Built a New Studio... Now What?

[jlwoodall]

So i just finished closing in half of my garage to make a jam room/recording studio. I am still working on the acoustics of the room, but now I need to now where to get started with recording equiptment. I have a very small budget so I need to know how I can get started. I currently have a Zoom H4 but would like to move to a computer based recording. I know I will need some kind of interface, but not sure what type. Also need some info on a good affordable mic. Will I need a mixer? midi keyboard? I'm basically looking for an inexspensive setup that can be upgraded later.

I know these things can be very expensive, but I am looking for a dbasic start.

Here is my new studio

[Fran Guidry]

I (having spent a ridiculous amount of money on gear over the last 10 years) would stay with the H4 for now. It will function as an audio interface. Get the latest firmware and ASIO drivers from Zoom and you should be solid. Check the Zoom forum http://zoomforum.us/viewforum.php?f=15 for help.

Spend $40 on REAPER for your Digital Audio Workstation. Download and read the manual. Get into the habit of reading the REAPER forum regularly. Especially wade through this thread http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=29283 and this one http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=32580

What kind of recording do you plan to do? Solo acoustic guitar, acoustic guitar and vocal, solo multi-tracking build-it-in-the-box electric, band tracking?

If you want to do MIDI for backing tracks and such, the keyboard is a reasonable place to spend money, and you might find a MIDI interface useful as well.

If you want to track a band all playing at once you'll need a significant budget. Otherwise you don't need a mixer. Wait to buy your interface and your additional mic(s) until you'd done a lot of recording and gotten real frustrated with what you have now <grin>.

Dig into http://www.gearslutz.com/board/studi...ing-acoustics/ and http://www.gearslutz.com/board/bass-...nels-foam-etc/ and start soaking up room treatment ideas. Treating the room is useful both for your capture _and_ for your playback. You will evaluate your recordings based on what you hear, so you need to hear clearly and accurately.

So you need monitors. You need monitors and room treatment more than you need a new interface or a second mic, because only after you can hear stuff can you evaluate stuff, recognize quality, and choose a direction for improvement.

Read and research but be very very skeptical at all times. It's not hard or terribly expensive to get excellent audio recording, the hard part is getting an excellent sound to appear at the microphone before recording and at the listening location after recording. Most recording discussions concentrate on the easy part, the gear, and ignore the hard part.

Oh, yeah, and learn about proper level setting. This might just be the hardest part of learning to record, because it's so natural to listen to your recordings by comparing them to commercial CDs. The trouble is, you should not record tracks nearly as high in level as a typical CD. Your tracks should be recorded with average (RMS) levels around -18 dBFS with peaks not to exceed -6 dBFS. If someone tells you to "use all the bits" or "get as close to 0 dBFS as possible" take this as an indication that they don't know what they're talking about.

Fran

[jlwoodall]

Wow! Thanks for the info. That was really great!

[KevWind]

What Fran said + 1 on room treatment, to start buy or build base traps for the corners and wall /ceiling and wall floor/ seams .

[PorkPieGuy]

Originally Posted by jlwoodall

I have a very small budget so I need to know how I can get started. I currently have a Zoom H4 but would like to move to a computer based recording. I know I will need some kind of interface, but not sure what type. Also need some info on a good affordable mic. Will I need a mixer? midi keyboard? I'm basically looking for an inexspensive setup that can be upgraded later.

I used my wife's 4-year old Dell laptop and Magix Audio Studio Deluxe 2005 (this program cost $25 brand new...in 2005). I ran an M-Audio studio USB digital interface (I got used on craigs list for about $75). I ran in 2 XLRs from a Mackie 1204 (got this for about $150, Craigslist again) using 2 Behringer C2's small condenser mics that I got for about $45 (new...for both mics, carrying case, "stereo bar," windscreens, and mic clips). When I was mixing down, I just used a set of AKG K240 headphones I got on clearance at Guitar Center at an excellent price (they were new, but they were one of those deal-buster sort of things to get folks in the door).

Here are the results. Listen with headphones or decent speakers for the full effect: http://martinmooremusic.com/Music.aspx

Before I record again, I'm going to get a new computer. As much as I would love to have a Mac laptop, I can get a Dell with the same specs for about 1/8 the price. Last time I did research, Sam's had a Dell for $399 that would have suited me just fine. I'll probably go ahead and download Reaper ($40) for my recording software. This should more than cover it. It’s amazing that I can buy this all for about $450, which is what a couple of days in the studio would cost.

