Home recording.

[bensdrums]

Interface: This is where opinions are wanted. (But offcourse also about the little Mac if it seems uncapable.)

I know I want at least 8 inputs. I know I can go really cheap, but it would be nice for things to be generally passable long term. I've looked around at several models and so far the Focusrite Clarett 8Pre X looks pretty good. It's the only one I've seen with Thunderbolt, which I guess is a point as the Mac has those. If I need more, to record a bigger band live, I can always add an Octapre and I think that will cover my needs for a long time. Another +, because it seems to be considered pretty good, is that I'm thinking it's the one I'll might most likely be able to sell on in the future.

Lucas mentioned the Yamaha mixer which I guess Weckl also used for a while and still uses live. I've never used one of those, but just been told they're not very user friendly and I have experienced a few issues on gigs with guys being new to them. Offcourse it's also a mixer, so multi purpose. On the downside, it's more expensive and has no Thunderbolt port. They do sometimes show up used, though

Thoughts?

The O1V (or O1V96) is what Weckl has used for years and I see new footage of him with the O1V96, so I'm assuming he still does. I had an O1V for years and loved it, never found it terribly difficult to use. If you take some time to read the manual, it isn't a problem. It's pretty much a monitor console for me now, and the reason I went away from it years ago was that newer interfaces had better connection speeds, and in a home studio I didn't really need a mixer.

The thing about digital mixers is they're nice if you're going to be doing some "engineering" from behind the kit, as Weckl does, but if you're building a home recording studio, unless you want a tactile mixing experience with faders and gain pots, they're kind of redundant. On the other hand, they're a very nice resource to have if you want to monitor your tracking outside the DAW software, which will cut down immensely on latency problems if you're tracking 8 inputs at once.

[Odd-Arne Oseberg]

I think the current Focusrite stuff generally allows monitoring outside the DAW.

Just a mixer would be nice, but if I only were to use it for live the older Yamaha's can be had a lot cheaper.

That Logic tutorial would be exactly what I need.


Austin's setup is pretty much the idea, just a bit of extra outboard because I have it and like it, and offcourse I'll be tracking more than drums.


The idea is just to get started. First recording drums, get started on my own stuff + up to something like a 10 piece live. After school(at least 3 years from now), if I have the space and income, I'll just upgrade the computer, add the extra mics and outboard stuff I want and go from there.


I'm gonna pick up a small hard disk recorder just for drum practicing purposes first. That is muy importane right now. Auditions!!! Tempted by that cheap Roland. Remember recording my band on one of those when they came out. Downside is that it doesn't take cards and I can't move/dump things. Not really important just for immediate self evaluation, but new ones don't cost much either. Smaller and lighter, too. The Roland looks cool, it would be prefect for traveling with just a gitar, but just4 tracks is pushing it. I'm thinking an R-16 is more appropriate.


If I move my kit back further into the room (just more convenient and esthethically pleasing in the corner), my current place in the boathouse loft sounds pretty good. Rock solid, wood panels, uneven and plenty of stuff I can move around in the right places. No other disturbing sounds either.

[Paul Marangoni]

The Roland looks cool, it would be prefect for traveling with just a gitar, but just4 tracks is pushing it. I'm thinking an R-16 is more appropriate.

Do not get an R-16. Don't get ANY Zoom multitrack recorders. They have serious limitations and are nowhere near the quality and ease of use that the Roland and BOSS stuff is. Roland stopped making hard disc recorders a long time ago. I wouldn't bother getting a used VS recorder. They're too old and will have problems. If you want used, get a BOSS BR-1600. I recorded my last two CDs on one of those. Actually, I recorded, mixed and mastered it on the BR-1600. (You should buy a copy of my last CD to check it out).

The new BOSS multitrack recorders are only able to record four tracks at once (I think) but they integrate with your computer and can also be used as a controller. Pretty sweet. You'd be surprised what you can do with cheap gear if you put your mind to it.

As for the whole argument about having a nice "room" and great mics, that's pretty much over blown too. Sure, it will help, but you can do just fine in a closet with Radio Shack mics if you're patient. I'm recording my current project in rehearsal rooms, while other bands are blasting in adjoining rooms! It's coming out fine. Obviously, if the room doesn't sound great, you're not going to be able to use much ambience.

[Jim Richman]

Get a Mac Pro with 32GB of ram and 16 cores. That should work good enough to record.

You can get double the power on a Windows computer for half the cost. And forget about trying to use a laptop for anything serious. You need a minimum of two hard drives, ideally solid state. A laptop with those specs is going to start at $4,000.

Sorry, I meant 32 Core with 128GB Ram. That should work good enough for recording a few tracks of drums.

[Jim Richman]

Interface: This is where opinions are wanted. (But offcourse also about the little Mac if it seems uncapable.)

I know I want at least 8 inputs. I know I can go really cheap, but it would be nice for things to be generally passable long term. I've looked around at several models and so far the Focusrite Clarett 8Pre X looks pretty good. It's the only one I've seen with Thunderbolt, which I guess is a point as the Mac has those. If I need more, to record a bigger band live, I can always add an Octapre and I think that will cover my needs for a long time. Another +, because it seems to be considered pretty good, is that I'm thinking it's the one I'll might most likely be able to sell on in the future.

Lucas mentioned the Yamaha mixer which I guess Weckl also used for a while and still uses live. I've never used one of those, but just been told they're not very user friendly and I have experienced a few issues on gigs with guys being new to them. Offcourse it's also a mixer, so multi purpose. On the downside, it's more expensive and has no Thunderbolt port. They do sometimes show up used, though

Thoughts?

