How do you record your music?

Hey what's up everyone? I would really like to record some music and put it up on youtube, but I don't have a camera. I don't really care if I have a video, I just want to get the audio. Does anyone know what kind of equpiment I would need or can anyone think of an inexpensive way to do this that will also produce good sound quality? I'd appreciate any help I can get. thanks.

Hi!

It all depends on how much money you want to invest, but basically you can start out with a headset and a software program called Audacity (I do believe Audacity is freeware). If you're sitting on a mac, then you have Garageband which I use for the time being. (I started out with a headset myself and some people liked the scratchy quality, haha)

If you want more advanced equipment and quality recordings you could go to a music store and ask them for advice.

Good luck!

bronzemaedchen wrote:Hi!

It all depends on how much money you want to invest, but basically you can start out with a headset and a software program called Audacity (I do believe Audacity is freeware). If you're sitting on a mac, then you have Garageband which I use for the time being. (I started out with a headset myself and some people liked the scratchy quality, haha)

If you want more advanced equipment and quality recordings you could go to a music store and ask them for advice.

Good luck!

ok cool. thanks for the advice.

i've recorded my music straight to tape with a tascam 4-track. acoustic guitar and voice mic'd, electric guitar direct in, midi-synth direct in. mixed/mastered in ableton, and sent back to tape.

my_eric_life. wrote:i've recorded my music straight to tape with a tascam 4-track. acoustic guitar and voice mic'd, electric guitar direct in, midi-synth direct in. mixed/mastered in ableton, and sent back to tape.

How much did your 4-track cost?

it's my old roommate's 4-track which he bought over summer through craigslist for $50.

I've personally found that digital recording can be a relatively inexpensive way to record. If you're a stickler for analog "warmth", adding a decent tube preamp before your audio interface can achieve that. You might be able to add tube tone in post-production as well.

What I use is thus:

Gateway E475M Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz, 4GB RAM, Firewire, 5200 RPM HD): I picked this laptop up off of craigslist for $250. Typically, screaming deals are to be had, especially corporate buyouts, online. The guy who sold this to me didn't even know it had a full 4 GB of RAM in it since he had installed Windows XP 32 bit, which doesn't recognize RAM beyond 3 GB.

M-Audio Firewire 410 Audio Interface: I picked this up off of eBay for $120. It's an older model, and some people report difficulties with drivers in Windows 7, but it's performed well for me, not only for recording, but for live guitar effects and looping. M-Audio makes several other affordable Firewire and USB interfaces as well, in addition to other companies. I've found Firewire to be the best available standard for low-latency processing.

As far as software goes, I use Adobe Audition 3.0. It's getting older, and Adobe is no longer updating it, but it really gets the job done.

Finally, a large capsule vocal mic can make all the difference as far as vocals go. I like the Nady variety; they're very inexpensive, and though not the highest quality, they get the job done, especially if you take the time and tweak your tracks out with a good mastering plugin afterwards.