stuff. but if u do what i did, the most epxensive things ur gonna buy are a mixer, PCI card, and some mics.
Jan 16, 2006 08:00 pm also, when recording guitar and bass, do you put a mike right up to your amp or do you hook it up to the mixer board?
by the way, i thinks it is spelled staccato
sticadokid*sticado: short and LOUD!*Member
Since: Feb 25, 2005
Jan 16, 2006 11:01 pm it is staccato but i forgot when i made myscreen name :P lol
it depends on the sound u want from the guitar. different amps have different sounds when u plug them directly in the mixer. i personally like micing the cab.
what i do is put the cab in one room and mic it with 3 mics and have it play back in my monitors in a different room. i have 1 mic at the edge of the cone for more lows, another at the center for highs, and the last one in the middle 4 mids. after doing that, u can bring up the volumes of the real sound that u want without adjusting the EQ nobs on the mixer. its less work (for micing) and it sounds better. plugging the amp in the mixer usually adds a more digital the real sound and it sometimes add a lot more static in the background.
Jan 17, 2006 05:52 pm what is a cab
Jan 17, 2006 05:56 pm "cabinet" or speaker box...
sticadokid*sticado: short and LOUD!*Member
Since: Feb 25, 2005
Jan 17, 2006 06:35 pm yeah... speaker cabinet. u know how ya plug the amp into the cab... well, unless its a combo amp (amp & speaker in one cab)
