Simple Home Studio Set-up

[One]

Hi guys...those pros n expert out there...i need ur advice on this...

i am planning to "build" a project home studio and after sometime doing my read ups and research, i have decided on this set-up...

Mac laptop
line6 toneport ===> m-audio monitors(not decided which model but the $300 range)
m-audio midi intefaces..
midi controller...m-audio keystation or E-MUs keyboard

i will get a decent mic for vocals etc....

basically i will do overdub track by track for guitar..vocals...etc...

what do u guys think of this simple set-up...any advice?

i was also wondering how i can record a live drummer at jamming studio and put it together with the recording project i've done at home...

for example...record my guitar part...my other guitarist parts...my bassists part n my vocalist part at home and then how do i record the drummers part....

i know i can use the drum beat from ableton live etc but i am thinking abt not leaving the drummer out of this project....

thankz alot guys...

 

[Cheez]

I hope you realise that the midi controller keyboard is not going to give you any sounds. You will need softsynths/VSTis or some external hardware.

Also, just want to let you know that a PC notebook is cheaper and not too bad either - just need to do some configuring.

 

[One]

yeah man....the softwares included will have the diff instrument etc...its provided in the midi controller packaging...

hmm i was thinking of mac coz of boredom of using pc...and i heard mac is better for sound n home studio etc....i get this info from some pros n even the guy at sinamex..and guys from sae etc...

what u think of the overall set-up? good buy? or any other substitutes which i can consider etc?

 

[One]

Need help guys....any advice etc??

thankz..

 

[lowjk]

hmm i was thinking of mac coz of boredom of using pc...and i heard mac is better for sound n home studio etc....i get this info from some pros n even the guy at sinamex..and guys from sae etc...

If you are using VSTi, PCs may be a better bet in terms of raw housepower.
Unless you are buying a G5 Quad.

http://www.carillondirect.com/clnweb/performance.jsp?country=UK
(note the Carillon Core 4 beating the daylights out of the G5 Dual).

However, if you are into stuff like "better user interface", go for the MAC.

Despite when MAC users claim, there is little evidence to show that a MAC is bulletproof in terms of crashes.

If you want to build a PC based system
1) Consider an AMD system ~3500+ and above or even a dual core
2) Consider the nf3 platform (more stable than the nf4 platform for audio)
3) Avoid PCI-X graphics card. Stick with the ole' AGP graphics card.
4) Consider the EMU Proteus X (comes with a semi-pro level soundcard with sample playback VSTi and a 2GB library of sound)
5) Separate harddisk for system files (eWinXp, sequencer, wav editor) and data files (what you record)
6) 2GB of ram if doing heavy duty recording with VSTi and wav editing.

 

[soft]

1. mac or pc also can.

2. line6 toneport - affordable and gives almost everything you need.

3. midi - are you a keyboard person? or you have a keyboardist right? it will be better for that person to decide. the choice of sound, number of keys and playability is kinda personal.

4. i would get the UX2 because it has Phantom Power to feed condensor microphones.

5. to record the drums. basically you can do a guide track at home (sequenced drums + Bass + Guitar + Vocals + Keyboards) and bring it to the studio. Record this guide track onto the studio's system (tape or DAW). Have the drummer play along to this guide track.

6. after recording the drummer, ask them to put the individual drum tracks onto CD for you to bring home. load these tracks into your computer to mixdown.

* point to note
1. consult the studio on the best way to transfer the audio track
2. have a 2 bars count in for the drummer
3. record 1 song to try out workflow first

 

[lowjk]

BTW, do note that certain software are available only on 1 platform.
eg if you want to use Gigastudio, Acid then you're stuck on the PC.
OR if you want to use Bias Peak Audio Editor, then you have to go with MAC.

 

[One]

i see i see...now atleast i know a little more man..thankz to all....

hey guys....but then i was doing some thinking....

the toneport...i will not be able to do live recording with that one....i wiil need a mixer for that rite? then the mixer into the toneport and then the software rite? Live recording i mean is like playing together at the same time n record...eg...vox...guitar 1+guitar 2 + bass.....
the toneport is actually a soundcard rite? like those m-audios, e-mu etc....
i want the toneport more for the vocal preamps....as i dun need the guitar effects in the program "gearbox" as i have pedalboards n multieffects etc....

so another question is that....if i dun use toneport and want to use those m-audio products or a direct mixer, how does my vocalist gets its effects?? thru the recording softwares like ableton live etc or i need to have those effect hardware connected?? i am not sure in this matter...i am on a tight budget so i wont have to cash to buy effects for vox etc....toneport seems the best options rite now...

rite now i am interested with m-audio firewire solo as its like the same with toneport with 1 mic n 1 instrument port. Additional to that m-audio firewire solo has midi port and also is using firewire interface which is better than usb...thats wat i read in tweakheadz.com

and i am worry that i will spend more with the toneport as i need to get separate midi interfaces which cost like 100 bucks etc...i can save some money with the m-audio solo.

