# Home Recording



## ShayneBear (Nov 24, 2010)

Anyone do home recordings? I just downloaded Audacity and now i'm in the market for a mic of some sort that's compatible with my laptop so i can get some recordings of myself both vocal and instrumental (bass, piano, maybe some guitar). Anyone have any suggestions?

what do you guys use for recording?


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## Cam (Nov 24, 2010)

ShayneBear said:


> Anyone do home recordings? I just downloaded *Audacity* and now i'm in the market for a mic of some sort that's compatible with my laptop so i can get some recordings of myself both vocal and instrumental (bass, piano, maybe some guitar). Anyone have any suggestions?
> 
> what do you guys use for recording?


 
Audacity? Clearly you haven't been in the music industry long enough. But fear not, I have, so I got some pretty cool advice, depending on the way you use it

1) Do not use audacity even if trying to only make a promotional EP. Audacity is nothing more than a multi-tracker, its incredibly basic and wont get you anywhere near close enough to producing marketable music.

If you're totally serious about getting into music & home studios, then you'll need cash to supply it, just like any other art, but music tends to cost a pretty penny. Good mixing softwares are not free. For a beginner like you I would suggest downloading the demo version of FL9. That way you can look at what is very close to professional software, and the ways they work.

2) Start looking into softwares. 

Once you get a hang on the idea of mixing, then its time to upgrade to even more professional softwares. There are many to choose from, but my home studio consists of
A) Reason 4
B) Sonar 7
c) Drumcore
D) Cakewalk

I would suggest Sonar 7 because in ways it is similar to audacity, but you'll actually be able to get what you need done and some. Reason 4 is basically a beat maker. You can make synths, beats, and leads. Drumcore is a very enormous library of various drumloops by different drummers, that you can use to infuse actual drumbeats into your music, if sound bank ones arent to your liking

3) Start taking some music theory. 

Wherever you can learn the fundamentals of music theory, I highly suggest taking up. Music theory includes basics such as triads, the scales, the chords, the notes. All the info you need about writing the actual music to a song, not the mixing. I do believe you can get a good FREE start on that here

Home recording can be a whole new world of work and test of mental endurance, but whether you are creating marketable music, or simply just using it as a hobby, you will most definitely be able to create awesome music through good programs.

Songs (like this one in particular) can even get very popular, simply by using home recording studios

Also for future references, dont get greedy when it comes to purchasing mics. Buy a GOOD one, and when you use it, make sure your space does NOT give off any reverb. Itll become a huge kick in the teeth when it comes time to start mixing.


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## Aaros (Nov 24, 2010)

I wouldn't recommend Audacity. I learned recording with Cubase, which I got free with my Presonus Firebox two years ago.
If you're planning on recording everything into software on your computer, I'd recommend buying a firewire or usb interface like the Firebox. As for mics, it depends on what you're trying to record. For piano and singing, condenser mics are generally the best option. Do a little research on the different types of mics and what instruments they work with before you buy. Don't just buy a couple of Shure dynamic mics and record everything with them.

Be advised, though, that home recording it pretty expensive.


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## VÃ¶lf (Nov 24, 2010)

I've had Audacity and gotten some decent recording out of it... I then decided to move to that piece Protools w/ the mbox mini- it crashed on 3 computers, and after I finally got it to work on a really old cp, it keeps interrupting the recordings with bit rate problems. I see it wasn't recommended, so I assume it sucks... funny though, cause Guitar Center said it was the shit.

All the same, I think audacity has enough options to get by on when just starting out. it has plenty of effects that can be modified, though not in the greatest detail, far more than the 300+ dollar protools software. I've heard a lot of good things about Garage Band...

And for the record, condenser mics and music theory both help A LOT.


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## Aaros (Nov 24, 2010)

VÃ¶lf said:


> I've had Audacity and gotten some decent recording out of it... I then decided to move to that piece Protools w/ the mbox mini- it crashed on 3 computers, and after I finally got it to work on a really old cp, it keeps interrupting the recordings with bit rate problems. I see it wasn't recommended, so I assume it sucks... funny though, cause Guitar Center said it was the shit.


Pro Tools is the industry standard. _Every_ serious recording studio will at least be able to record with Pro Tools as one of their options, because it owns most of the market share for recording software. It defeintely doesn't suck.
But it's an extremely complicated and powerful program, you need a very capable computer to run it. It sounds to me like your computer just couldn't handle it. I had the same problem with my first time using Cubase; my computer couldn't handle it. I built a better computer for myself, and now it runs fine.

Another thing to note is that you can't just install most powerful recording programs and have the run correctly from the start. You'll need to mess around with lots of settings to make it run right. I had to change drivers and tweak preferences for a long time before Cubase would run well on my computer.


> All the same, I think audacity has enough options to get by on when just starting out. it has plenty of effects that can be modified, though not in the greatest detail, far more than the 300+ dollar protools software. I've heard a lot of good things about Garage Band...


Pro Tools doesn't come with effects because the effects are all plug-ins that you can insert into the program at any time. Audacity is very limited because it only has bulit-in effects; programs like ProTools accept effects you can download off the Internet, buy, or even write yourself. Audacity's effects are terrible-quality and are not real-time (a MAJOR problem), therefore you can't change effects on a track and tweak them after the fact.
Garage Band is quite a bit better than Audacity but still not nearly as good as actual pro-quality studio software.


