recording onto CD

[bluesfloyd]

hi guys,
please can you help, I have a CD writer that will take a external mic, I wish to record myself playing my guitar through my amp, with a CD backing track playing through my hi fi, I do not own a mic yet, so first question, what mic do I buy for the best results ????? where do I place the mic in the record room ????? is the CD writer ok to record external sounds ?????
my wish is to get my self recorded onto CD, I know how to rip a CD on to my pc ,then post it onto the internet, so you guys can give me some honest feed back good or bad, I hope to hear from you kind folk soon,

all the best, bluesfloyd,

 

[ginormous]

Re: recording onto CD

What kind of PC do you have? What version of Windows?

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: recording onto CD

You will be better off with a cheap interface, audacity (free), and an SM57 which pretty much any computer can handle nowadays. Then dump down to CD if you really want, will almost guaranteed be better than recording direct to a CD writer. Do yourself a favour and look up the basics on your preffered search engine

 

[ginormous]

Re: recording onto CD

I concur. Recording everything live to CD recorder is a tricky business. Technically, if you overload the inputs, it'll sound like burnt toast.

A decent USB mic will record direct to PC, but won't cost too much even for UK prices. There are even separate interfaces that do the same thing with a Shure SM57.

You can drag and drop the mp3 file to Audacity (click here for more info from Wikipedia), and set up to record a separate track of your guitar playing along.

Then, when you're satisfied with what you get, you can save the entire performance (both the backing track and the guitar play-along) to MP3.
From there, you can do anything you like: burn a CD using Windows Media Player, upload to YouTube, etc.

 

[bluesfloyd]

Re: recording onto CD

hi guys,
big thanks to you guys above for your help, my pc uses windows 7, you mention this interface thing????? I have got a line6 hd500, I am sure thats got a interface in there, could I use that ????

all the best, bluesfloyd

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: recording onto CD

Yes it can be used as an audio interface. You can record your guitar tracks as well as a microphone and USB port that directly connects your signals to your computer.
It also has unbalanced and balanced stereo outputs that you can connect with an ample of consumer and professional speakers, mixing consoles and all kinds of audio recording gear. It is pretty much capable of creating killer demos. There is no need of buying some other interface until you 'outgrow' it (you need better clarity, more inputs etc). Take a look:

http://line6.com/supportarchivenew/thread/87587

For a software DAW I recommend Reaper over Audacity. Audacity is simple and straight, you can get on it rather quickly and it is more than enough to record tracks and basic editing / arranging. But if you start to go deeper into recording you'll meet its limitations. Reaper is an almost free (you can use it freely for 60 days and later on you get a message that it would like to be purchased but it doesn't limit itself) and I admit that its $60 price was the best buy of a DAW in my entire life and recording / editing is my profession since 1999. If you don't go deep into features Reaper can be very easy and basic that doesn't scare away newbies. If you dig deep into it, it is customisable enough that can satisfy the most demanding studio applications too. It became my workhorse in the last few years. I make everything that is audio, from sound design through album recording to broadcast production and it delivers. It saved me from ProTools hell as it is stable, flexible and super efficient. Have a try:

http://www.reaper.fm/

As for a microphone, if you wish to record close sources (for example, a singer, a guitar / bass cab, etc) it is really hard to beat a Shure SM57 dynamic microphone. There are finer (and more expensive) microphones around but this one always delivers.

If you wish to record ambience (the whole band in a room, an acoustic guitar from 2feet, a choir, etc) it is best to use a condenser microphone. Without going too deeply into it, condensers are different beasts from dynamics. From the user's point of view, the 3 main differences are: 1- they need to be powered +48V "phantom power" for their onboard electronics; 2- they are much more sensitive of sound; 3- they have a more open crispy sound response. Check Rode M3. It is around $100. Again it is not the finest mic around but it is versatile and it works and you can't beat the price.

