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basic guitar/bass/vocal recording advise


callen3615

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hi, I need advise with recording guitar/bass/ and vocals at some point. I have cubase, I have been running the guitar output directly into the computers line in with poor results. I get alot of weird sounds and when I go to turn the monitor on I get this crazy loud loop. I can pull most of the sliders down and record guitar but when I play it back it has alot of hiss in it and is very hard to record another track over it. I was told by a more experienced friend that I need a guitar interface. I just need to record the guitar and bass tracks so the drummer and singer can work on them on their own time. My friend told me to get one of these: http://www.lexiconpro.com/en-US/products/alpha

 

Looks good for guitar/bass and vocals but how will I get drums on this? Ive heard micing drums is difficult and usually requires multiple mics, if so would this work?

 

Right now our band just has a active (phantom) power speaker the singer sings through, is it worth getting a mixing board? And if so how can I use the board to record?

 

I know that alot of questions,

Thanks for the help

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Recording is all in "how it sounds" in any given spot in the room your set up in. Takes some trial and error but just record your guitars, bass, singing or drum's with the microphone in the area of the room that it sounds best. There are some POD type devices that will let you plug an instrument directly into the system but they have limited use are not necessary and usually sound like crap.

 

An interface with a simple line level in/out for a mixer is plenty for a usable recording. What are you willing to spend and learn will determine what brand to buy.

 

A new low-cost mixer that sells for $100-$200 (US) and a few cable's will do quite a bit, a $20 set of "enclosed headphone's" will do the trick for play-back (enclosed headphone's completely cover your ear's). A Shure SM 58 or some thing close to that will set you back $120 or so brand new and don't forget a nice boom stand and pop-filter for the microphone.

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Recording is all in "how it sounds" in any given spot in the room your set up in. Takes some trial and error but just record your guitars, bass, singing or drum's with the microphone in the area of the room that it sounds best. There are some POD type devices that will let you plug an instrument directly into the system but they have limited use are not necessary and usually sound like crap.

 

An interface with a simple line level in/out for a mixer is plenty for a usable recording. What are you willing to spend and learn will determine what brand to buy.

 

A new low-cost mixer that sells for $100-$200 (US) and a few cable's will do quite a bit, a $20 set of "enclosed headphone's" will do the trick for play-back (enclosed headphone's completely cover your ear's). A Shure SM 58 or some thing close to that will set you back $120 or so brand new and don't forget a nice boom stand and pop-filter for the microphone.

interesting, thanks

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If you have a space acoustically suited for recording drums and the appropriate microphones, you could use a separate mixer for the drums and run a line from that mixer to your recording console if you have limitations on the number of channels you can record at one time. Electronic drum kits are another option you might want to think about. Yamaha and Roland have some great electric kits which give you great contol of the drum mix.

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There are alos a lot of plugins available for cubase so once you have the track in your system you can add compression or other effects to get the guitar sounds just the way you like. To add depth you may want to consider recording one track directly into your computer and multiple tracks using a mic. Get all of these tracks in cubase and mess around with effects, pan different sections and adjust the levels until you get the right sound.

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Yep...what others have said and...

 

Using a computer sound card's line in will always be a tall order for recording music into a DAW. As will its mic. Your friend is correct. You need an interface between your guitar and computer.

 

Are you, as perhaps implied, merely using the recordings to enable your drummer and vocalist to practice or write their parts without the bassist and guitarist being there? If so then the Alpha Studio looks fine and is compatible with Cubase which you're already using. It will enable you to simultaneously record a guitar via DI (Direct Inject) whilst also recording a mic on a speaker cab - i.e. 2 simultaneous recordings of the same performance from different sources. You can mix the two to suit. Or, you and a buddy can simultaneously record bass and guitar (one via DI and one via mic). However, there will be headphone limitations here. Just be kind and record using a click track for your drummer's sake. :)

 

You should be able to happily plonk a Shure SM57 on a guitar/bass cabinet and/or record DI and be fairly happy with your results and use gain plugins in Cubase to boost a little if required.

 

If your aim to produce nice demos or finished tracks to put online and your budget will allow, then perhaps aim a little higher that the Alpha Studio. YMMV. The Alpha Studio does not have 48v Phantom Power. This is where it falls short in my opinion. Therefore, condenser microphones are out, leaving you just dynamic and ribbon mics to play with. Note that the Alpha's 50db of mic pre gain won't be good enough for several known gain-hungry dynamic and ribbon mics out there. The Shure SM7b being one of them

 

 

Woody

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