Greetings folks
I really want to venture into the vast wasteland of home recording on a PC, or Mac. However the more I attempt to research the subject the more frustrated I get with the information or I simply just don’t understand.

So perhaps if someone here could answer some of my simpleton home recording 101 questions I would be eternally grateful.

Of course expense is an issue, I have "some" disposable income to use, just not enough for top of the line stuff, im also not looking for a slick professional sound. I know bands like say Sloan have produced there albums in peoples basements………im actually not a fan of there music but I would be more then happy with the mix they achieved.

Equipment I have -
A laptop Pc, Access to mac if needed. I have a Boss BR864, I have a very good recoding mic. Access to several recording programs, cakewalk, Cubasis ect.., a Cyber Twin SE & a G-dec 15...

SO -

- What is better?....a PC or a Mac?, What would you suggest are the requirements of the computer itself to run these programs?
- What recording program is the best?, the easiest to use? And still achieve a decent sound?
- What accessories do I need?...........obviously I need something to go from the mic, to the computer?
- Where are there recording for dummies tutorials for the above mentioned programs?
- Where are there newb friendly message boards or forums who are open to the same old questions they've been asked 100 times?

There are a lot of us here that do home and other recording. My best advice (in general) would be to visit this place :
http://homerecording.com/bbs/

We've tried to start a section based solely on recording, but were told that this is a guitar and gear forum mainly.

Personally, I also use a BR-864 for some tracking, but mix with Ableton Live 8. Sometimes I'll track and mix with Live 8 too.

You'll need a USB interface or integrated PCI card to go from analog to digital.
I use a Mac and a PC and don't see any advantages or disadvantages with either.
A Mac is easier to score with though. The more RAM the better and google how to optimize your PC for audio.

Good luck!

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

Don't leave home without it!

Aw Sweet, thank you Miami Mike

The site has been put into fav's and I will be pouring over it over the next couple days.

If you also own a BR-864 would you mind if I pester you with some questions about it?

If not on this thread (if Fender would oppose it) then in a PM or something?

Hi cyberguy: Fender don't oppose it in the slightest, they just didn't want to launch a whole section of the Forum devoted to recording. But questions here are welcome - so please post them in public rather than PMs so that everyone can benefit from the answers.

My recording has always been hardware based so I'm not in a position to answer questions about working with computers. So I'd be glad to learn stuff here instead! Watching with interest.

Good luck - C

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Hey Cyberguy,
I have a full up home studio. I have both DAW and reel tracking and digital and ADAT. It is all subjective! Some folks like Mac some PC. Both have their pros and cons. I tend to like Presonus Studio One Pro for my DAW and use a Presonus Live 24 Channel Board. I work in PC based computers. I do intend on going to Mac because they tend IMO to have a much more reliable system and support the recording medium better...again my opinion/experience! I also have a Boss BR1200 CDR which I tend to write with and get the general idea for my songs. From there I go into the computer when I track the song for professional recording. The great thing about the DAW is you can have an umlimited number of tracks. Even though my board has 24 faders/channels I can make 200 tracks and mix them all right on the computer. If you want to start small and work your way up Presonus has a nice little interface called the Audio box. They also sell a single fader called the Faderport. With the Audio Box you get the Studio One Musician software which you can eventually upgrade to pro. I really love the presonus stuff because you can click and drag/drop stuff onto a track and be done with the task quite easily. No, I am not a Presonus rep or endorser I just like their gear! Do research look at your budget and if you have any questions just yell!
ABD

I don't know if you live by a GC, but it just so happens they are starting a series of classes this Saturday at all their stores as an intro to home recording. I know it's going to be slanted towards selling some Apple laptops but I figure I could get something out of it, so I signed up. Here's a link to their info page:
http://gc.guitarcenter.com/recording-ma ... ce=4TP1E3A

I went to school to learn recording and worked in several L.A. 24 track studios in the mid to late 70's just as digital was starting to come out. I had an analog 8 channel studio for several years when my "real" business took off. I now have a 30 year gap in my knowledge, but a strong desire to get caught up on the possibilities. I just hope the can of worms I'm going to open isn't too big. I wonder if I'll need to bring my own razor blade for editing?

_________________
'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

HI Cyberguy, and welcome to the forum!

All previous posters have valid points. But the most pressing point is: What's your (realistic) budget? There are a few on these boards who can compile a good list for different budgets. But we need some figures to work with.

I started out using PCs. At some point I got so fed up with being my own SysAdmin that I switched to Mac. But now that Apple is getting light-headed in their strategies and product development, who knows if it's worth it to get the extra csash together to join their "exclusivist" club. There's good and bad on both systems. You decide.

What is your very good recording mic, if I may ask? Just curious.

Anyway: Have fun! We're all at the ready to help.

Cheers

Nutter

No problem, cyberguy. I'd be glad to try and answer your questions about the 864 and we also have Tony Houston here, who REALLY knows a lot about the Boss/Roland recorders!

There is also a Yahoo Supergroup that now covers all of the Boss recorders as well.
http://launch.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/BossBr/

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

Don't leave home without it!

Same here. It's free, and I'm looking forward to it myself!!!

