I was wondering what people are using for recording. I have been thinking of getting one of those mixer/hard drive recorders like the d888 but some people tell me they totally suck and I just just get a firepod or such and record on my computer. Personally, I'm not a big fan of getting computers involved in the creative process. I'd rather hit a "record" button and just listen back to the audio than be looking at the waveform on a computer screen.... probably just because I work on the computer all day.

I was just wondering if anyone has an opinion on what products are good for home demo recording.

I was just wondering if anyone has an opinion on what products are good for home demo recording.[/QUOTE]

A FirePod (8 channel) or an Aardvark Q10 coupled with even a rudimentary PC work great. 2 key things, use good mics, get a good level (but not too high) and digital recording is easy. In the past I've recorded with massive mixers, ADAT's, etc... and for much less money you can get equal quality. One other KEY thing, use a PC with at least 1 gig of RAM so the PC doesn't go into overload during mixdown.

It really boils down to what you want to spend -vs- what you would like to sound like. Pro studios will in most cases do a much better job but I can attest first hand DIY is much cheaper.

Check out the songs on our site, all DIY on an Aardvark Q10.

www.myspace.com/inhereyes1

I have a Tascam 2488 24 track digital recorder. I like to have a board in front of me with knobs and faders. The 2488 also has built in effects such as, chorus, echo, reverb, delay, and a guitar processor as well. I mic my amp dry with an SM57 and add reverb during mixdown. It does have the option to save all the tracks to a WAV file so it can be mixed on Logic or protools, or take it to a pro studio for mixdown and mastering.It has a built in CD burner to save files or for mix down. It has plenty of hardrive and it has a high quality drum machine built in! I think you can buy one now for $799.00. It's well worth the money.

At my home I use a presonus firebox.
That goes into Cakewalk Sonar 4 pro

This then goes into my PC.


Right now Im using a virtual mixingboard via my monitor but am planning on "upgrading" to an actual mixing board one of these days. I too like to have real knobbies and faders in front of me. Admittingly, the virtual platform works absolutely AOK though - it's just personal preference and 1 more thing to screw up your sound/recording if something was to break or fail - hah

Analog was good enough for Edison...

So was direct Current (DC)......look where that got him.

quote:

Originally posted by WebMonkey:
I was wondering what people are using for recording. I have been thinking of getting one of those mixer/hard drive recorders like the d888 but some people tell me they totally suck and I just just get a firepod or such and record on my computer. Personally, I'm not a big fan of getting computers involved in the creative process. I'd rather hit a "record" button and just listen back to the audio than be looking at the waveform on a computer screen.... probably just because I work on the computer all day.

I was just wondering if anyone has an opinion on what products are good for home demo recording.

For digital why not use a pc? It's still a computer. With a pc you get a much better display first of all. Being able to see that shit makes a huge difference for me. A lot of recording hardware has such a learning curve: every button does 50 things and you need to get into the manual pretty deep to figure it out. I prefer just a mixer running into a good sound card, and doing all the rest software style. I'm pretty into Garage Band right now. It's not super-pro, but it's intuitive and does a lot of different stuff. I suppose it'd be different if it's something you expect to release huge, or just a demo, or just for your own benefit (I like to record everything so I can keep it straight, but I just use one of those little lecture tape deals for that.)

quote:

Originally posted by mannydog:
So was direct Current (DC)......look where that got him.

Clever.

More clever than I.

quote:

I'd rather hit a "record" button and just listen back to the audio

Get a D888.

quote:

I'm pretty into Garage Band right now.

what sort of interfaces will work with garage band?

quote:

Originally posted by WebMonkey:

quote:

I'm pretty into Garage Band right now.

what sort of interfaces will work with garage band?

Pretty much any firewire and most USB2 based interface will work with garageband as long as you have a mac being that Garageband is a Mac program. If you dont have a mac but want that easy, nooblet plug-n-play, user-intuitive feel, Maudio relased a GB clone program called "sessions" that you can pick up although it is not free.

Something I'd reccommend is a freeware program called audacity. This program IMHO Is very simple to use with a big, user-friendly, interface and not too much high-end "fluff" - just your basic functions with a few FX options. I used this prg with a M-audio fasttrack firewire/USB unit that cost me all of 40 bones used @ the go-round. You dont have to spend a ton of money to get yourself into a home-recording setup that produces quality sounds.




Totally Off-topic but I SO wish I had the bling for Maurys reel2reel box he was selling a few months ago. That woulda been so damn cool to have.

:^)

Thank you guys, this info has been really helpful for me. I just picked up a "refurb" fasttrack USB homestudio package with microphone and some different software from musician's friend for $99. It'll be a fun new toy hopefully. I've done some drum and bass tracks on GarageBand and that proram is really user friendly compaired to profools.

i heart Macs.

I'm using the Digi001 Protools rig I traded Sean for. I'm using a G3 Mac to run Protools and the associated plugins. I just bought some Alesis M1 620 monitors to compliment my setup.
You can buy a used 001 on ebay for about $200, the computer for around $300 and the monitors were $250 used.

The computer is actually a G4. It was made in 1999. Who else has a 10 yr old tower that handles digital audio at 24 bit, 48khz without catching fire?

I just purchased the Mbox2 so I can run protools with my macbook. It's also handy to have a mobile recording interface.

I just bought one of these monsters and there is a learning curve but it nots that bad.

Anybody heard of Reaper? Its supposed to be pretty incredible......and free. Developed by the guy who created WinAmp. He's basically trying to bring all the major warez companies (ProFools, Sonar, Logic, etc) to their knees. You can even write your own plugins within the interface.

i use an mbox 1 > macbook > protools

yeah, protools is a pretty steep learning curve... but it's not too bad to grasp the basics and start recording stuff. i did a little on garageband at first, but it's limiting if you want to do anything past quick demos. i still have barely broken the surface of what's possible in protools, but i get by.

quote:

Anybody heard of Reaper?

You still have to pay for a registration fee after the trial period is over.

Haven't used it, though...

I'd heard that after reg. period is over, you just have a dialog box that will pop up when loading that you can just ignore and the program continues to run. Don't know for sure though.