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Permalink Reply by Mark Bliss on February 15, 2012 at 12:25am

Instead of starting a group, I think that would make a good discussion thread at http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/cbnationrecordingcollective

It fits right in with what we are trying to do there.

Mark

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Permalink Reply by PinetreeJoe on February 15, 2012 at 3:35pm

  Ok, Mark good idea, I'll take a walk over there. Are you going to start a thread? I am wary of recording on my new laptop so need some help.(I almost lost a good PC that restarted while updating and tried to boot from an MP3 player that was on charge in the usb port).

   Any help you can give is welcome, I can't  spend a lot right now but can afford the basics.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Bliss on February 15, 2012 at 4:23pm

Hey Joe!

My primary goal there has been to

1: get people to try recording, collaborating and learning together, and

2: sharing their knowledge of what works, tips, creative ideas. Its wide open!

I personally would love it if people would not only post their recorded efforts, but to share how they did it and what equipment they used. Since there is an especially strong interest in low buck/lo-fi jug band/home made music here, it would just make sense!

As long as the topic is general recording tips and techniques, equipment tips and recommendations would also fit right in as responses to the recording tutorial discussion I started building last week. If you want to start an individual thread on something more specific, thats fine, but maybe we should be mindful that every new discussion bumps one down, so if the topic is being discussed or presented in another thread, maybe keeping it there would be best? JMO, and just a thought. Hey ya'll, come check it out!

Mark

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Permalink Reply by PinetreeJoe on February 15, 2012 at 5:53pm

         Mark, Thanks much.  I will read the other threads and learn what I can from them, Then ask questions  The only recording I have ever done was with a tape recorder . We used to record then play it back on another recorder and record another track with it.--- Sllllllooowww process.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Bliss on February 21, 2012 at 6:12pm

Alright guys, I added some stuff on mics to the recording tutorial section in the recording group. I am not done, but its a start. I want to add a couple of pics, maybe screen shots too.

Heres the portion that I feel is relevent to Johns original post:

 

Some time ago I picked up a Samson Go-Mic for about $40, which uses a USB connection to go directly into the computer. Most serious studio engineers will scoff at a USB mic, but again, it serves its purpose for portability and compactness. In its case it is small enough to hide in one hand! I threw it in my laptop bag and use it occasionally to capture some sound samples and such. Last year I used it to record my dad strumming his acoustic and singing some old country songs, sounds great!

I found it to have virtually plug and play simplicity and very good sound. I quickly learned to get it away from my laptop so I didnt record its humming. In fact it needs to be isolated from it by not setting it on the same table too! I used it to record something a few nights ago as an unrelated experiment, and noticed I could hear the refrigerator hum two rooms away, the quiet crackle of fire in my wood stove, with my headphones on I can hear traffic sounds well out front of my house! Its a pretty hot little mic!

It was during this little experiment the other night that I learned something else. I knew it has a headphone output, and had read that it could be used for low latency monitoring. I had assumed this meant it monitored input directly, I never previously considered it might allow monitoring the mix as I played along.....

Thats right. Low latency monitoring, no interface! Heres what I found. With the mic plugged in I went into my DAW preferences, and had the option of using my sound card speakers or the Samson USB mic as my output. When I went and armed a track for recording, I had the available option of the soundcard mic input, or the Samson mic as a source. Heres where it got weird. Usually when using an interface you select "monitor incoming signal." but when I selected that I got severe latency, as it apparently tryed to process the incoming signal from the mic through the DAW and then send it back to the mic's headphone output. But unchecking the "monitor incoming signal" selection eliminated the latency! The only drawback, is that you must monitor a "dry" mic signal, with none of the DAW's effects or processing, which is a manageable solution, though when playing guitar for example, playing with some effects can change the way you play somewhat. But if you are recording your amp, this might be a good solution!

I have since then seen a few other USB mics with headphone monitoring capabilitys. I saw an MXL outfit at Target' of all places last weekend that had a mic, headphones, cables  and I believe it had a basic recording software too, (A "light" Cakewalk product maybe? I dont recall.) all for only about $70! (MXL is a division of Marshall by the way)

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