Best "starter" kit for digital recording...

[Jeff]

I just came back from recording a radio public service announcement with Norm Nixon (former LA Laker) on my Xoon X2. Once you zero in recording levels there is nothing that this device in combination with Audacity can't do. I originally bought it to record my playing, but as a business tool it has already paid for itself several times over.

Ditto on the value of the "Zoom H2". Took a while to learn the functions. I've been using it to record my weekly lessons, later playback multiplies value of the lesson several times over.

A set of headphones to go along with the Zoom is a worthwhile investment.

 

[Carol]

GardMan --

Here's just a suggestion -- What if you just go ahead and play AND sing the song through and record it as a single track. Don't worry about it being perfect -- just sing it and play it as a base track.

NOW get ready for the real thing. Listen to that base track on a set of head phones while you record the real guitar tracks. Then sing along with it when you lay down the real vocals. When you're all done, delete (or just mute) that first track. It will act as a guide for you.

I have to do this for one of the guys in our church group. He gets very nervous when we record and absolutely can't keep a rhythm or sing a note when he's trying to record. So I go ahead and play the thing and sing it on a single track. He listens to that on headphones and sings with me -- he has an awesome voice and does just fine when singing along with me (luckily we're both tenors).

Just a suggestion...

 

[GardMan]

Carol,
Thx for the suggestion. Might give that a try... don't know if I'll get the house to myself this weekend, tho'.
Dave

 

[Carol]

Even if you can't get peace and quiet -- give it a try -- knowing that it's just a practice. You can see if it helps -- and you'll be ready for the real thing when you do get the chance to record it for real.

Like I said -- record the thing live -- your voice and your guitar doing the song the way you want it... then accompany yourself and see if it's easier.

May the force be with you!

 

[pdks]

It sounds like you're more disciplined than I. Having been involved in some projects over the years where 'serious people' had serious recording equipment at play, I always felt that I needed to 'do it (personal studio recording) right' from the beginning ...you know, professional quality gear, from mic to post-processing. That lead to analysis paralysis. And piecemeal recording GAS.

I finally actually DID something when I purchased an H4. It is so incredibly easy to get started, and in a semi-sophisticated manner, that you do get started. It is both versatile and simple. And the Cubase LE app that is bundled with it, while not quite as turn-key, is easy and useful with minimal effort.

 

[Graham]

I finally actually DID something when I purchased an H4. It is so incredibly easy to get started, and in a semi-sophisticated manner, that you do get started. It is both versatile and simple. And the Cubase LE app that is bundled with it, while not quite as turn-key, is easy and useful with minimal effort.

That's one thing that I have not got my head around yet, Cubase. :roll:

 

[West R Lee]

What was that recording gizmo you used in Arlington Graham? Is there some sort of software that comes with them to enable you to upload/download your recordings?

West

 

[Graham]

What was that recording gizmo you used in Arlington Graham? Is there some sort of software that comes with them to enable you to upload/download your recordings?

West

It's the H4 West. Comes with Cubase LE. The H4 is fun, just did something with Jeff and his H2, I'm posting it up tonight. :mrgreen:

As for uploading them, PB supports wmv files so that's why I post them the way I have.

 

[pdks]

I finally actually DID something when I purchased an H4. It is so incredibly easy to get started, and in a semi-sophisticated manner, that you do get started. It is both versatile and simple. And the Cubase LE app that is bundled with it, while not quite as turn-key, is easy and useful with minimal effort.

That's one thing that I have not got my head around yet, Cubase. :roll:

Ah, but the key is that you are actually doing it when it comes to recording your craft ...just like the old Nike commercials!


.

 

[Jeff]

Thread bump reminds me to post some observations on the H2.

I've been using it daily to record my practice & lessons. Great little recorder, fits in a shirt pocket or guitar case. Size & features are great, it's more versatile than one would suspect, does quite a bit.

Not real sure just how "True the Fidelity" is, not that bad, I suspect, but, from time to time I'm hearing a bit of a difference between what I heard live & what ends up on on the tape. Seems to do a better job on the acoustics, Captures the "essence" often seems to color the sound from the guitar.

Had some trouble here in my "Studio" getting anything close to what I was hearing from the Starfire & the Silvertone. Ended up with the best results (so far) with the recorder sitting on the floor about 12 - 15 inches from the speaker. So I said screw that & picked the little amp up & put it on the desk beside me.

I have no digital music software and am unable to edit files from the computer. The H2 editing functions are & little clunky & limited. You can play the H2 back from the computer; switch files, rewind fast forward but you can't initiate recording, edit or run the H2's menu from the computer. Leastwise I can't figure how to do it, Clunky; , plugging & unpluging, switching back & forth.

H2 isn't a music production system, it's what it says on the box, A "Handy Recorder". Got it for Christmas, it's nice tool, better than expected, I'm tickled to have it.

 

[GardMan]

That's one thing that I have not got my head around yet, Cubase. :roll:

Hey Graham... My Presonus recording interface came with Cubase LE, and I was really intimidated at first. Went so far as printing out the Cubase tutorials, and started going thru them the first week. Haven't looked at the print out since. After playing for just a couple evenings, the basic operations of mixing (adjusting vol for each track), equalizing (easing off the bass and boosting trebles just a bit), automating fades (boosting the master volume during an instrumental bridge), and performing an "audio mix down" to an MP3 or WAV file in Cubase are reasonably intuitive.

Your situation may be just a little more complicated, since you would need to import audio files recorded on your H2/H4 into your computer and thence into Cubase project. The most challenging part may be importing files from your H2/H4 into the computer. Once your audio files (WAVs) are on your computer's hard drive... just create a new "empty" Cubase project, tell Cubase where you want it saved, then use the "Import audio files" menu option to browse to and select the files you want in that project. Each file you import into the project will become a track, that can be manipulated (track volume/frequency equalizing/etc) in Cubase.

Maybe we can all share recording/mixing tricks we've learned when we get together at Arlington in October? Someone bring a laptop with Cubase LE, and we can have a Cubase tutorial?

 

[Graham]

Maybe we can all share recording/mixing tricks we've learned when we get together at Arlington in October? Someone bring a laptop with Cubase LE, and we can have a Cubase tutorial?

Excellent idea Dave.

I do need to fiddle around with Cubase some more. It sure looks like it can do more that I've been able to do with Audacity.

I would also like to be able to float some files around and add them to a mix. You knoe, everyone add something as their own track and put something together that way. (Not everyone everyone, we'd have 100+ tracks. You guys know what I mean, stop busting my b@lls already) :shock: Sorry, was that out loud?

Don't "the pros" do it now via the interweb and digital files?

Could just be good ol' plain fun in the 21st century. :mrgreen: