Specific Help for A Beginner With Limited Resources

[darkstar0082]

Alright I've been trying to set up a home studio for quite some time now and have yet to produce anything worth working on. I know it takes a lot of time to learn all the stuff so I only want to have to learn it once. I am a guitar player mainly but have been experimenting with fruity loops 5 producer edition and came up with some cool beats.

The question(s) I have is exactly what I need to put everything together. I have a lot of my dad's old recording stuff from way back when (that happens to sound brilliant by the way.) I use a mic from audio technica (AT801) for recording acoustic guitar and vocals. I know it's not the typical studio mic but again I am limited on budget and the sound quality is actually quite good.

I have a sony vaio pcg-grt240g laptop running linux and windows xp. 60gb hd 512mb ram
The sound card is stock.

I have a m-audio Blackbox that has inputs for the mic and guitar. I don't know how to use it with my computer but thats what I want to learn.

I've got a pair of old monitors but I don't know how to hook them up to the computer. They have a red and black tab for wires but no inputs for cables. (get it? there are slots for wires but no inputs like an input for an electric guitar cable.) How do I hook those up to my computer? They are of JBL brand.

Software: I downloaded kristal from the free list...I have access to fruity loops 5 producer edition if I want it on my computer. Can I record with just kristal or audacity or do I need to pay (or hack, wink wink) cubase or protools. I've been in a professional studio before and protools scares me. I guess my biggest concern would be learning curve. I mean I have time to learn but I am not the brightest bulb so I need something a little watered down that can still get me professional results.

Custom made guitar, roland juno synthesizer keyboard (dad's) and a little creativity.

My goal with recording is to record local bands as well as my solo projects. They type of music would mainly be alternative punk rock music with some keyboards.You guys make it sound so simple but it is really hard for me to figure out what goes where and how it is all supposed to connect to produce a quality sounding song. Any help would be appreciated. And if anyone knows what the hell this BLACKBOX is for please help with that. I paid $400 at guitar center because they said I needed it to record my guitar to my computer. I like the effects but I don't know how to use it with my PC.

If you are confused about what I need help on then just ask!

[DT Chris]

Originally Posted by darkstar0082

I have a sony vaio pcg-grt240g laptop running linux and windows xp. 60gb hd 512mb ram
The sound card is stock.

This system probably won't be enough.
Hard-disk
I've found that music software programs will recommend a 'scratch' disk to be used (a separate hardrive) while recording, so that you're not slowing down while trying to playback a track(s) and recording a new track(s) to the same harddrive. I use Cool Edit Pro (now Adobe Audition), and I have my scratch disk separate from my main disk. In your case with a laptop, you may be able to have a second (portable) hard disk installed to do this.

Also, 1 song with many tracks could use up a very large amount of space on disk before you have the chance to mix it down to the final format (mp3, w/e).

Hard drive read/write speed is important too. The cheap models only run 5400rpm (Daewoo, no-names, OEM), while the better ones run 7800rpm or even 10,400 rpm. The faster they are, the better they can access content, allowing you to record/playback better.

RAM
You probably won't have enough RAM to be happy with recording and playing back, nm even running Pro Tools or other programs, especially when trying to play back and record multiple tracks. Windows XP accounts for close to 256 MB RAM just to run, nm the many other tasks in the background that may use up the rest. Even with serious tweaking (which I'm almost expert at) Windows XP, 512 MB just won't cut it. I currently have 1.256 GB of RAM on my computer and I'm still not happy. I'd recommend 2GB just to begin, to be honest.

Onboard Video or Sound Card
The built-in soundcard on your laptop won't be able to do anything special but record a 'line-in' input and would be severely frustrating. I recommend you read the Sound Card Wizard provided on this site. It's highly doubtful if you'll even be able to improve what you have in your laptop - ask your retailer or manufacturer what you can upgrade or can't.

Originally Posted by darkstar0082

I've got a pair of old monitors but I don't know how to hook them up to the computer. They have a red and black tab for wires but no inputs for cables. (get it? there are slots for wires but no inputs like an input for an electric guitar cable.) How do I hook those up to my computer? They are of JBL brand.

You probably won't have these type of speakers hooked directly into your computer. They may need to be connected to an amp first, then you run the sound from your computer to the amp for monitoring purposes. Don't ask me how to wire your particular speakers, I don't know. I just sing into them, I don't usually set them up - though I'll have to learn for home recording

Originally Posted by darkstar0082

Software: I downloaded kristal from the free list...I have access to fruity loops 5 producer edition if I want it on my computer. Can I record with just kristal or audacity or do I need to pay (or hack, wink wink) cubase or protools. I've been in a professional studio before and protools scares me. I guess my biggest concern would be learning curve. I mean I have time to learn but I am not the brightest bulb so I need something a little watered down that can still get me professional results.

Paying for software is the best way, when you begin you don't need all the bells and whistles. However, as been stated many times in these forums, that the learning curve of ProTools, etc can be quite daunting, but in the end give you maximum control over every aspect of your recording. I would assume as well that if you were to grow into a studio engineer position, or sit in in another recording studio for someone else's project, they may be using Pro Tools and you'll be able to use it with no problem.

