Just thought I would get some thoughts from you all out there on what you would consider essential home studio gear.
Would you use a stand alone multitrak recorder, or a PC?
Mic's, speakers, drum machines, software (if using a PC) etc
What are your thoughts?

Besides guitars and amps, I got nothing else really and think I want to slowly put together some equipment together to be able to record some songs.
Value the opinions on these boards
thanks

I'm not an expert, nor do I play one on tv, but I gather that shure SM-57 and SM-58s are pretty much the industry standard in instrument and vocal mics, respectively.

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Rated "M" for meaty.

I use a PC with a Line 6 Guitar Port, Reason and a USB keyboard for drums and synth stuff and I still use good ole' Cool Edit Pro for multi-tracking. I also have a Shure 58 for vocals. I only record myself so this set up works for me, but if I was recording a full band, I would want more mikes, an input for multiple instruments and maybe upgrade the multitrack software.

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As far as Mics go, SM-57's. Cheap and an industry standard work horse of a mic. Perhaps a large diaphragm condenser for vocals.

If you go with the software drums... DEFINITELY check out BFD. They have it down with samples and how the engine handles the use of velocity hits, and choice of samples to use... sorry not so good at explaining that... check it out though

http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=53&tab=148

Stand alone are okay and good for field recordings, if you go PC, make sure that your PC is optimized for audio (google it).

Then you need an interface (USB, Firewire or PCI card). A mixer is good to have - - one with phantom power and good mic pre's is very good if tracking several inputs.

It's good to have a variety of mics for different purposes, a dynamic, condensers and if in the budget, a good ribbon mic.

Extras like external hard drives, mic & boom stands, pop filters, etc.

There are many good DAWS out there nowdays. You can go from Audacity (free) to top of the line Pro Tools. (others Logic, Digital Performer (Mac) Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar, Ableton Live, etc..)

I always find it amazing just how incredible some audio recordings I'm hearing are that are done with gear that wasn't 1/10th as good just a decade or two ago, the audio recording capabilities seem to continue to grow and grow.

This is a link to an online jam I did with a bass player from Kansas and a synth guy from the U.K. (Stratocaster and mic'd G-Dec 30 with AT2020).
I sequenced the drums with Ableton Live 8 :

http://www.box.net/shared/6ljukjctue

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Cool groove Miami Mike!
I'm interested in home recording in the forseeable future and enjoy reading the comments and hearing the audio samples.

For many years than I want to remember I used to be an analog snob when it came to home recording and when time came to put one together my setup was Studiomaster 16x8x2 board,Tascam 38-8 track reel to reel and the tascam 32 half track reel to reel mastering machine,Tascam 12inch studio monitors with various outboard effects and mikes.
Then one day M.F. had a clearance sale because Tascam was about to discontinue the 2488 and bring in the 2488Mk2,so I pulled the trigger and thinking if I did not like it I could always trade it back in for something else.Now I don't know about the Mk2 or even the Neo. or even other peoples 2488's but you will have to pull my 2488 from my cold dead fingers.You have to do some reading and play with it to understand what you can do with it,but it is an all in one studio recorder and can make a bad mike sound great plus you can burn a great master CD on it.I have tried most of the pc programs and just to set up most of them up to record is a major pain.
What ever you go for make double sure you have a great pair of studio monitors that is where the rubber meets the road and don't think you can do you master mix with a set of headphones because you will pull your hair out trying to find out what went wrong.
Later
Kcfireball

Excellent advice gents.

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10-4 good buddy, over and out!

miami mike.... nice jam
thanks everyone for the advice
I think I am going to start with a stand alone recorder, just so I can get my feet wet with the whole recording thing
Currently on the look out for a sm57 ans sm58 on CL and might try out a used boss br-600
anyone have any experience with one of those?