The midi controller i need is to play other instrument sounds...like sax..organ etc...thru the synthesiser...so i will need the midi interface as toneport doesnt have midi slot...
although i can use usb direct conection but using MIDI is the better way rite?

hope to get help from u guys soon....thankz a lot man...

 

[lowjk]

>> The midi controller i need is to play other instrument sounds...like sax..organ etc...thru the synthesiser...so i will need the midi interface as toneport doesnt have midi slot...
although i can use usb direct conection but using MIDI is the better way rite

Using a USB controller saves you the expense of buying a MIDI interface.

 

[Cheez]

What software is included in the package? Those that comes packaged are usually very limited in many ways - particularly in sound quality. If you want to go into keyboard controllers + softsynths, be prepared to budget extra to buy them.

Those who said Mac is better than PC for home studio are usually Mac users. I know - I was a Mac user. But many who uses PC as a DAW (including myself) have no or little problems. Hans Zimmer uses an array of PCs for his arragements and composition.

 

[One]

The programme included in Ableton live 4 lite edition...not too bad i think...it doesnt restrict u much and its juz as good i guess for project studios...
hmm abt the softsynths...thats e thing i worry abt...having to spend hundreds on softsynths...but than i think the programme included will have the things i need than i dun need to buy additional softwares....

i am looking into fusion jazz, blues etc...and also normal rock, metal etc...i think i will be ok....but i will do more research on it...

regarding using USB OR MIDI interfaces, i believe that MIDI is the proper way in recording etc..thats wat i read man..but i may be wrong...but as the name suggest...Musical Instrument Digital Inteface...it passes infomation regarding all this things....i am not sure abt this yet but still learning abt it...

 

[lowjk]

If you are getting the Proteus X soundcard, it comes with a decent sound library (in fact the entire EMU Proteus 2000 sound library is there, on top of that, you get the EMU Virtuoso, a classical music sound library, FOC as a promotion). Pls refer to:
http://creativex.creative.com/produ...ucts.asp?idCategory=20000&idSubCategory=30005

MIDI is NOT the only way to record data. It's a 20+ year old protocol while USB is at most 10 years old (that's why USB was not in the original protocol).
Perfectly ok to use USB - my controller keyboard is USB based.

The M for music in MIDI is a misnomer - it only records the keystroke and its' associated data (velocity, aftertouch) BUT not any audio data - the processing power at that time just didn't allow it to happen. As James (Soft) correctly pointed out, with the right software, MIDI can control lights, smoke machines etc.

 

[One]

i see i see....so i can juz connect the keyboard controller thru usb. No need to waste money to buy midi or need to buy the hardware with midi in it ya?

i'll check out the e-mu....

if this is ok i dun mind getting the line6 toneport with ableton live 4 included.

But if i dun want the toneport.....the ableton live 4 or any other recording softwares will have effects to play around with the vocals rite?? like eq..or those other effects etc...

 

[One]

anyone??

 

[soft]

One, you got to check the specification of the keyboard that you are interested in. If they say they can connect to computer via USB that means you do not need another MIDI interface.

Most DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software have some built-in effects and eq.

 

[lowjk]

But if i dun want the toneport.....the ableton live 4 or any other recording softwares will have effects to play around with the vocals rite?? like eq..or those other effects etc...

This is too vague. Pls give us possible software candidates for your system for us to make appropriate comments.

A wrong comment can result in an expensive mistake.

 

[One]

well i think the only software now tat i will use is the ableton live4 lite version provided with the toneport and also the keyboard controller...

another question man..i am very confused abt keyboard controller...i will need to buy softsynth rite?? how much and where do i get it? i when around funan etc cannot get....

does the abletone live4 lite version included with the m-audio keyboard controller have intruments/synth? like some wind instrument or sax or organ etc??

 

[potion]

EMU controller Xboard 49 has both a USB and a Midi OUT port.

It also comes bundled with Proteus X LE, which is a software sampler with "Over 1000 presets - expandable with E-MU's sound library". The sound libraries are very affordable (compared to samples of other formats) and are available at Singapore Creative's online shop.
http://creativex.creative.com/produ...y=237&idsubcategory=538&idproduct=13806&nav=1

Check out the Xboard49 support documents and user manual here at EMU's site.
http://www.emu.com/support/files/download2.asp?Centric=768&Platform=1

Ableton should support VSTi's, which are software plug-in instruments. There are tons of excellent free vsti's available on the net. This will give you a wide range of sounds to choose from.