When you're just beginning, though, and just want to throw down some tracks, practice your mixing ability, or songwriting, etc, why not start off with simple tools like Cool Edit Pro/Adobe Audition/Kristal, etc. After all, actually recording music is more important in the short term than being a software expert. I've always had trouble myself with technology getting in the way of my creativity - I can get bogged down in the technical details and lose my inspiration - I"m still working on simply being able to plug the guitar in at any time and record without losing a step...

Master your tools
That being said, I will make what I think is an important point. I've had experience with many musicians and studio engineers (not in a professional sense however, I haven't released records), and I've found in my experience that the best software/tools is useless if someone doesn't know how to use them. Someone with what appears to be substandard recording equipment, but knows how to use it inside and out, can produce some nice sounding recordings, while another with the best stuff makes it sound like it was recorded in a garage. The point? Use what you know and what you can afford to the best ability you can, and learn better tools as you go along and have the need. Usually questions like "How do I get this sound? How can I stop this from happening? How do I make the vocals brighter?" will provide the answers as to what tools you need next, be it software, mics, instruments, etc.

Good luck. I'm learning right along with you

[brandondrury]

I guess my biggest concern would be learning curve.

If you don't like learning, you'd be better off watching American Idol.

In all seriousness, there are about 100 bajillion things to learn with recording. Everything from understanding what "input impedance" means to understanding IRQ conflicts in the PC to dealing with customers who don't pay on time are a normal thing in the recording world. There is a ton to learn.

Now, the great thing is you can learn as you go. You can't start with very little knowledge and work your way up. Everyone who has ever recording a platinum record started out completely ignorant.

I have a sony vaio pcg-grt240g laptop running linux and windows xp. 60gb hd 512mb ram

This system probably won't be enough.

These are the specs for this system.

Intel Pentium 4 2.66GHz Desktop Processor
512MB PC2700 DDR Memory (1GB Maximum)
60GB Hard Drive
Multiformat DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
15" XGA (1024x768) Display and NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go with 32MB Memory
AC'97 Audio
v.92 56Kbps Modem, 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11g Wireless
Three USB 2.0 Ports, One FireWire (iLink) Port, Memory Stick Slot and One Type II PC Card Slot
12.9" x 10.7" x 2.0" @ 8.0 lbs.
Windows XP Home Operating System

You will want a new soundcard. (See my soundcard wizard below). The computer itelf is probably faster than anything I've ever used for recording and I've done hundreds and hundreds of songs.

The RAM isn't exactly perfect, but different programs use different amounts of RAM. I used Vegas for years and never used more than 512MB of RAM. In fact, I upgraded to 1GB and saw no noticeable difference in performance.

Now Cubase SX3 uses quite a bit more ram. You'll need to check the specs of the different software out there. When I use samples, it's not rare to max out the 2GB of RAM I have now.

So, the RAM issue has a lot to do with what you use and how you use it.

I think the computer is a great way to get started, but I would highly recommend a real deal recording soundcard / audio interface.

I've got a pair of old monitors but I don't know how to hook them up to the computer. They have a red and black tab for wires but no inputs for cables. (get it? there are slots for wires but no inputs like an input for an electric guitar cable.) How do I hook those up to my computer? They are of JBL brand.

You need a power amp. You send the outputs of your soundcard to the inputs of the power amps. The power amps then go to the speakers. This is how all audio systems work, but many modern audio systems have the power amplifier built into the speakers. These are known as (powered speakers).


If it was me, I'd use your computer. Try to get by with your current hard drive, buy a real deal audio interface (probably Firewire) and use some of the open source (free) software online. I'd focus on putting in my time and get as much experience as possible. You can make some great recordings with the gear mentioned. Feel free to ask any questions you need to (just start a new thread if the topics are wildly different).

Brandon

[darkstar0082]

Thanks guys.

A quick question about the black box. It has inputs for Mic,Guitar, headphones (or amp) and outputs for speakers. Can I use this to hook up my speakers to my computer? Currently when I plug it in with kristal, the sound plays back through the 25watt amp I've got hooked up through the headphone jack. I think I can work with this setup even if I don't use the speakers but it would be nice to put them to use.

[brandondrury]

It has inputs for Mic,Guitar, headphones (or amp)

Just for clarity's sake, I'm assuming that the headphone / amp jack you are referring to is an output, right?.

Can I use this to hook up my speakers to my computer?

If the Black box is sending signal, you can do with it as you please. Certainly hooking up speakers is one of those options. Obviously, you'll need to power those speakers with something, though.

I think I can work with this setup even if I don't use the speakers but it would be nice to put them to use.

Agreed. Sometimes a small mixer is handy for allowing to have seperate volume controls for your headphones and you studio monitors. I'm not sure if this fits the budget. Most soundcards with more features already have this level control, but the Black Box does not.

Brandon