In order to answer your specific questions, I think a lot of the answers depend on what kind of music you will be doing. I know for me, I do acoustic-only instruments (no big production stuff, and I only record one instrument at a time with a click track), so my needs are minimal. I only use two microphones and record each instrument stereo. When I did full-band stuff and I was playing drums, most studios had to have at least 12-16 tracks of live recording capabilities. If you are recording drums, or if you are recording multiple instruments at the same time, you’ll need a bigger interface to get stuff piped through to your computer. If you are only recording an instrument or two at a time, your needs won’t be as great.

I use my mixer for pre-production to either boost certain frequencies or get out certain frequencies, hums, etc. The more work you put into pre-production, the less work you have to do in post-production…which can be fun if you’ve recorded well but can be a pain if you messed up a little something and said something like, “Oh, I’ll just remove/add this in post-production.” I usually run everything flat though. I love the sound of my instruments so much (and I’ve spent a lot of money on my instruments) that I rarely have to do any pre OR post eq’ing. Most of the time, everything is run flat, but my mixer is there just in case.

As far as mics go, I have a matched set of those Behringer C2’s. I think I got them for about $45 (for both!) after researching online. I only buy mics new because a used mic can be sort of blown from being exposed to extremely loud levels or may have been dropped but still work, and you’ll fight with that mic to get a good sound out of it. Think of a half-blown speaker. Yes, it may sound good at lower levels, but if you crank it at all, you’ll hear all sorts of cracks and farts. The only way I’d buy a mic used is if I knew the person who I bought it from and was very familiar with its use. Once again, I don’t know what kind of music you’ll be doing. If it’s mainly acoustic music, I’d get either large or small diaphragm condenser mics. If you are mic’ing loud amps, drums, etc., you’ll need at least on dynamic…like a Shure sm57.

I hope all of this helps!

[jlwoodall]

Thanks for all the great info guys.

So here is where I am at now. I downloaded Reaper and have been playing around with it. I have no idea how to use all the effects like compression and reverb, but to get a track recorded seems easy enough.

The music I usually record is vocals with acoustic guitar and a drum backing track. I am using the mics on my Zoom H4 and getting great results with acoustic guitar but very bad results with the vocals. It never seems to sound nearly as good when I sing through my Sure sm58 and my PA. I did try to record with my Sure and had bad luck. It seems to go in and out.

My current laptop seems to do a really good job of running the software so that is good. I do get a good bit of latency problems when trying to monitor my self and while listening to the track. So what I do is justsing with the headphones on one ear and monitor myself acoustically with the other ear. Then I align the tracks once they are recorded. If there is a way to adjsut latecny issues within Reaper I would love to know about it.

I think at this point I need a better mic and I am currnetly working on some acoustic panels built with mineral wool insulation to take care of the room.

I'll kee p you updated.

[jlwoodall]

Here are the first couple songs recorded with my Zoom H4 as an interface and mic. I recorded with the Reaper DAW. I had a lot of fun doing this!

Thanks for all your input.

www.soundclick.com/jonwoodall

[Bob Womack]

Great! You've got a room to work in now. My advice would be to start considering how you are going to decorate it to make it feel like "home" and encourage you to create. Think of good chairs, guitar stands, and handy surfaces to place stuff like picks and slides on as you are working with the computer. Make the space your own! And enjoy it!

Bob

[alexevans917]

You can get very, very good results using cheap equipment, as mentioned above. I haven't used Reaper (I'm on a Mac with Logic), but I would recommend buying used (even mics, half of my mics were bought used and work absolutely fine). Something like an Audio Technica AT3035 (150 used) or CAD M179 (150 new) would be great. I've done quite a few recordings with just vocals and acoustic guitar with only the AT3035, and with minimal mixing (light compression, EQ, and Reverb) they sound fine. I would hold of on Monitors for the moment, since you don't really have a lot to be mixing right now. When you do get to the point where you feel like you need better mixes, KRK make some great affordable monitors, as do M Audio and Yamaha. If you can step up to the cheapest Adams Monitors, they're brilliant as well. Your SM58 is a great mic for live vocals, and will be great if you want to record any electric guitar or percussion in future. You could even record drums with one of the aforementioned condensers as a mono overhead and the SM58 on kick and get a very useable sound. I don't know much about the Zoom H4, but if it has 2 decent mic pres and will track over USB without much latency, then keep it until you have the money for a significant upgrade (Apogee Duet, Presonus Firestudio Mobile). If not, pick up one of the cheap, 2 mic pre M Audio USB interfaces used for less than $100. Above all, learn the equipment you have and learn to get a good sound out of it. If it has one good review, then someone made it work. Never automatically assume something doesn't work. For a very long time, I was recording through the line input on my computer with a $20 vocal mic. You are starting with exponentially better equipment than that. Make it work. Also, research everything. It'll pay off.