Quit the job, make music!

[Edu Cesar]

Hi! First of all, congratulations for the great forum and website, I´ve learned a lot since I found out about it.

I´m a photographer in Brazil and I have decided to quit my job and start making music for a while! Since I can´t find a band, I figure I have to do it all by myself. And this is where the hard work begins!
I want to record my music at home, but I know I won´t be able to have professional results (money and structure issues). I´m thinking of recording home demos and if the songs are acceptable, I´ll go to a pro studio. My budget is low, unfortunately.

I will record my acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and vocals in my desktop, computer at my apartment. Drums and other percussion, I will record at my parents house (I have a drumset in a medium-sized room there), using a notebook.

Here´s the setup I thought about:
- Lexicon Lambda, PreSonus INSPIRE 1394 or M-Audio Fast Track interface.
- Behringer Xenyx 1204fx or 1622fx mixer.
- Behringer B-1 condenser mic for vocals/acoustic guitar.

I´ll borrow a friend´s set of drum mics. I know the best way to record drums is to do each piece separatedly. Since I won´t have the money to buy an 8 or more input interface, I´ll have to use the mixer.

What do you guys think about this setup? Will I need another mic to record the acoustic guitar? Which is the best interface for this situation?

Thanks,

Sorry for the long post and any English/grammar mistakes!

Edu Cesar
educesar | fotografia

[brandondrury]

I know I won´t be able to have professional results (money and structure issues).

There is an old Henry Ford quote that I always liked. "Whether you think you can or you think you can't....YOUR RIGHT!".

I've always said that I CAN get pro results out of a home studio. I'm closer now than ever.

I know the best way to record drums is to do each piece separatedly.

This is ENTIRELY dependent on sound you are looking for. I've recorded drums with a single mic.

What do you guys think about this setup? Will I need another mic to record the acoustic guitar? Which is the best interface for this situation?

It depends on the situation. Assuming we want as many mics as possible, you may want to go with an audio interface with more inputs. I'm not sure what your budget is, but I wouldn't buy a mixer unless I needed to submix a bunch of tracks.

You could get something like a Presonus Firepod for $400 US. That would allow you to record 8 inputs simultaneously and you wouldn't need to submix. Even if you only had a few mics, you could either borrow from friends or simply work your way up.

Brandon

[DT Chris]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

I've always said that I CAN get pro results out of a home studio. I'm closer now than ever.

Especially when you put it in the context that perhaps at the time the Led Zep albums and perhaps Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" were being recorded, their entire studio setup is probably half of what we now have in modern computers, gear and software...

With the power of a home computer and DAW, there's no reason why we couldn't replicate these albums now in our basement...

[brandondrury]

Well....how do I say this? If you focus on the computer aspect, maybe you have a point. However if we look at the picture, I'm not sure if I agree. Let me explain.

The recording chain consists of: song, artist's performance, artist's instrument, room acoustics, mic, preamp, compressor (optional), recording medium (analog tape in those days).

A typical home recording probably won't be generating classic songs like Zep or Pink Floyd. The odds are very strong that you aren't recording any John Bohnams. Instruments these days are very very good and much cheaper than they used to be. Room acoustic in a house is usually shit. There merits of analog tape vs digital have been discussed thoroughly. Some love it. Some hate it. However, the work flow is much different. I consider the limitations of tape to be a very good thing.

While recording computer allows us to record 40 billion tracks if we want to, I'd say the technology is simply cheaper and not necesssarily better.

So I don't think I'm in nearly as good of position to make a great recording as Alan Parsons or Andy Johns even if I have more compressors and tracks.

Brandon