Semi Pro Recording Studio

[MZ-NH1]

I would really like be able to set up a small recording kinda studio in my bed room, but am wondering what kind of equipment/hardware is needed.

What I was thinking would be needed, and please correct me if I am wrong is -

Need a good PC, with recording software (Adobe Audition?)

Need Microphones

Need a Mixing desk (not this specific one... but something like this? so that the mics can go into the mixing desk, and the mixing desk is then plugged into the pc...

A analogue conversion card?

What else would you suggest? How much do you think it would cost? and How easy is this to do, and how good would the quality of the recordings be?

It doesn't have to be a professional set up, as I know they cost thousands of $$$... but for an average kinda set up?

Thanks!

[ozpeter]

To record what? That could make a big difference.

Needless to say Adobe Audition would be a good start for many purposes...

A pro sound card (ie not one from Creative) should be pretty high on the list.

Don't forget monitoring! If you can't tell the quality of what you've recorded, you're dead in the water at the outset. And good monitoring ain't cheap.

Acoustic treatment for your room, depending on the nature of the recording.

The means to record remotely from the PC if it makes a noise, or to silence it.

Have you a feel for your overall budget?

[MZ-NH1]

Shivers... ok. Didn;t think of any of those. I would be recording Brass (Trombones) Woodwind (Sax) mostly in my room. My rooms accoustics are pretty good...

About price.. I was just considering this as an idea.. but maybe $1,000 AUS?

And what exactally do you mean by monitoring? And would you think an external sound card kinda thing would be better?

And how much are good digital mixing desks approx?

[A440]

It really depends what you expect from your recordings. Are you marketing them commercially as professional recordings? Or are you making reference recordings of your own music?

If that $1000 AU includes a new PC, then I think you're going to break the bank. Adobe Audition isn't cheap either if you get it legitimately. But maybe you can use your current computer, perhaps with some additional storage. I run Audition on a dinky 1.6 GHZ VAIO, and though it sometimes takes a while to process something, it's fine.

What you're doing with a home recording setup is trying to capture the best analog signal (originally a sound wave) and turn it into a digital recording with the least loss of fidelity. So you're going trombone-->microphones-->mixer (still analog, not digital)-->A/D (analog/digital) converter/sound card-->recording software (recorder/remixer/effects)-->hard drive-->CD.

Creative's sound cards tend to be more for gamers than for professional recording, and while I'm happy with the cheap one I use for playback and simple recording (back when I was recording in realtime from MD to computer), Creative is famous for advertising higher sound quality than they build in. There are other brands like M-Audio and Turtle Beach. You'll definitely want an outboard one (USB), if only to have room for a variety of inputs and outputs.

Monitoring means listening to what you've recorded, either as you're recording or afterward. Computer speakers are not enough. It should at the very least be an excellent pair of headphones and, even better, a pair of first-rate speakers mounted correctly for the highest fidelity. Or take your recording and play it on all your friends' stereo systems until they throw you out.

It's the mic-mixer-A/D conversion steps that are most variable, and are going to give you the most difficult choices. If all you are recording is brasses and saxes, for example, there may be a mic that makes those particular instruments sound best. Choosing a mixer will depend in part on sound quality, but also how you feel about using its controls in your recording situation.

Recording software varies too, depending on what you want to do with it: mix multiple tracks from live instruments, add effects and/or do more complicated processing (like pitch correction, time-stretching, etc.). But Adobe Audition already has plenty of bells and whistles.

Your first step should be to go to a pro music store, like Guitar Center or Sam Ash, and start asking questions and looking at equipment.

As for pro forums, you could also ask some questions at

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php and also

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/index.php

Watch out for flames, those folks get cranky!

[MZ-NH1]

Wow! Ok thanks heaps for all that A440! Much appreciated!

The $1000 didn't include a new PC, but I am definatley gettign myself a new one at the end of this year...

(back when I was recording in realtime from MD to computer) When you say this, do you mean you were recording with your MD plugged into the PC, and what you were recording come up in like a recording program?

Guitar Center or Sam Ash - Unfortunatley I live in Australia.. and am pretty sure we don't have them But I will definatley look around for other places, as I think I need to have a good look at what a setup would costs, and what equipment/hardware would be needed.

The recordings would just be for reference for myself... so I have to figure out if spending all this money is actually worth it firsty

Thanks for all that info though!

[JazzyBananas]

some ideas for gear to get:

Condenser Mic

Audio Interface/Soundcard - either PCI or external USB/Firewire

Mic Pre-amp

Monitors/Speakers

you can skip the mixer because you can just mix with whatever software you decide to use

have a look at M-Audio for audio interfaces

also Digidesign

digidesign has the MBOX, around 400-500US i think, and it comes with ProTools software which is pretty much industry standard. so you could transfer your data to a real studio and it would load up just fine. digidesign actually recently acquired m-audio and they have made a protools version for m-audio hardware, but you have to buy it separate. i think the mbox would be good since you will get hardware and software.

well that's all i can think of at the moment... hope it was helpful

[MZ-NH1]

Cheers for that mate! Thanks heaps!