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## ShayneBear (Nov 24, 2010)

I have Sibellius for the composition and such, and have been using it for the last 4 years (was introduced to it by the director of my high school music department, which is also where I studied music theory, as well as taking an AP music theory class in my graduating year), so what I need is a program that will let me record external parts, such as voice/piano/bass.

from what I've read, it sounds like a USB condenser mic is what I need to be able to record everything i'd like, but there are many different styles of condenser mic that I have seen (some look more like dynamic handheld mics, some are more "bar" shaped, and then there's the Snowball by Blue)

and i'm not wanting to do any promotional stuff. I'm never going to make any money off of my music, haha, but I want to have recordings to use so I can actually listen to a full piece and be able to actually listen to it and fix it without having to worry about it while I concentrate on playing/singing, and quite frankly, I have never heard a recording of my performances, even from solos i did back in high school =( makes me sad that I have no idea what i ACTUALLY sound like 

but Cam, THANK YOU for that incredibly well thought out post. Wow, that was incredibly helpful, not only because of content, but because it showed me that posting while half asleep wasn't a good idea because i didn't get any of my point across like i thought i did XD (yes, i fail, but i win at failing, haha)


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## Eleziek (Nov 26, 2010)

Cam said:


> 3) Start taking some music theory.
> 
> Wherever you can learn the fundamentals of music theory, I highly suggest taking up. Music theory includes basics such as triads, the scales, the chords, the notes. All the info you need about writing the actual music to a song, not the mixing. I do believe you can get a good FREE start on that here



This right here, glad to see someone else that says this on a thread like this.


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## Cam (Nov 26, 2010)

Eleziek said:


> This right here, glad to see someone else that says this on a thread like this.


 
Also that website is supposed to be musictheory.net, Im just too lazy to fix my broken link.


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## Commiecomrade (Nov 27, 2010)

Cam said:


> Also for future references, dont get greedy when it comes to purchasing mics. Buy a GOOD one, and when you use it, make sure your space does NOT give off any reverb. Itll become a huge kick in the teeth when it comes time to start mixing.


 
What kind of mics would you suggest? Also, how can you tell if a room would give off reverb or not?


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## Cam (Nov 27, 2010)

Commiecomrade said:


> What kind of mics would you suggest? Also, how can you tell if a room would give off reverb or not?


 
Well it depends on what you're looking at.

This is what I use

Also its wicked easy to tell if somewhere gives reverb. Simply yell anything you want and if you hear any kind of echo then you need to kill the reverb somehow. If you can manage to find office cubicle walls they work very well if you kinda just arrange them into like a little recording box.


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## Fiesta_Jack (Nov 27, 2010)

I use Cubase for my band's work, and I'll likely be using it for my upcoming solo work. It's pretty solid, and not too complicated.


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## VÃ¶lf (Nov 27, 2010)

Aaromus said:


> Pro Tools is the industry standard. _Every_ serious recording studio will at least be able to record with Pro Tools as one of their options, because it owns most of the market share for recording software. It defeintely doesn't suck.
> But it's an extremely complicated and powerful program, you need a very capable computer to run it. It sounds to me like your computer just couldn't handle it. I had the same problem with my first time using Cubase; my computer couldn't handle it. I built a better computer for myself, and now it runs fine.
> 
> Another thing to note is that you can't just install most powerful recording programs and have the run correctly from the start. You'll need to mess around with lots of settings to make it run right. I had to change drivers and tweak preferences for a long time before Cubase would run well on my computer.
> ...



Fair enough. I did try to run it on my win 7 laptop, and after 2 crashes JUST heard that I needed an update to get it to work at all. I gave up on that, I already have some registry errors and other things that came from the crashes, and it being brand new, I want it to last a while...

I also suppose since the horrible computer I got it to run on doesn't have internet let alone the ability to install any effects, I would tend to find audacity better just because I had virtually nothing to compare it to. In any case, might you have a link to any site that can give a basic tutorial on how to build a cp? I could rly use one...

And with regards to reverb in a room, it happens anytime you have open space and normal walls. If you're thinking of some sort of small in-home studio, plywood, insulation, and most importantly, sound proof walls, will cut that out. The sound proof walls are most important; that'll take care of most of the reverb.


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## Cam (Nov 27, 2010)

VÃ¶lf said:


> And with regards to reverb in a room, it happens anytime you have open space and normal walls. If you're thinking of some sort of small in-home studio, plywood, insulation, and most importantly, sound proof walls, will cut that out. The sound proof walls are most important; that'll take care of most of the reverb.



Yea basically, even just installing some kind of insulation over walls can drastically cut down on reverb, making it more dead


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## Commiecomrade (Nov 27, 2010)

Cam said:


> Also its wicked easy to tell if somewhere gives reverb. Simply yell anything you want and if you hear any kind of echo then you need to kill the reverb somehow.


 
Wow, I feel like an idiot now. Well, at least that microphone will make a great Christmas present.


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## Cam (Nov 27, 2010)

Commiecomrade said:


> Wow, I feel like an idiot now. Well, at least that microphone will make a great Christmas present.


 
It would, just make sure you got a good soundcard so whatever software you use doesnt crash in case your mic delivers a complicated sound. You'll know if it does if it just clicks & fucks up whenever you try to play it


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## SNiPerWolF (Nov 28, 2010)

i use Sound Forge Pro 10... love it

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/soundforge


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