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Home recording

DarrenW

DarrenW

Oxygen User
Ok I have a mac and garage band but what else do I need to record a few songs I have written over the years?

I have a pair of wharf dale diamonds and a Safire box(can't recall the model but bought for circa 100 a couple of years ago last time I tried this -the mike I got didn't work so gave up far too quickly and not had the time since

Fancy a go over Christmas so please let me know what you guys have and what works

Not looking for professional results and the simpler the better to operate

Cheers
Darren
 
You'll likely need a audio or audio / MIDI interface dependent upon what you want to do. I use a little Focusrite 2i2 which is a nice affordable 2 in 2 out interface (I didn't need MIDI as I had that elsewhere in my setup, though if you need it try the 2i4). I use Logic Pro X rather than GarageBand, but really it's just more of the same (but necessary if you want to sequence external synths etc). I suspect GarageBand and a good audio interface will do what you want to do, and I can certainly recommend the Focusrite stuff. The inputs sound very good to me, in fact I'm surprised by just how good my bass & guitar sound just plugged straight in with no processing - I've taken to recording the bass dry of late and not even using the Logic amp sims as it sounds fine!
 
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Ha....welcome to an even more expensive world than hifi. I'd start with a digital mic like the AKG Perception 120 USB before going down the interface route. And a USB midi keyboard if keyboards are required. I got a great deal on a Korg one that offers vintage plugin synths as a bundle for about 120 quid. It will also work the keyboard samples you have in Garageband, like piano and strings etc.

I have an artist on my label called Rusty Bear who does his vocals on a Perception 120 USB at home. He is on spotify so you can have a listen there.

For interfaces, starter boxes like the Scarlett that Tony recommends is quite good. As is the MOTU range. I went MOTU in the end because they are Mac people. Also had a couple of problems with the high end Focusrite stuff in the past. I am pretty much on my own with that issue though. Focusrite is well regarded. And British-based so you can ring their engineers up and get stuff sorted. MOTU is dreadful for support.
 
Rock bottom prices is nothing more than plugging a guitar into the mic port of your mac.
 
Best to get a Line 6 POD Studio UX2 and a decent mic. You can plug everything through here and use it as a hub for in and out, monitoring etc. It comes with recording software too, not that you'll need it especially with Garageband, but you will get virtual amps and effects to play around with.
It's really great and if you have some time over Christmas to get to know it, you'll be off and away.
 
garyi said:
Rock bottom prices is nothing more than plugging a guitar into the mic port of your mac.
Click to expand...

Do any Macs have these now?

Something like this could be an option? The interface is nice, the Mic adequate (my favourite cheapo mic is this) and the windshield/'vocal booth' will help you get good recordings of vocals.

You'll need some headphones too.

Stephen.
 
Rasher said:
Best to get a Line 6 POD Studio UX2 and a decent mic. You can plug everything through here and use it as a hub for in and out, monitoring etc. It comes with recording software too, not that you'll need it especially with Garageband, but you will get virtual amps and effects to play around with.
It's really great and if you have some time over Christmas to get to know it, you'll be off and away.
Click to expand...

Mixed opinions elsewhere on this.....do you have noticeable preamp noise on quiet songs?
 
I don't see the point of a hardware amp-sim like the Line 6 if you are using GarageBand or Logic as the ones built into the software are probably better and certainly more versatile. I've been really impressed by the sims & guitar FX in Logic, the quality is great and the beauty is that you can add / remove / alter them after the fact as they are effectively real-time FX processes, i.e. you don't need to re-record a guitar track if you want to alter the sound. GarageBand has much the same functionality, just a little less of it.
 
DarrenW said:
I have a sapphire 6 from focus rite but no mike as yet - any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Endless arguments about this. But I think the ADK Thor is the best budget Swiss Army Knife mic there is. Yet it is not that budget at £280.

A cheap safe cheap option is an SM57 / 8 along with a large diaphragm condensor in cardioid pattern. There are hundreds to choose from at under 150 quid.

If you only want one mic, that is a dilemma - dynamic like the SM58 or condensor. The SM 57/8 do not pick up stuff more than a few inches from the diaprhagm that well and so are good at not picking up cars driving past, the fridge buzzing or the neighbours arguing etc etc
 
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