Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

[playas]

I´m looking for help with getting some music down.
Doesn´t necessarily have to be the cheapest although I don´t want to splash out on a new recording studio either, but I´m looking for a reasonably straightforward, reasonably cheap way to get a decent recording of a guitar, preferably mic'd guitar and amp and I have been contemplating picking up an SM57 in any case.

It doesn´t necessarily have to be digital either although do I want to be able to get it into a file at some stage in order to share it.

Please hit me with any useful suggestions or ideas. I´m all ears.

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

What have you got now?

You don't have to spend a fortune on stuff to get some good quality recordings. Depends however what you want to do.
I'd start with: (and I already have)

I assume you already have a decent computer,
A decent audio interface, recording software and a mic. A pair of good speakers/monitors also helps a lot to hear what you have recorded properly.
Then learn how to use it. From there you can expand your set-up with all kind of vst's. Midi based vst's are very easy to work with and give you good sound quality.
Then learn how to use those.
For maybe 300-500 Euro's you can get decent stuff to work with that can be upgraded later with additional stuff if you would want to add a full band backing.

Good luck!

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

Why does no one ever state a specific price range when they say "reasonably affordable"?

What's your budget for the following items:
1. A mic preamp for the SM57 you intend to mic your amp with.
2. A recording device (cassette, reel-to-reel, hard drive, software-based)
2-2. If a Software program, what type of interface from your mic preamp to your computer - USB, Line Level - and what features do you want it to have (VSTs, Midi composing, multitracking up to 16 to 256 to unlimited tracks).
3. Accessory instrumentation such as a drum machine or software-based drums.

There's a ton of variables in both price and features.

You can get all-transistor mic preamps or you can go for a tube-based mic preamp. Those preamps may have USB outputs, or not. They might be rackmountable or not.

You can get decent standalone recording units readily in several price ranges and varying features - 2-tracks at once, 4-tracks at once, more tracks at once, cassette, reel-to-reel, hard drive, direct-to-CD.
Good luck finding cassettes, though.

Then there are external devices for computer recording that get your signal to your computer, if you go that route. Or you can use a Soundblaster card's Line Input.

You can get an old Casio beginner keyboard with the crappy drum loops, a standalone dedicated drum machine, a drum machine that has a crappy bass accompanyment, or software-based drum loop thingies that range from not-much-better-than-the-Casio to typical drum machine quality to multi-Gigabyte professionally recorded samples of real drums played in 256 velocity layers with full sequencing capabilities.


If you just want to get basic guitar bashing without a lot of expense and effort, as long as your computer has a Line Input on the soundcard (onboard or Soundblaster-type add-in card), and you can get your amp mic's preamp to put out a Line Level signal, and you have a recording app (plenty of free ones out there), you can record to your PC.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

If I were aiming to keeps costs down, I'm not sure why I'd be buying a preamp for a dynamic mic.

Especially when most recording interfaces -- from 4-track cassette to computer-based -- include preamps in their input section. Yes, you can get better sounding preamps, but if the goal is, as stated, to get merely a "reasonable" recording, the stock input preamps on most gear will do just fine.

 

[yuzhiwen]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

Thanks for your share, maybe I should have a try.

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

http://backstage.musiciansfriend.com/productDetail/productDetail.jsp?entProductId=245507

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

The OP is in Spain. The costs of mail ordering from a US retail chain would be disadvantageous.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

Simplest way is to use a small hand held recorder like a Tascam DR2 or similar. Then hook up to your PC via USB.

With a little bit of care your end result will be several steps beyond reasonable!

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

The OP is in Spain. The costs of mail ordering from a US retail chain would be disadvantageous.

I never said he had to order from there. That was just to give him an idea. I'll quit trying to help people from now on.

 

[playas]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

What have you got now?

Guitar, amp and laptop, pretty good headset.

You don't have to spend a fortune on stuff to get some good quality recordings. Depends however what you want to do.
I'd start with: (and I already have)

I assume you already have a decent computer,
A decent audio interface, recording software and a mic. A pair of good speakers/monitors also helps a lot to hear what you have recorded properly.
Then learn how to use it. From there you can expand your set-up with all kind of vst's. Midi based vst's are very easy to work with and give you good sound quality.
Then learn how to use those.
For maybe 300-500 Euro's you can get decent stuff to work with that can be upgraded later with additional stuff if you would want to add a full band backing.

Good luck!

Thanks

 

[playas]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

Why does no one ever state a specific price range when they say "reasonably affordable"?

Personally as I don´t know about price ranges for recording equipment apart from that for a good mic you can pay extremely high prices and I don´t want to go there.

What's your budget for the following items:
1. A mic preamp for the SM57 you intend to mic your amp with.
2. A recording device (cassette, reel-to-reel, hard drive, software-based)
2-2. If a Software program, what type of interface from your mic preamp to your computer - USB, Line Level - and what features do you want it to have (VSTs, Midi composing, multitracking up to 16 to 256 to unlimited tracks).
3. Accessory instrumentation such as a drum machine or software-based drums.

There's a ton of variables in both price and features.

I´d say a rough limit of €500 all in.

You can get all-transistor mic preamps or you can go for a tube-based mic preamp. Those preamps may have USB outputs, or not. They might be rackmountable or not.

You can get decent standalone recording units readily in several price ranges and varying features - 2-tracks at once, 4-tracks at once, more tracks at once, cassette, reel-to-reel, hard drive, direct-to-CD.
Good luck finding cassettes, though.

Then there are external devices for computer recording that get your signal to your computer, if you go that route. Or you can use a Soundblaster card's Line Input.

You can get an old Casio beginner keyboard with the crappy drum loops, a standalone dedicated drum machine, a drum machine that has a crappy bass accompanyment, or software-based drum loop thingies that range from not-much-better-than-the-Casio to typical drum machine quality to multi-Gigabyte professionally recorded samples of real drums played in 256 velocity layers with full sequencing capabilities.


If you just want to get basic guitar bashing without a lot of expense and effort, as long as your computer has a Line Input on the soundcard (onboard or Soundblaster-type add-in card), and you can get your amp mic's preamp to put out a Line Level signal, and you have a recording app (plenty of free ones out there), you can record to your PC.

This is pretty much why I´m looking for something simple. I´d rather have something simple that can get decent results and be able to improve equipment as necessary. I imagine shortcomings will be more apparent when I´ve been using it a while and have a better grasp of how best to use it.

 

[playas]

Re: Simplest way to get a reasonable recording?

St.Genesius, Jolly and TwilightOdyssey: Thanks for your input guys, very interesting.

The OP is in Spain. The costs of mail ordering from a US retail chain would be disadvantageous.

FunkFingers and Jolly, no worries...there are European sites where I can get hold of the same product.