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How can I RECORD my songs cheaply, simply and with high quality sound?

Posted by Uncle John on March 5, 2014 at 8:46am in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever

Nation, I want to make a CD of my best 10 -15 songs.   I just want to have that 'record' and would give some away.   I am not tech smart.   I am cheap.   I am looking for a simple system that can give me decent results for under $200.   Tips?

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Replies

  • Jon Grinder March 13, 2014 at 8:09am

    Unk, I recorded our last CD on a 4-track Fostex cassette recorder, then transferred the songs to an 8-track Tascam, for mixing and mastering. Once I had those files, I sent them to a friend who has Pro Tools, and had him bring them up to "radio level", so that the output level would be on par with commercial CDs.

     

    I like the analog sound from the tape recording, or I could have, more easily, gone straight through the Tascam. I have a 4-track Tascam that I would gladly loan you, if direct-to-PC recording doesn't work out for you.

  • Uncle John March 9, 2014 at 10:45pm

    James, I know you use a Tascam and I think you even put it inside the instrument box.   Sounds good when you do it.   How would it be for vocals too?   And can you edit out unwanted noise and maybe do a guitar track and vocal track separately then adjust the volumes up or down?  

  • James March 9, 2014 at 10:02pm

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  • Ray K III March 9, 2014 at 7:02pm

    All great info guys. Reading this I think I will give Audacity a try myself for recordings. The only questions I have is whatever the microphone used. Would I plug the microphone plug into the front plug/port of the computer or should I plug it into the back of the computer to the sound card itself? would either way make a difference/matter? Because I believe or could be wrong that the plug in back is directly to the sound card or is it not? Just curious before I get to far into this.

  • Greg Potts March 9, 2014 at 6:09pm

    Go to your local music store and see if you can rent one of these:

    http://compare.ebay.ca/like/151141485897?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPr...

    The singer in my band owns one of these and records all our practice sessions, then the next day she posts the results for us on dropbox. It's SO handy!

    Then take the files and burn them to CD, Mission accomplished.

  • Bear March 9, 2014 at 1:28pm

    Good luck with your new setup, Unc! If for whatever reason it turns out to be unsatisfactory (I went through this) you could fall back on this simple microphone, which I used to record my tunes:

     

    DollarTreeMic

     

    • Primitive Acoustics > Bear March 9, 2014 at 2:27pm

      Uncle John-

      I have Sound Forge recording software with a mastering effects bundle for polishing and enhancing recordings, (EQ, compression, reverb, limiting).

      I would be happy to help you with your recordings in any way.  You would just need to email me the songs in wav. (best quality) or mp3 format and I can help you shape the sound you want for your CD.

      I am not a pro by any means but have done several recording and post recording projects for friends.

      No obligation, there may be others with more experience willing to help but I'm available if needed.

  • Uncle John March 9, 2014 at 10:04am

    • Uncle John > Uncle John March 9, 2014 at 10:09am

      Folks, thanks for all the advice and help.  I ordered the CAD Audio U37 USB Studio Recording Microphone + Pop Filter + Headphones shown here.    CAUTION SLOW LEARNING CURVE AHEAD.   

       

      Thanks for the help and advice.

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