New studio help

[Luke Acacia]

Hey guys Im in need of some help.

Im well versed in the art of guitar and guitar related jargon but now ive decided its time to venture into recording.
I have just bought myself a beast of a computer to run what ever I need but im lost as to what I actually need. I figured rather than try to make my own decisions based off other peoples questions I would just ask my own.
Now im not interested in producing release quality music as my band has its producer and has had for years plus the recording industry is equally as flooded as the band scene (more bands than fans, more producers than bands).
Im just interested in producing good demo/preproduction quality music so I can present songs to my band rather than just guitar pro files.
My question is pretty much, WHERE DO I START with what to buy! Im on a budget so the cheapest options would be great. I wouldn’t want to record drums, just program them and I have the mic situation sorted as I use to be a vocalist and have 58,57 and condensers.
So what is next? What programs are simple? Should I do the whole modelling thing rather than trying to mic up my amps? Im a noob at all this shit and I really want to start to learn not only so that I can record my own shit, it would be good when im in our producers studio and have a rough idea of whats going on!

Thanks alot people and if you must flame me, FLAME ON.

 

[G-Ray]

Hey guys Im in need of some help.

Im well versed in the art of guitar and guitar related jargon but now ive decided its time to venture into recording.
I have just bought myself a beast of a computer to run what ever I need but im lost as to what I actually need. I figured rather than try to make my own decisions based off other peoples questions I would just ask my own.
Now im not interested in producing release quality music as my band has its producer and has had for years plus the recording industry is equally as flooded as the band scene (more bands than fans, more producers than bands).
Im just interested in producing good demo/preproduction quality music so I can present songs to my band rather than just guitar pro files.
My question is pretty much, WHERE DO I START with what to buy! Im on a budget so the cheapest options would be great. I wouldn’t want to record drums, just program them and I have the mic situation sorted as I use to be a vocalist and have 58,57 and condensers.
So what is next? What programs are simple? Should I do the whole modelling thing rather than trying to mic up my amps? Im a noob at all this shit and I really want to start to learn not only so that I can record my own shit, it would be good when im in our producers studio and have a rough idea of whats going on!

Thanks alot people and if you must flame me, FLAME ON.

First you must learn how to operate a DAW. Which means Digital Audio Workstation (Pro Tools,Cubase,Logic). Once you know the ins and outs of your DAW of choice then its on to recording.
Drums....I use EZ Drummer Drum Kit From Hell as a plug in and midi map the parts within my DAW channel. I don't know how to play drums physically but I know how the drums should go in my head and I spent a lot of time trying to translate that into real drum parts. After doing it so long you become more comfortable and it become easy.
As far as recording guitar using plugins,amp sims, or real amps it depends on convience for me at least. I live in a condo. There is no way I can crank an amp so I opt for plug ins such as Poulin amp plugins. Youtube has a ton of tutorials for it...and recording in general so do some research on that. Once you get comfortable running your DAW,drums,guitars,and bass then its on to mixing.....which is a whole other realm besides constructing a song. That will take some time and even more research and help from others. Your new to recording so don't expect your stuff to sound good right off the bat. So don't get distraught. That takes time,patience,and practice. Sorry this is a very brief description. All in all just dive into it and go. The link below is using EZ Drummer and Poulin amp sims and Poulin cab impulses.

Gary Tackett II - Burden - YouTube

Good luck

 

[Luke Acacia]

Cheers man I appreciate that, some good info.
I will be using Cubase as alot of my friends use it and trouble shooting will be very easy. Im just wondering what I should be buying next. I have the computer, getting Cubase and just wondering what kind of interfaces are out there that are cheap and I want to hear from people that have experience with them.

 

[G-Ray]

Mbox or Presonus makes good interfaces. Both do exactly what you want to achieve (recording your instruments). One person will say "mbox is better" the other will say "presonus is better". It's all in the preference. For me I say "tomato...tomatoe". Its whatever. They both will work.

 

[Overtone]

If quality doesnt matter a whole lot there are cheap audio to usb adapters on ebay that can get your guitar or mic signal into the comp. there will definitely be issues and you will have to mess with output and input levels a fait amunt just to avoid horrible sounds, but it is the cheapest answer. Next mightnbe a usb guitar cable and using the built in mic for voice and acoustic. The usb interfaces like fast track are actually meant for guitar and mic inputs and have the right components to turn that signal into what your computer wants to see. Worth the money because if all you are doing is having crappy sounding demos instead of gp files you havent improved much. Add a pair of monitors or headphones and you will really be able to do demos that capture the essence and tone of the song rather than just representing the notes but not the song's attitude. With the monitors you will need an interface with monitor outs and to buy some cables. And if your comp has a firewire port go for fw devices rather than usb.

 

[mgh]

Assuming your new PC runs Win 7 64 bit, pick up an M-Audio Fast Track or similar and a copy of Reaper (this is a DAW software which is free to trial, and if you like it is quite cheap to purchase), and spend some time reading the manual/visiting their forums - this stuff is NOT easy at first, there's a steep learning curve, so be prepared to be frustrated and confused, a little! There are some great free plug-ins, The 27 best free VST plug-ins in the world today | MusicRadar.com is a good start. For drum software, EZdrummer or Steven SLate EX is a good cheaper place to start....but beware! this game is a money sink-hole!