completely naive question

pallopenna

I'd like to record myself at home strictly to listen critically to my playing for practice purposes. The problem is that I know nothing, literally nothing about what equipment I need. None of my guitars have pickups, so I'd be using a microphone alone. I have a fairly powerful laptop. I'd like the quality of the recordings to be good, but obviously they don't have to be professional. I want to listen for tone as well as technique. Any suggestions on what I need would be greatly appreciated.

1. Microphones?
2. Recording Software
3. Do I need a midi interface (or anything else midi)?
4. Other stuff that I don't know about (the list is long...)

Thanks,

-Paul

andy

Hi. Something like this:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H4/

would be perfect for you. That's assuming it's any good, of course, as it's a new product with no reviews. There are similar devices out there, but the appealling thing about this rather than, say, an Iriver and mic., or a 4-track, or a plain USB interface, microphone and recording package is that it's all that in one: a 4-track with a built in microphone that comes with bundled Cubase software. I've had a Zoom MRS-4 for years and I love it, and will be getting one of these as soon as I can. (I'm not a Zoom representative though, just a floundering amateur).

Hope that helps.

CalebFSU

Paul- I am in the same boat as you I would like to do the same things you are talking about. I work in a music store and we just got in a Boss Br-600
these are really small (about notebook size) recorders it has two built in condenser mics and it is a great unit. It is relatively cheap for the features around 400 bucks. As soon as I can swing it I am going to get one they are really easy to use and plug right into your computer so you can burn discs from it. Check it out.

Craig Bumgarner

There are so many different ways of doing this, probably as many different ways as there are members of this forum, but this is how I do it.

I use a pair of Sound Professional mini mics with a single small stereo pin plug that plugs right into sound card mic socket in my laptop. Small, cheap ($50 for the pair), easy to pack away in the gig bag and pretty darn good sound quality. Nothing (like preamps) needed in between. They also work good with my iRiver. I just hang them over the edge of the desk where I play or on a music stand if there is a group.

Here is the web site. By the way, you can call these guys to discuss.

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-b ... m/SP-BMC-2

For recording I use mostly a cheap wav/mp3 recording program that gives me some editing capability, all I really need is the ability to record in mp3, set sound levels and crop/save files. The one I use is DAK (on the web for ~ $30) which sounds good, but has only a fair interface. I suspect there are better ones out there. I record everything in mp3 for the smaller files and easy transport, emailing, ipoding, etc. I also have Calkwalk Guitar Tracks which is a better program with significantly better controls, multi track recording, etc., but more complicated and records in wav only so if you want mp3s, you have to convert. mp3s are just the only way to go for anything less than CD masters. Calkwalk is just more complicated than I usually need.

Regardless, using the PC is much better in terms of flexibility and time savings than the iRiver. Though the iRiver is very cool, small, simple to use, I find I only use it when I'm away from home and I want to record something with the smallest amount of gear (djam sessions, lessons, concerts). Otherwise, I always use the PC because that is where I want to recordings the end up anyway.

For play back, I find I use Transcribe! most of the time as it has the most convenient start, stop features and can be used to change pitch and speed if need be. Great for playing to backing tracks, homemade or otherwise.

A small group of us have a regular djam session going and the guy whose house we meet at has a very significant digital recording studio and he occasionally records our sessions. His recordings are really excellent (we are not worthy), but mine with the setup above (both with the PC and the iRiver) are not way off. Certainly good enough for the kind of recording you describe.

Hope this helps.

Craig

pallopenna

Andy, Caleb and Craig:

Thanks! You've given me enough information to get me started. As Craig said, it seems like there are many different routes to the goal, and that's a good thing. Thanks again.

-Paul