Hi all,
I would like to purchase a home recording set-up where I could record tunes I play on my whistles and add tracks from a keyboard
that sound like fiddles, pipes, bodrams, hammered dulcimers, etc., and burn it all onto a C.D.
Can anyone recommend a good computer program, keyboard, microphone, tracking-machine, etc., set-up? I don’t have a clue as to which set-up would be best for an old lady who hasn’t attempted such an involved project before.
Thanks, Lolly
A good sound card like one of the SB Live! or Audigy is a must.
Both cards have an auxilary input module that mounts in an external drive slot in your PC… so you can connect all your input devices from the front of your PC instead of wrestling with rear connections.
I have a Roland PC-200 MIDI keyboard controller which serves my needs just fine, but there are nicer models with weighted keys and such available if you want a real piano feel.
A very nice and affordable mic can be purchased from Radio Shack.
Everything else can be accomplished via software, and there’s tons of that available for anything you could ever imagine… and some things you could have never imagined too. 
Harmony Central is a great resource for information on recording software and equipment.
You should be able to find everything you need to know to get started there.
Good luck, and I hope you find this helpful.
I use a program called Cakewalk Sonar, which is pretty much state of the art, however you don’t need to spend that much. It’s a multitracking recording studio on your computer. I have an unused copy of an earlier version of Cakewalk available very cheap, email me if you’re interested. I agree about the mic in the previous post, but I believe there are some really good mic’s available from Musician’s Friend. I use an expensive one, an Audio Technica 3035, and it’s almost too accurate. It “hears” every breath I take when recording whistle. When buying software, make sure your computer is at least as good as the software requires. I’ve done this type of recording for about four years, so if you have any detailed questions, feel free to email me. Hope this helps.
Buy a good quality condenser mic. A large 1" diaphram is best. You’ll need to buy a preamp to power the mic. Right now I’m using a Rode NT2 ($400.00) and a Presonus Stereo Blue Tube preamp ($130.00ish) I can highly recomend the mic but the preamp I wouldn’t buy again. I would spend a bit more for a better one.
These two tools go a long long way in quality recording. There are cheaper large diaphram condensers out there and they are worth checking out. A mars music store by my home has a display section with a bunch of Mics that you can sample. Might be worth looking into.
I would also look into buying a digital 4 or 8 track. Almost all of them have there own effects and some have ports to down load on to your computer. Check them out!! The big advantage here is portability. If you have a friend or a session you play with, you can very easily carry it with you as well as your live shows if you do that.
3 items (I didn’t mention the mic stand)and you can have a very cool versatile portable studio. I wouldn’t recomend casstette 4 tracks. Thats all I have and I spent a bunch of money on outboard gear to get it to sound good. But then again they will come in use when I get my reel to reel studio going.
Hope this helps
Jack “get me out of this dark room!” Orion
Hi! Congratulations on trying something new. I’ve been doing some recording using a Tascam portastudio. It’s a four track analog system, with possibilities for getting up to seven tracks if you compress.
Based on my experience, I can give you the following advice:
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Go digital. My system is analog as I said, and when I finally am finished with everything, I’ll have to transfer everything to a digital system before burning a CD. It would have been a whole lot easier, and not much more expensive, to just get a digital recorder to begin with. Digital systems also allow you to do a great deal more with the sound. I’m going to definitely get a digital before beginning my next project.
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Check out http://www.musiciansfriend.com. They have some great deals on digital equipment, mics, software, stands, etc. You should be able to find a plenty good mic for around $200 if this is a “hobby” project. If this is professional work, you could easily spend ten times that much for state of the art mics, but you don’t necessarily have to. I’d say figure on $400-500 for a low-end professional quality studio mic.
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Perhaps the most important thing: If you’re recording at home, it MUST!!! be absolutely silent. I tried recording my songs/tunes at my apartment, only to have dozens of otherwise perfect tracks nuked by a door slamming, people arguing downstairs, or worst of all, the neighbor’s barking dog. In disgust I finally packed up my whole studio and moved it over to my classroom, where I can record in the evenings after the kids go home and the ventilation system is shut off.
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If at all possible, use real instruments instead of keyboard. This is a personal preference, of course, but the real thing just sounds different: warmer, more alive, not so mechanically precise. Even in a town this size, it isn’t all THAT hard to find good musicians who will play with you just for the joy of hearing themselves on a CD.
Or you can take the approach I’m taking and learn to play everything yourself. Plan on a multi-year project if you go this way; it certainly isn’t for everyone.
Good luck–I’ve had a blast recording my music and you will too! It’s amazing how good you can sound when you have enough tracks to work with…
Tom
Lolly… did your friends ever gather 'round a cassette with built-in mic and make tape recordings of songs? Sounded pretty good back then, didn’t it ??
Where do you want to go with this project and what is your practical budget? You can see from some of the posts you can spend $400 on just a microphone.
On the other hand, you can find a small MIDI keyboard, microphone, digital software, CD burner, 4 track tape recorder and related cords and accessories that will actually work for around $400-500.
Another on-line resource you might want to check out is this:
This site certainly helped me find what I was looking for. If you are on a buget I would look into N-track studio software, which I downloaded off the net for under $100. It is an all purpose multi-track recorder that is basic yet surprisingly good for the price. With nothing more than that and a cheap old Shure 57 mic I was able to start recording on my home computer with good results.
As far as adding artificial sounds, with N-tracks you can sequence synthesized sounds like drums, strings, or any number of other instruments without a keyboard. It is often hard to get feeling with this method however, as it plays the sequence with mathematical sterile perfection every time. A keyboard would help by allowing you to play the parts expressivly, but I have not tried this addition yet.
As others have suggested a pre-amp for the mic would be a good idea although you can also use a cheap mixer or something like that to get the mic up to line levels. Sorry I am going on like a newborn chick(cheap, cheap, cheap) but I think the more money spent on recording is less money available for instruments. Come to think of it the more time spent fiddling with recording equipment, is less time actually playing. When I am recording I spend three times as much time setting up and adjusting than playing. Still, there is something cool about having your music come out of a boom box or stereo. Whatever time or money spent is probably worth it.
I hope this helps.
Matt
Thanks everyone for all your help. Now I have some words to use when looking up equip.
on the Internet and at Music stores.
I will keep you posted if I decide to actually do this.
Lolly