BedRoom Studio HELP

[1tczx]

Hi all, im thinking of starting up a bedroom recording studio to do basic( but high quality) recording. However i know nuts bout recording. plan to do multi tracking after recording a session of jamming.

k firstly, i plan to record a normal 3-4 piece band? (guitar/vocals/bass/drums)

secondly, i read up on lots of diy recording( thx to BPS) and stuff.
planned setup, instrument>mic> mixer > soundcard/audio interface> DAW

qn 1) is this ok?
qn 2) Wun the mic pick up other instruments sound? I wan do multi tracking!!
qn 3) Whats the diff between using DI boxes and mics? which ones better?

Thanks to the sound engineers in advance!

 

[shokakukai]

guess thats a basic set up to record something, hahaha.

if you want each track to not have any other extra sound, i guess you gotta record them one by one.

never had real experience recording in a studio tho, so correct me if i'm wrong

hehehe. only did diy recording with my band direct from instrument to laptop by mic input.

 

[1tczx]

but its very hard to play one by one. the tempo and everything wun sync, u get wad i mean?

so hw was it? as in hw was the sound with ur setup?i guess u just used one mic to record whole band right?

 

[smurfpiss]

but its very hard to play one by one. the tempo and everything wun sync, u get wad i mean?

That's why god invented the click track (metronome).

 

[1tczx]

lol that wasnt wad i expected.. haiz where is BluePrintStudio?

 

[soft]

1. Yes, it is possible.

2. Isolate as much as possible. Put the amps far from each others and put the mic close to them. For drums, can use electronic drums. If not, put the drums in another room.

3. Depending on which audio interface you are using, you might not need a DI. You can plug the instrument (keyboard, guitar, efx) directly into the audio interface.

 

[blueprintstudios]

1tczx : ah , late reply, sorry was busy recording/mixing and watching Avatar 2D. need to relax before my recording marathon comin up..

1) no. again, the mixer is just a Preamp usage, your DAW is the software mixer. the audiointerface already comes with preamps onboard usually. unless you're getting something like a audio interface with inputs only and preamps running on some focusrite octopre/red quad etcetc.

2) multitracking LIVE or layer? if live, yes chances of bleed is there, even drums soundwaves bleeding into the guitar/bass pickups.
layer , then it's "isolation" then it's "cleaner"

3) DI boxes = guitar > pedals > *optional : cabinet simulator > DI box > recording input
Mics = guitar>pedal>amp head > amp speakercone cabinet > mic > recording input

my personal opinion is, if your miking technique/mic/amp/situation doesn't allow/sucks. use DI. like line6. until you improve or situation allows for that luxury, then mike it up and have fun.

for your tempo issues, unfortunately like what smurfpiss said, you'll have to use metronome although it was invented some holland guy 100+ years ago not Morgan Freeman. then you will have to learn "punch in" recording etc. now reading your post again I assume you wanna do live to skip all these punching in and out thing. then yes what james (soft) mentioned. isolation. face it against the wall , but pad the wall with pillows or somesort to reduce bounceback. close miking with dynamic mics.

what DAW software will you be using?

I'm using a zoom r16 now. you could use its onboard guitar pedal/cabinet simulation and the remaining tracks to record drums live without a PC , but invest on an SD card hehe.

 

[1tczx]

im assuming that by using DI i wun be worrying bout isolation and such?
so wud a example, line6 ux2, be sufficient for a DI for a band? eg. like 1vocal,1bass,1drum,2guitars?

for DAW, im not sure yet. my lappys a MAC. so was thinking GarageBand, ProTools or Cubase?

 

[soft]

You will need an audio interface that has at least 8 inputs in order to record live together.

Vocal - 1
Bass - 1
Guitar - 1
Guitar - 1

Kick - 1
Overhead - 2
Snare - 1

 

[1tczx]

WOW u need 4inputs for drums? ok... didnt know that .. guess must record drums seperately?
so a line6 ux2 cant work out?

btw mod, i hv a question. Wads the diff between the line6 toneport ux2 and line6 PodStudio ux2. Both looks exactly the same...i know toneport is now discontinued n POD is now the current lineup for line6 recording. But wads the technical diff?