Did anyone else attend the GC "Intro to Computer Recording" today? I went. For anyone that's wondering, it's a demonstration of Garage Band software on Apple computers. Guess what, GC sells Apple computers. There's no hands on, just watching a monitor. Nothing too in depth but I feel I picked up a little insight on things. The young guy that did the demonstration wasn't the best speaker but he did okay. He seems to know what he's doing, just not how to convey it to a room full of people. There's three more in the series and right now I plan on going to all of them. In fact, I'm due for a new laptop, so I may just end up going with an Apple (which I've never owned) and playing around with Garage Band. It looks like a good way to get my feet wet with some software while getting a new computer I need anyway.

_________________
'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

Ok
After some family tragedy and after multiple threats of Strangulation towards my internet provider it would appear I can get back to this thread.

Apologies to those here, I know how annoying it can be for newbes to start threads and then just let them die.

Im in Canada, don't have the GC here, I would love to attend one of these workshops, wow would it make this a lot easier!!!!. Gives me a good idea to call around the shops here and see if they offer anything like this. Thanks.




Good question, in a perfect world I would like to see what I can get away with using the equipment I already have access to. Due to my situation I usually get a decent tax return so every season I can spend a good couple grand on projects if needed.



I picked up a "APEX" mic……Can't remember the model…..paid about $200, I should reiterate…..this is a good mic for me!!!!. Im used to $20 mics

Ultra sensitive……..i record in my basement and it can pick up cars driving by the lane, so far its impressed me, clean, captures the exact live sound with no distortions. Again for me I love it. The pros chances are would scoff at it.

Bass player has a mac, and garage band, im told its pretty simple to use, I've also downloaded the garage band ap in my ipad, so far its been fun to noodle around but nothing serious unless I want to pick up that guitar plug in adapter.

My philosophy is that the recording industry has shifted over to catering to the loud is better dance club type mentality. There is no ambiance, no peaks and valleys. I would be more then happy achieving that 60's 70s vibe of sound…..does that make sense or have I just hit my head to many times upon the porcelain?.......or……..im just getting old.

Give me a day or two to read all the BR yahoo site and chances are I will have many more questions lol……..again thanks to everyone who has responded.

Hi Cyberguy, welcome back! Hope that everything turns out well personally - we've all been there. All the best from me anyway!

Three things:
1) With that sort of budget (let's just say 1 grand for now if I understand correctly) you can achieve quite a good result, considering you already have access to a Mac and a microphone you're comfortable with. So we can now hear from people what they would suggest you get for an interface, maybe mixer, etcetera. Good starting point.

2) Sound. If you are looking for a more 60's /70's sound, the first thing to do is to not overdo compressors and limiters in your mix, try the dry signal first. Although comps were on the rise then, most loudness corrections were achieved with fader rides, so while the track ran, at exactly timed points in the song, the engineer would move the fader to accomodate for drastic changes in loudness. But in general, there were more troughs and peaks in a signal ("dynamics") than are now. If you know how to achieve it, you know how to avoid it. If you refrain from using lots of comps and limiters you will be on a good road towards that sound.
Also consider moulding your effects after the effects that were known and popular at the time, reverbs or echoes for instance. But if you know what you're after you'll get there quite quick.

3) Location. It might be good to record in your basement, it might not. You shoudl try it out and see if either the internal sound (i.e. reflections, weird emphasis on certain frequencies) and / or the external sound (meaning outdoor sounds entering your recordings) are tolerable. Both can be desired, so you will have to test and decide. When I record at home I record mostly at night for this reason. There's less noise on the streets (though not on weekends... .) Of course you coudl begin soundproofing your room, but that's an entire other field that won't get you to record that quickly, and if done half-heartedly can rid you of your sanity and a lot of money. been there, done that...
So now basically we need some sort of interface and for that we need to know how many sound sources at once you would like to record. A full band? A trio? are drums involved? This will result in a number of channels... And the answer whether you need a mixer or not. There are handy combined units that mix and convert, so money can be saved there.

Anyway. Hope it helps

Nutter

Thanks Nutter

So this may be the most newbie question ever but how I have recorded before was to do it track by track in my basement, then toss it together and go?

Would this not be the way to go unless im willing to spend a whole lotta cash to be able to record everyone live at once?

I thought I would just say for example, hang my mic over my Drummer set, record, rinse and repeat for other instruments?. Then either transfer the tracks to a computer to mix them or just mix it directly in my BR-864 and done.

Myself I seem to prefer mic'in the amps and such as apposed to using the on board digital effects, I just get a more….i dunno…organic vibe?

This being said I know nothing about nothing lol!!!

I had to laugh about the sound proofing comment…………when I started talking about building rooms within rooms and having to rip out my basement my wife put a stop to that fairly quickly!.

Yup... ..what is it with wives............? I hate it when they do things like that.............

_________________
speak slowly I'm a drummer too!!

And I proudly lack a stick or a kazoo up my arse...........

That's a perfectly feasible approach. And I wouldn't say you know nothing about nothing!

It may well be that getting a good drum sound with one mic is challenging, but it's been done before many many times; if done right it can be pretty convincing. And the more "air" you get in the drums, the more "retro" (horrid word, sorry) it will sound. I've done it a couple of times and found that aiming the mic over the drummer's left shoulder (if he's a right-handed player) gives a pretty good result if you tell them to not move about too much and not huff into the mic too loudly!



Ah. Well I strongly recommend to not upset her! If you really must record drums, I would consider moving into a different location for drum tracking...

Cheers

Nutter