About placement... Man it is all about experimenting. There is not one single solution. Even if you set your condenser room mic at your rehearsal place on a fixed sweet spot one day, if you return the next day it will sound different as it is impossible to have an isolated room. The air pressure changed, the temperature changed, the humidity changed, the little ants under the carpet stole the sandwich from a plate that worked as an accidentally working perfect bass trap 1 foot away from the mic, the drummer wears a T-shirt instead a wool pullover, etc etc... All will affect the spread and reflection of sound waves that hit the microphone membrane.

Good luck and patience

 

[bluesfloyd]

Re: recording onto CD

hi necropolo,
much kindness for your time for your most detailed answer to my post, 12 hours ago I knew little about recording guitar to pc, now thanks to you guys I am a now a expert,

all the best, bluesfloyd,

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: recording onto CD

You're absolutely welcome man. It is a Seymour Duncan forum thing, folks here aren't afraid to give useful information about all and every side of everything. During the years I learned (and I am still learning) a lot about guitar gear and all kinds of stuff, I even got great real life advices. This forum is a gem, including all the folks here. So, it is the least that I give some info about something that I know when someone needs info about that. Keep hangin' around here and don't forget to post some good music when it's in that phase

 

[bluesfloyd]

Re: recording onto CD

hi necropolo,
please may I ask you another question about my windows 7 pc, slightly different subject, I have been listening to the Seymour Duncan pickup site, which I think is a fantastic tool to advertise the pickup tone quality, Seymour Duncan say that you must listen to there pickups with good speakers in your pc, so to give the pickup choice a fair chance, makes good sense to me, how/what do I do to improve my pc to get the best results when listening to seymours duncans pickup choice,

all the best, bluesfloyd,

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: recording onto CD

Sure man.

There are zounds of monitor speakers out there. The best listening result comes when you use pretty neutral monitor speakers that doesn't colour the sound, like the Yamaha HS50, KRK Rokit5, M-Audio BX8, Mackie MR5, Alesis Monitor One and so on. They are used for recording / mixing in project studios and their price can sound expensive (unless you want to build a project studio with clients) so I'd recommend a pair of small powered multimedia speakers that are with half foot in the neutral stream. Check out M-Audio AV30 and AV40:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/StudiophileAV30.html

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/StudiophileAV40.html

They sound pretty neutral for their price and are extremely reliable. My 2007 pair works still great and I made a shltload of audio worx on them during the time. They are not studio monitors just powered multimedia speakers that are pretty neutral for what they are - but you can record / mix your demos with them quite precisely.

An another option can be a great set of headphones. There are many and everyone prefers different ones. My choice was the AKG K240 for my 'control ears' and a couple of Audio-Technica M20 phones for the musicians that I record. They work.

 

[bluesfloyd]

Re: recording onto CD

hi necropolo,
thanks again for your time to reply to the above post,

all the best, bluesfloyd,

 

[ginormous]

Re: recording onto CD

NecroPolo's a straight up guy, and that's decent advice.

I use Sony headphones that I got from amazon; for $30 US they do a good job.

Make sure you know the limitations of your speakers or headphones. If they're too deficient in one area, or exaggerated in another, your "ear" can account for it.
As Necro says, it's better for the speakers to be neutral, not too harsh or overly "hyped".

My dad (40+ years pro engineer) told me never to listen too loud, or for too long. Ear fatigue does change how you hear certain frequencies.
Make sure you get the best you can afford. Ear buds, or those huge "street" headphones with gobs of bass, will never cut it.

I use Audacity and Reaper (different tools for different jobs), and they help me create some good-sounding music. (Your opinion may vary... )

Make sure you save every step of your work. That way, if something goes wrong (as it may well do, at least in my case), you can go back just one step instead of starting from scratch.

Thumb drives (or 'flash drives', SD memory cards, etc.) are your friend. Get a few of them, and keep them in a safe place. Use them to back up your work.
Since information seems to be the new currency, storage is your bank account.
If you really get into home recording, consider saving up for an external drive.