Best of luck on your endeavor. I have not used the Boss unit... I still have my tascam 4 track cassette recorder that i still use to jot idears down believe it or not. I agree with KC... there is much to be said for the stand alone recorder if you take the time to learn how to use it. I for one would probably be a moron when it comes to trying to edit anything on one of those if the need arose. Coming from a sound editing background i have grown all too used to waveforms and a kensington mouse. My hats off to the folks who wielded naught but a Razor blade and a grease pencil.

Let us know how you fare... recording is my favorite subject.

{babble box active}

I'll give 2 sites worth a visit if you are very interested in home recording.

Home recording com and my favourite site I spend a lot of time on Song Crafters

The mic depends on what you are trying to record, acoustic guitar sometimes better done with 2 small diaphram condensers close up.
Vocals a large or wide diaphram condenser or ribbon mic. Or a tube condenser (getting expensive).

The dynamic mics like the Shure sm57 instrument mic and sm58 vocal mic are great stage mics, not the optimum for making recordings.

Myself I prefer a dedicated small multitrack like a BOSS MicroBR or BR-800 in the music room, I really don't want to stick a pc in there.. Then scurry off to where the PC is with my DAW software to do the dirty work on it. You do need a good audio interface I use the E=MU 404 there are many others out there.

For a DAW I find the free Audacity is good and Reaper (inexpensive) is very nice.

Fer drums I have an ancient DR-550 that I rarely use anymore and Hydrogen (free) drum sequencing software. Seqeuncing drum loops in Audacity is also quite workable.

One thing not mentioned so far you also need either good cans or good quality near field studio monitors.
In my current setup my monitors are KrK Rokit's, and my headphones are old AKG's which I hope to replace with maybe some sony mrd7509's (Christmas is comming)

I have found after a while that a mixer was quite usfull addition,
I ended up picking up a small Yamaha MG82cx at a good sale price.. Though as my other gear grows now starting to wish I have gotten one with more channels.

Miscellanous stuff that ended up costing a bit,
Several mic stands with booms, instrument mic stand, mic pop filter, xlr cables for all the mic's, TRS and other patch cables to hook everyting together.
Taking the wife out to dinner many times as I was acquiring all this stuff .

[end babble box]

Sorry about the babbeling and all the links I just had a similar discussion elsewhere so the data was handy

PS. If you thought Guitar GAS was bad, there is a ton of "stuff" you suddenly NEED (mostly imagenary) for home recording.

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Keep on Truckin, Going full speed ahead down the highway to hades.

This is a "must read" ... a veritable Literary classic.

http://www.mixerman.net/diaries1.php

takes a bit to get through but well worth it... absolutely hilarious and very insightful

Sorry had to run before I could qualify my previous post.

Before the home recording bug really hit me I started off with just the E=MU 404 and a Shure sm58 the store talked me into buying. They actually worked very well for recording straight into the PC, the E=MU has XLR and 1/4 inch inputs so could jack in a guitar and the mic at the same time. It also has outs for headphones and monitors.
It also came with Sonar LE and CUbase LE to get you started (Hated both LE programs ).

Things spiraled out of control from there after one buddy got the BR-600 and another got the MicroBR. The old BR series do have a bit of an issue they can take a maximum of a 1Gb SD card, quite difficult to find now days. The new BR-800 can handle up to a 32Gb card.

To get started recording just your guitar you probably only need a guitar usb interface cable, they start under 40$ and one of the free DAWs. Not a bad way to get your feet wet!

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Keep on Truckin, Going full speed ahead down the highway to hades.

That read is hilarious
the antics sound all to familiar for some other industries as well!

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Keep on Truckin, Going full speed ahead down the highway to hades.

Especially in the Post industry LOL. Hope you keep reading and enjoying... it gets REALLY crazy. I decided to read it again. Wait til you get to Fast Fingaz McGillicutty the RADAR editor.

Also... to get back to topic. Regarding Cans. I LOVE the Sennheiser HD 280 Pros. I borrowed a pair from work and its been quite valuable in listening to mixes of some tunes we're working on. So accurate to what the studio monitors put out that i can actually make EQ notes on my commute home that translate well when we tweak in the room. Well worth a look at.

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