 

[blueprintstudios]

by using DI, you won't be worrying much about miking technique . but loud/ high pitch freq can still be picked up by the guitar/bass pickups like metronome etc.

if you're recording live, like what james has mentioned, you will need a multitrack input audio interface. they usually come in 8 inputs or more.

usually 8 inputs isn't enough so what you may need to resort to is a "submixer" , e.g.
#1-3 = guitar/guitar/bass
#4 = vocals
#5,6 = snare,kick
#7,8 = analog mixer with 5 channels > B#1-5 : overhead,overhead,tom,tom,tom

or if you're recording instruments live or have more instruments, and vocals layer (karaoke) and usually lead guitars cos of the solos etc, prone to errors.
#1,2 = rhythm guitar/bass
#3,4 = keyboards or some other percussions
#5,6 = snare,kick,
#7,8 = analog mixer with 5 channels > B#1-5 : overhead,overhead,tom,tom,tom

or then again it would probably be easier to just buy 2x Zoom R16 since they can be combined to 16 channels.
#1-8 = Loverhead,Roverhead,snare,kick,tom,tom,tom
#9-11 = guitar guitar bass
#12,13 = vocals back vocals
14,15 = keyboards or other instruments
16 = can be used as a talkback mic to communicate with the band over the headphone amp. you're gonna need a budget of $1000+++ for the recorders alone, then there's still the cables, the headphone amp and headphones, reaching $2K.. then add drum mics and vocal mics etc = $2K+++.
all of this and you're going to need a pretty powerful mac and a huge SD card if you're using the standalone recorder.

line6 ux2 has 2 inputs only , ideal for layering vocals/guitars etc. but not much multitrack live.

technical difference i'm not sure but does it really matter as long as it works well hehe. besides it's cost is in a couple of hundreds, we're not talking about $10K here so it's still within the "bedroom recording" range.any company will have good reason to release a new version with probably more to offer.

 

[1tczx]

lol no way im going to spend $1k ++. My terms of bedroom recording got to be below 1k..-.- haha
Any audioInterface to reccomand? beside the usual line6/firebox/zoom ones..
thx guys for answering my question

 

[blueprintstudios]

then make do with 1 zoom R16 then, I got it during the citymusic sale at 500+

 

[1tczx]

bps, just wondering, why do ppl use audiointerface when they can just plug guitar to ur mac audio in and use garageband to play/record?
is there a diff in the sound?
what is the diff?

 

[Nitsuj]

Depending on which Mac friendly audio interface manufacturer you choose to stick with, the software drivers will be robust and is written to integrate well with your DAW.

Besides software features like zero latency direct monitoring that disables Coreaudio, the mic preamps are one grade up, better ADDA conversion than onboard Coreaudio and most importantly, lower input/output latency rates.

At least 5ms at input latency with your audio interface or you'll start to notice a difference.

 

[blueprintstudios]

to answer your question :
1) why plug in guitar to mac audio input to play record when a) they don't have a mac b) the quality (like what nitsuj said) , ADDA conversions,preamp. the soundcard/audio interface onboard the mac or any laptop was made for normal consumer playback. not RECORDING. it's not that you can't do it, you can but the results may not be what you want. more noise etc.latency bla bla bla.

2) you can try it first, then ask yourself why does your bedroom DIY recording sound different from others with exact setup.

 

[1tczx]

bps, is this counted as a audiointerface? like a say line6 ux1?
as in i can also plug in my guitar to this (thru a adapter 1/4 to rca ) then to com usb?

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/UCA222.aspx

 

[blueprintstudios]

i assume it's the one bennywijaya is selling.

yeap it's counted. but it's an "audio interface with RCA inputs , NO PREAMP" and I first warn you, behringer, is something I started out with ,but because of its price and "lofi quality make" don't expect magic or tell us why the quality isn't what you expected because you used only 3 blue photos of my best friend yusof ishak for it.

if you insist on getting that, you will still need a preamp. or still spend $100 onwards (unless 2nd hand) on a mixer .

in which case by now your basic necessities are covered by what the other softie seller is selling. it'll be ok for you to start off with before you get addicted to this whole thing and by then you'll be spending thousands and eating your own words on your previously set budget.

 

[1tczx]

just wanna clearify, is a usb interface( line6 ux1/2) a DI box? cuz u also plug ur guitar thru it for recording purposes? why so confusing>?

 

[blueprintstudios]

1tczx :
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun02/articles/diboxes.asp

yeap it is a DI box, but somewhat "built in". the UX2 also has 2 "built in preamps"
so Line6 audio interface ADDA conversion + Line6 DI box + Preamps built in that cost around $200+/- if i'm not wrong VS if you seek higher quality and have the money to fork out for a soundcard that's got better AD conversion + getting a Radial DI box that costs like $300, and good preamps that cost anywhere from $500 - $4digits.

of course you can just direct plug in your guitar into a line preamp without a DI box. but the recording will not be as "clean" (noise/interference etc) as having one.

confusing it isn't. because as technology gets better/affordable, more and more audio interfaces jumped from PCI > firewire > USB even my DIY recording FAQ is getting outdated probably it's time to update. and it used to be you had to get an "audio interface (without preamps)" + "ADAT optical cable/TRS cables" + "Preamps/DI Boxes" seperately, and now they have it all in one solution.