With regards to microphones... could I just use my Sony MD Mic? Or is that not the best?

The MBOX looks pretty mad!

Let me just get this right..

The MBOX plugs in via USB, "two analog inputs" meaning it can have 2 mics attached to it, those get put into the MBOX. The MBOX is attached to the PC, so you just turn the unit on, get into the software which is bundled with the package... and start recording? Is it as easy as that?

With speakers, I was thinking of hooking up the speakers of my Sharp Micro System XL-HP500W unit to the PC using a stereo mini plug. There are 2 speakers 50W each... do you recon they would be good enough? Or do you think something like the Logitech® Z-5300e is better??? What do you think? IS that what you mean my monitoring as well? or are you saying a good monitor (for viewing) is necessary as well?

[bobt]

You seem to want to rely on the computer as your final medium, personally I would go mixer then a good recorder, whether MD, DAT, or reel to reel, the M100 looks very nice, as well as some professional MD recorders, check bandh.com as well as a few others I can't think of at the moment.

I would only use the computer as the last step, not the first.

I did a lot of amateir/semi-pro recording years ago using a Teac reel to reel and a very good Aiwa casette deck, computers weren't even on the scene at that time.

The best thing you can to at any stage is start with a good mic and your MD, try mic and instrument placements and go from there.

Happy recording,

Bob

[MZ-NH1]

Yeh thanks for the Bob. Only reason why I am thinking to use the PC is to save that extra time recording from Mic to MD, and the uploading to PC, and then converting to mp3, and then playing it back, listening etc...

I would just like to be able to record in good quality, straight onto the PC, since the PC will be in my room, where I teach students (can record them) and practice myself. I personally think it would be a little easier... but depending on the price, I will have to see

[A440]

I've been to various home studios, and all but one were using ProTools (that guy was devoted to reel-to-reel tape!). The Mbox 2 looks like just what you need for straightforward stereo recording and overdubbing: a combination of soundcard, preamps, (software) mixer and recording software. You might also see if you can find an older Mbox for less, since you basically need the box and ProTools itself, not all the electronic-music software.

Monitoring is audio monitoring: good speakers for playback. If you like your Sharp speakers, try them, though mini speakers tend to be tinny. You could start with those and upgrade later.

As for video, you just need a good display on your computer--bigger will be better with the ProTools screen. Recording is also going to take hard drive space, so you might consider an outboard hard drive.

Which leaves microphones, and you should go to a musicians' store for them and ask lots of questions. Also do some Google searching: "mic* for brass instruments" or something. The Mbox takes XLR inputs, which are professional, rather than the little stereo plugs for your MD mic, so you have your choice of pro mics like Shure, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica and on and on. It's difficult to make your recording better than your microphones, so good mics (rather than speakers) are the best initial investment. A pro music store should have a decent return policy so you can try them out for a while.

And when I mentioned realtime recording, before Hi-MD the way to get recordings from MD to computer was just to connect a stereo cord from Headphone Out to computer/soundcard Line In and open a recording program: Audacity, which is free, did the job.

For quick-and-dirty stereo recording, you could use a stereo mic (or two mics and a mixer), plug it into your soundcard's mic-in (which, if it's on your computer, probably doesn't sound so great--that's why I got an external soundcard) and record with Audacity. But it seems like you want something more hi-fi.

[MZ-NH1]

As for video, you just need a good display on your computer--bigger will be better with the ProTools screen. Recording is also going to take hard drive space, so you might consider an outboard hard drive.

Gonne be getting a 19" and prob a 250GB HDD... but yeh... will have to look into it.

Which leaves microphones, and you should go to a musicians' store for them and ask lots of questions. Also do some Google searching: "mic* for brass instruments" or something. The Mbox takes XLR inputs, which are professional, rather than the little stereo plugs for your MD mic, so you have your choice of pro mics like Shure, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica and on and on. It's difficult to make your recording better than your microphones, so good mics (rather than speakers) are the best initial investment. A pro music store should have a decent return policy so you can try them out for a while.

Will have to go find a pro music store now Shouldn't be too hard in Sydney.

And when I mentioned realtime recording, before Hi-MD the way to get recordings from MD to computer was just to connect a stereo cord from Headphone Out to computer/soundcard Line In and open a recording program: Audacity, which is free, did the job.

For quick-and-dirty stereo recording, you could use a stereo mic (or two mics and a mixer), plug it into your soundcard's mic-in (which, if it's on your computer, probably doesn't sound so great--that's why I got an external soundcard) and record with Audacity. But it seems like you want something more hi-fi.

Yeh, I have done that a couple of times now, but as you said, the sound quality isn't too great. So yeh I was wanting something which sounded a bit better.

Thanks for all your info! I will have to do some digging around myself now to see what is available.

And wait till I get my new pc Jan next yr