Apologies that this is the first post for 3 weeks, I've been away, but here's a bit of info on home recording. Recording is every musicians best friend. The ability to record yourself playing and then listen to it back is one that is highly useful but also highly underrated. And to further this the ease and quality of which home recording can be done these days is fantastic. So how do you get started on it?
First things first you're going to need something to plug everything into. In a pro studio this would be the mixer but unless you've got a spare few thousand lying around we'll be talking about using something called an interface. These come in either a USB form or a firewire form. USB is slower than firewire and can cause problems when recording but should do you fine. However if you've got the money go for the firewire. You're looking at something between £180-£250. That'll be more than adequate and you can get them cheaper second hand and it'll be great quality (these things are pretty damn solid). In short terms, and interface is your controller. You plug XLR's and jack to jack's into the inputs (some will have preamps, some may not) and then use the outputs to send to your monitors.
So next you're going to need something to pick up your sound. At this point in time im talking about doing vocals, bass or guitar (or any other instrument that requires a single or two mics - in other words not drums). If you don't have mics already then you're probably best of buying a dynamic mic as oppose to any others simply because they're sturdy and versatile. Shure's SM-57 is a great buy for anyone. When micing up, be experimental with positioning and amp volume levels. You can get a very wide range of sounds in doing these things. Always record something and then listen back to it because it wont sound exactly the same as you listening to your amp (if that makes sense). You'll also need to purchase some XLR's (microphone cables) and probably a mic stand although you can work around this with some stacks of books etc if you're very short of money. You can also skip out the mic issue if you're a guitarist and go straight into the interface but BE CAREFUL with this because it sounds pretty poor in comparison to micing up. I'll be writing a post on microphones sometime soon so if you want more information then keep an eye here.
You'll be glad to hear the next bit requires no money at all so if your bank is broke then things are all good! You're gonna need something to record to, so with your computer (and you can't say you have to buy one because you're reading this) look into downloading FREE recording software. I've tried numerous ones. Audacity is a popular one but quite frankly its useless. Me, JC and Adam here at Jim Studios all use Reaper and its fantastic and the demo doesn't run out. You don't need to go around buying anything like Cubase or Pro Tools and if you have a Mac, garageband will do you brilliantly.
Finally, you need something so you can listen to all your wonderful work. Headphones and monitors are your two options. With headphones these are great to have whilst your playing so you can hear just what the mic is picking up but dreadful to mix on. Always go for noise canceling headphones as well, just so you get the extra clarity. Monitors are very different to stereo speakers, or an ipod dock or your bog standard computer speakers. They will all slightly skew the sound by adding some kind of EQ. Monitors are designed to keep the sound flat so you hear exactly what it sounds like. Position them at ear level if you can and do go around spending loads on them either.
With home recording, the key is to buy quality but not expensive products. You're going to be limited as we're only talking about a little set up in your bedroom. But it is so helpful to have. If you're in a band you can do demo tracks to send to your drummer or vocalist to work on their parts or if you want to hear what you sound like when you play. We use all this gear to record our videos so its worth buying as there's plenty you can use it for.
Thanks for reading as ever. Leave a comment if you want to ask anything, check out the new videos and tell your friends.
Peace, Linus
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