Want to learn how to record myself / what to do

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Permalink Reply by Bernie on September 25, 2009 at 12:08pm

I have used the mic on my computer to record my practicing, I didn't think I needed a better set up

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Permalink Reply by Walt Pilcher on September 25, 2009 at 12:35pm

Eddie,

I'm no expert on this and my set up is more complicated than some because I'm using PrintMusic (notation software) and Cubase to compose and record music, with a condenser microphone plugged into a Lexicon Omega that interfaces with my computer. If all you want to do is record yourself, then what Bernie does is probably the easiest approach. Listen to some of Gil Garcia's work (search "Gil" on the search function and go to his page) too. He just has a mike plugged into his computer as well, although when he does videos he has a camera too.

Another option might be a recorder like an H2 Zoom or Tasco, or something liked that. But you would be talking about spending around $180 or more. Good mikes are less than that. There is a forum discussion going on about those right now at http://www.acousticguitarcommunity.com/forum/topics/portable-record...

I have a Logitech video camera mounted on my PC and the microphone in it seems pretty good too if I just want to record practice sessions.

Walt

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Permalink Reply by Edward Sparks on November 4, 2009 at 7:28pm

Hey Walt,
I didn't know (or remember) that you used CuBase and a Lexicon Omega...that's what I use. Hey, I emailed back and forth with Chris at Lock-it and he is sending me two chocolate brown leather ones! Thanks for the contact info. Edward

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Permalink Reply by Michael Miller on September 25, 2009 at 6:42pm

I have a Zoom H4 recorder that I use all the time. It is very portable and records onto a standard memory card. You can copy the mp3 or wav file to a computer. It even comes with editing SW but I haven't used it. The nice thing about this and other similar products is that you can use the mics to record or plug straight into it and record up to 4 tracks.

It might be more expensive than a mic by you can carry it around with you.

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Permalink Reply by Eddie Colon on September 28, 2009 at 8:42am

Hi, and thank you, Bernie, Walt and Michael. I will tell you what I've done. I have an old Olympus Digital Recorder, its really for recording voice notes and business meetings, and I'm going to see what a recording on this sounds like tonight or tomorrow. I had given it to an ex-girlfriend, she never really used it much, and now, after I told her I want to learn to record, she kindly (?) offered to give it back to me. You guys are right about this should be enough, I can get better equipment when I'm recording more than just practice sessions. I still would like to know/learn about software advice, (I use Linux on my PC) and can anyone explain in layman's terms, how can I record two tracks ?

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Permalink Reply by Curt Tresenriter on October 28, 2009 at 4:38am

Hi Eddie,

Like you I'm a Linux user and have found Audacity pretty easy to use for recording, although it will do lots more than I've used it for. I believe it's set up for mono as default.
To record in stereo, open the Audacity preferences. In the “Audio I/O” section, change the number of recording channels from 1 (mono) to 2 (stereo).

I struggled with it for weeks when I finally found that I needed to get the sound card set up properly. If it doesn't record out-of -the-box for you post again and I'll search out the instructions that made it work for me.

I bought an Art Tube MP Project Series digital interface that takes the low level from the guitar and amplifies it to a level the computer can use. It also supplies phantom power for a condenser mic that can be used at the same time as the guitar input. The Art Tube MP is another less expensive model that does pretty much the same thing for around 30USD.

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Permalink Reply by Eddie Colon on November 4, 2009 at 11:43am

Hi Curt. I'll tell you what I've done. I gave up on that Olympus voice recorder I mentioned in my last post. I took your advice and gave Audacity a second look. After I bought a $20 microphone from a music shop, I played with the linux audio settings and I was thrilled when I was able to record using the mic and Audacity let me do 2 tracks, I was able to play a simple melody, then I recorded again, just singing, and audacity played my guitar part as I recorded my singing. Man, I'm excited. That was just a few days ago, now I'm recording all the stuff I know, plus I want to play around with my amp. The only question I have, is : these recordings sound weak, and a little bit tinny, I guess I really need that mic signal boosted, right ?

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Permalink Reply by Curt Tresenriter on November 5, 2009 at 7:21am

Hello again,
My limited experience with microphones was with studio (read: expensive) gear, Neumann, Shure, etc. and have yet to invest in one myself.
You may be right about needing to get that level up, check the specs and then find out what your soundcard needs for input. It may be a simple fix.
I'm sure someone here at AG could give you more detailed/useful information
Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Rhythm Strummer on October 22, 2009 at 3:55pm

If you are on PC i would reccomend getting audacity. Its free. It may take a bit to learn, but i think they have a good manual. Audacity is whats called a DAW, or digital audio workstation. That lets you record the audio onto your computer, and manipulate it once its there.

You will need something to get the audio from the mic into the PC. These units are often called interfaces, and connect to the PC via firewire or USB. they have an input for a mic or guitar cable. The presonus firebox is a good cheaper choice. So to record your guitar and voice simultaneously you can use one mic directly in front of you at chest level. Or you can record the guitar first, then overdub the vocals onto a second track.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Hulseman on November 5, 2009 at 10:23am

Hi Eddie, Just joined the group here and wanted to jump in on this discussion. Bottom line is how do you want to sound? How much do you want to spend? and How simple do you want the procedure to be. My experience is the better your voice and instrument sound, the more you will be inspired and encouraged by the possibilities. I have a lot of studio gear which I use for making a finished demo but for practicing I'm don't often want to go through the process of setting everything up.- if I'm just trying out song ideas I usually use a little Roland Edirol recorder. The thing sounds great and you can plug it in to your computer to upload the MP3 pretty much automatically. You can also pop the track you recorded into a multi track recorder like pro-tools if you want to. It gives you a good quality stereo recording. Depending on where it is positioned in relation to voice and guitar, you can get a pretty good balance. The other way which is new to me is via computer video camera- if you want to actually watch yourself or share the video with others. That for me was frustrating because the camera I got which was a Logitech- can't recall the model number but the mic on it was horrible. So I picked up an M-Audio usb mic and it works much better. The camera also recognizes the driver for it. I think there are a lot of choices there too- I just saw that Blue makes a usb mic- I bet it's pretty good- but just for practicing- the M-Audio one suits me fine. I'd love to get the sound from the the Edirol to track with the video camera but haven't figured out how to do that yet. I hope this is helpful. Happy recording! Jim

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