Home Recording

[robertscott 1]

Any suggestions for ways to very cheaply record vocals and acoustic guitar together?

 

I have software to record with, but unless I want to use my laptop's inbuilt microphone (which obviously I don't) I need to invest in some kit.

 

Ideally it'd be a one microphone set up that'd record me playing guitar and singing at the same time, but I understand that might not be feasible due to my having a BIG voice and often playing quite quiet guitar parts alongside it. I guess maybe some compression'd fix that. I dunno.

 

Not looking for professional standard, necessarily. It's just for funzies.

[kwalker201 29]

Pick you up a Scarlett 2i2 made by focusrite. Plugs right into to your usb.

[Lars68 108]

I use an iPad and an Apogee Mic to record vocals and guitar at once, into Apple's Garageband app. It is an incredibly easy set up with a minimum amount of cables and hazzle. Garageband is also extremely easy to use.

 

I used to record with a laptop and an external mic, but the long startup time and the many technical issues made me go for the iPad instead. I want to spend my time with the music, not worrying about software/hardware performance and compability issues.

 

Here is an example of what this setup sounds like.Vocals and guitar are recorded at the same time onto one track. The organ is recorded as a seperate track later.

 

https://soundcloud.com/lars1968/red-dirt-of-dixie-orgel

 

Good luck!

 

Lars

[Salfromchatham 222]

I would use your iphone or ipad (or computer)...

 

and this $99 Shure MV5.

 

I am using it now - I find it is more than adequate, and makes better recordings than I have any right to make.

 

 

This is the Shure MC5 in action right here: https://soundcloud.com/sal-from-chatham/long-time-coming

[Boyd 71]

I have a 4 channel interface, Logic Pro and several microphones, but I before I got all that, I had just one USB microphone.

 

http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/c75c5918ed57a8d0/

 

 

Was always impressed with this, it's the same mic as the well-known analog version but it has an internal USB interface. So just connect it to your computer and record, no other hardware is needed. I think it can also work with an iPad if you get the "camera kit" USB interface, but I don't have any experience with that.

 

Get a mic stand with some kind of adjustable boom and you can probably find a position to locate the mic that will give a reasonable balance to voice and guitar.

 

Now this is a simple/straightforward way to get up and running with a good quality microphone for about $150. If you are considering building a system and gradually adding more microphones in the future then it wouldn't be an especially good approach.

[vacamartin 15]

I would use your iphone or ipad (or computer)...

 

and this $99 Shure MV5.

 

I am using it now - I find it is more than adequate, and makes better recordings than I have any right to make.

 

 

This is the Shure MC5 in action right here: https://soundcloud.com/sal-from-chatham/long-time-coming

 

 

Sal.....did you go direct to PC?

[robertscott 1]

thanks, guys. I'll check all those out

[Salfromchatham 222]

1465421966[/url]' post='1776309']

Sal.....did you go direct to PC?

 

I have done both... You can USB to your computer, or "lightning" to an Apple iOS product.... The cords are included for both.

[vacamartin 15]

I have done both... You can USB to your computer, or "lightning" to an Apple iOS product.... The cords are included for both.

 

Thanks Sal.