The O1V (or O1V96) is what Weckl has used for years and I see new footage of him with the O1V96, so I'm assuming he still does. I had an O1V for years and loved it, never found it terribly difficult to use. If you take some time to read the manual, it isn't a problem. It's pretty much a monitor console for me now, and the reason I went away from it years ago was that newer interfaces had better connection speeds, and in a home studio I didn't really need a mixer.

The thing about digital mixers is they're nice if you're going to be doing some "engineering" from behind the kit, as Weckl does, but if you're building a home recording studio, unless you want a tactile mixing experience with faders and gain pots, they're kind of redundant. On the other hand, they're a very nice resource to have if you want to monitor your tracking outside the DAW software, which will cut down immensely on latency problems if you're tracking 8 inputs at once.

I have recorded 12 tracks of drums on a 2006 Macbook with 1GB ram with no latency issues.

[Odd-Arne Oseberg]

It does seem like a cool little unit. Great for just keeping in the guitar gig bag when traveling too offcourse and doubles as a back up amp.

I'll look at it a bit more.

Always wish the "drum machine" on these things were a bit more like a drum machine.

Putting it together with my iPad and the DrumJam app I'm sure I can make some real damage, though. Love that app.

If the built in mic does a decent vocal and percussion job it's a winner.

[Odd-Arne Oseberg]

Interface: This is where opinions are wanted. (But offcourse also about the little Mac if it seems uncapable.)

I know I want at least 8 inputs. I know I can go really cheap, but it would be nice for things to be generally passable long term. I've looked around at several models and so far the Focusrite Clarett 8Pre X looks pretty good. It's the only one I've seen with Thunderbolt, which I guess is a point as the Mac has those. If I need more, to record a bigger band live, I can always add an Octapre and I think that will cover my needs for a long time. Another +, because it seems to be considered pretty good, is that I'm thinking it's the one I'll might most likely be able to sell on in the future.

Lucas mentioned the Yamaha mixer which I guess Weckl also used for a while and still uses live. I've never used one of those, but just been told they're not very user friendly and I have experienced a few issues on gigs with guys being new to them. Offcourse it's also a mixer, so multi purpose. On the downside, it's more expensive and has no Thunderbolt port. They do sometimes show up used, though

Thoughts?

The O1V (or O1V96) is what Weckl has used for years and I see new footage of him with the O1V96, so I'm assuming he still does. I had an O1V for years and loved it, never found it terribly difficult to use. If you take some time to read the manual, it isn't a problem. It's pretty much a monitor console for me now, and the reason I went away from it years ago was that newer interfaces had better connection speeds, and in a home studio I didn't really need a mixer.

The thing about digital mixers is they're nice if you're going to be doing some "engineering" from behind the kit, as Weckl does, but if you're building a home recording studio, unless you want a tactile mixing experience with faders and gain pots, they're kind of redundant. On the other hand, they're a very nice resource to have if you want to monitor your tracking outside the DAW software, which will cut down immensely on latency problems if you're tracking 8 inputs at once.

I have recorded 12 tracks of drums on a 2006 Macbook with 1GB ram with no latency issues.

Cool.

I've been looking around a bit.

Some hang on to it not having the i7 quad core like the old ones, hence they recommend looking for one of those second hand, but then there are people that seem to be doing it. Going with SSD drives is the main recommendation.

It just has to tie me over for like 4 years, do the job and then I'll go with the future big boy. I can't swing for that now and it wouldn't make much sense either.

I offcourse try to go through as little gear as possible because that's the main place money is wasted.

[chris perra]

It would depend on if you are doing full recordings.. or just cataloging ideas. Using any daw you can record as many tracks as you want..Just get a separate harddrive.. You should get one anyway to optimize things as a sing hard drive has trouble with keeping up with large track counts..

If you only need a sketchbook or to mic a small kit.. the Zoom would be good.. as you are only tracking to it. then transferring to cubase or whatever you want.

If you are going full out.. then 16 ins are needed.. I use 14 for drums on a 5 piece.. But realistically 6 is totally doable for most demo stuff.

if you forsee wanting to do alot of band stuff or full on recording then go big.. but if for the most part it's just you playing drums and then adding a track at a time.. the Zoom would be fine..small convenient and easy to use.

[chris perra]

As far as hard drive speed.. you don't need ssd. Its cool.. but not necessary.. a 7200 rpm drive is fine.

Unless you want to do video editing.. then ssd is a big help.. Ram helps for Vst instruments and visuals for editing but not for recording necessarily as it's reading off the hardrive alot..

Whatever computer you have will be fine for recording... If you can watch 1080p youtube videos.. you can record an album at 44.1khz..providing you have an external hard drive..

Using lots of cpu intensive plug ins or 96 k would be another story.. but as far as recording and mixing using stock plug ins, you should be fine with whatever you have now.

[Paul Marangoni]

Hardware technology, once designed, would never change its signal-flow unless modified by the chief technical engineer of the studio. A recording console once learned, was learned forever. Software though, is very different matter. While the merits of software updates to fix design flaws is great, it also makes it more difficult for the new user to learn. Each update to a software program adds new features for the long-term user but also creates a steeper learning curve for someone new to the program. For this reason, a simple interface design is critical to a software's success.

The rapid development of recording software has challenged the traditional way of making records. The ability to create music inexpensively changed the way audio engineers have gone about their work. The audio engineer of today will find themselves in many non traditional recording situations. As a result, audio engineers have been forced to be more creative in their approach to recording in an attempt to maintain a professional quality recording.

Recording in these non-traditional situations requires a lot of professional recording studio experience. There are very, very few home recordings that merit a professional quality standard. The reason is simple, unless you have had a great deal of experience working in professional situations, you will have no clue what is required to create that sound. An experienced engineer working at home would create a significantly better product than the inexperienced engineer in a pro studio.

http://www.music-production-guide.com/a ... gy-p2.html