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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on May 19, 2013 at 4:39pm

Kevin,

I do my own recording, and have done, at a fairly basic level, for at least 25 years. I started with a single Shure SM 58 mic, a cheap Rad Shack boom mic stand, and a Tascam 2-channel Portastudio cassette deck. About 15 years ago, I was gifted an old Altec 701 reel-to-reel professional tape recording unit; it was easy to use, but 2" recording tapes were expensive, and I had no mixing board. About 10 years ago, I flirted briefly with the Tascam CD -capable GT-1, which was an updated version of the Portastudio. Coupla years after that, I got a Boss Digital Microstudio, about the size and shape of an old Sony Walkman. Didn't use it much, but it did record to a removable SD card, and you could plug the SM 58 direct to it using an XLR-to-1/4" crossover cable. I was able to take my rough mixes and run them through NG Wave, and later, Audacity (which I still use), for basic sound editing. I also used my Dell laptop to record direct, like a primitive DAW. About 3-4 years ago, I got an iPad 1 with GarageBand loaded on it. I also picked up another Shure SM 58 and a couple of SM 57s for both instruments and voice. these got used at numerous open mics and live shows as well as at home. For a brief time I recorded into the iPad using its internal mic, but that was unsatisfying, since I had to position the iPad just right to get decent input levels. GarageBand offers some pretty sophisticated-yet-easy-to-use editing tools, as well as Smart Instruments, and the ability to layer tracks. I also picked up an iRig mic, which works well for both vocals and instruments, and has the advantage of plugging directly into the iPad's headphone jack, while having an additional headphone jack for monitoring while recording. i also got the iRig guitar dongle, which allows for direct input into the iPad, through a 1/8"-to-1/4" jack crossover, of a guitar signal; it's like plugging straight into a mixing board. With the last GB update last year, which was unsupported on the iPad 1, I purchased AmpliTube for $14.99, which gave me the ability to record and bounce tracks on an 8-channel reel-to-reel interface (just like working with the old Tascam!). I recorded about half the songs on my new album with that, and the other half on my new iPad 3, which supports the updated GarageBand. I also have a Tascam unit that p,Gus into the iPad phone jack, which allows for direct plug in of my Shure mics and supplies phantom power, but never could get it to work properly, so I use the combination of iRig mic and the iRig guitar dongle for recording, even though I have a12-channel Mackie mixing board that I also rarely use. I find the simplicity and portability of the iPad, iRig products, and GarageBand allow me to record pretty much anything I want. I'm still learning how to be a digital drummer, as I tend to lay down guitar tracks first. I don't want to invest the time or money in something more powerful, like Pro Tools, CakeWalk, or Sibelius for post-production editing on the PC / Mac. My setup works for me, and my production gets better as I gradually learn how to use GB for recording/ editing and the iRig mic for sound placement. Check out some of my vids and songs, which were all recorded this way, as well as through the internal mic on my Samsung video cam. It works for me.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin M. Kraft on June 20, 2013 at 2:41am

Couldn't remember if I thanked you for your input. So...Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on May 20, 2013 at 8:57pm

all what Oily said....just to summarise my recording set up...

Shure SM58 mike, only one needed, i usually record one track at a time, mike guitar from amp speaker 6-10 inches, with vocals use a pop screen.

Mackie  4-channel mixing desk (not absolutely essential  unless using 2 or 3 mikes, or V-Drums in stereo)

Boss SE-70 effects box...better than the new ones! Chorus, delay, reverb - all here!

M-Audio USB interface

Laptop computer 2.6 GHz but 1.8 will do with a litttle extra RAM (1Gb)

Sennheiser Headphones - the best you can afford for accurate monitoring.

Audacity sequencing software (download), versatile and accurate, converts completed songs to WAV

Magix Audio Cleaning Lab for final mastering, removing hiss and setting volume level, converting  completed songs to to WAV or MP3.

Most important thing to watch is recording levels - do some test runs and keep the levels low to avoid distortion, all can be lifted in the final mixing stage!

(-:

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Permalink Reply by Kevin M. Kraft on June 20, 2013 at 2:41am

Cool! Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Craig Mayhem on May 21, 2013 at 2:07am

You can get very serviceable recordings with just a few pieces of equipment / software. 

Blue Microphones makes a USB microphone interface called the Blue Icicle. It's about $30. With it you can use any microphone to record direct into your computer. It even has phantom power. 

Audacity is a free piece of software you can use to record whatever source you plug into your computer. Works on any OS. 

There's any number of USB guitar / instrument interfaces out there. I haven't used the Behringer UCG102 Guitar Link, but it's $30 and I like Behringer gear. (I use an old Creative Labs soundcard that has spdif inputs so I can use my rack-mount PodPro - but I have to use Windows XP.)

I like using Sony ACID for multi-track mixing. The bonus is that it was made for loop-based music creation. This means you can easily use drum loops and even loop your rhythm guitar riffs and bass riffs. The 'home' version - with everything you'll probably ever need - is about $40.

That's about $100.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin M. Kraft on May 21, 2013 at 3:02am

Thanks  a lot, Craig!

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Permalink Reply by Craig Mayhem on May 21, 2013 at 4:03am

No problem. I try to keep it as simple as possible with few pieces of equipment/software needed. Not only am I cheap but I think it helps creativity when technology isn't getting in your way.

I also teach audio production for animation at university so the less that's involved the easier it is to teach.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin M. Kraft on June 20, 2013 at 2:43am

Craig, what kind of mike do you use for recordings? Is it  Blue mike?

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Permalink Reply by Craig Mayhem on June 20, 2013 at 2:52am

Blue makes good USB mics. A Blue Snowball is ok and it's about $50. The YetiPro is more expensive but it sounds better. I use a Rode NT1 mic. It is an XLR but I use a Blue Icicle USB interface. With it you can use any XLR mic - it even has phantom power.

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Permalink Reply by Hilo Greg on May 22, 2013 at 6:17am

Greetings Kevin, I am fairly new to the CBG world but coming from the ukulele world and releasing 2 albums I'm living proof that anyone can record a DIY album for around $500. I use a Mac, which comes with Garage Band, but as Ron said you can also use Audacity and get good results for free.

My equipment is: AKG Percepion condenser mic ($150) and Focusrite Saffire 6 USB input ($150, to connect mic to computer), plus a cable, boom stand and microphone pop screen. My not-so-secret weapon is a program called Band in a Box ($200), that generates drum tracks, bass tracks, and any other backing instrument you need. Simply import those individual backing tracks into Garage Band/Audacity, and then record your vocal and CBG tracks. Add some reverb and compression and export a finished MP3. 

It takes some practice, but if you can devote a weekend or two to tinkering you should have the knowledge to produce your own material. From there, you can use Discmakers to press CDs ($2-$3 per CD) or simply upload the tracks to Soundcloud/Bandcamp etc. and sell them or give them away.

Good luck and be sure to post some samples!

Greg

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Permalink Reply by Kevin M. Kraft on June 3, 2013 at 10:28am

I appreciate the advice, Greg. Thank you!

 

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Permalink Reply by Hilo Greg on June 4, 2013 at 5:59am

Hi Kevin, to answer your question on my profile page you can find samples and 2 free downloads here: 

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/hilogreg2

Best of luck!

Greg

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