Recording / arranging on my PC for less than $300

[NickInMesa]

Before you tell me to go get a Mac, yes I know Macs are better for graphic, video, sound and music editing. Faster OS, better access to memory, etc...

I am a SQL & Dot Net developer and therefore a Mac is out of the question, but maybe one day if I have the extra budget

Anyway, currently all I have is a Pandora PX4D, I tried recording through the Mic input but it sucked bad.

I tried the PX5D but was not convinced.

I am looking to set something up so that I can record little demos. I'd like to be able to add some drum machine and record myself playing guitar and bass, plus maybe singing on top.

I also own a Peavey Tour amp and a DBX compressor.

I do not own a PA.

Thanks in advance!

[nsmar4211]

Some ideas:
So... Lazy question.

[Hellbastard]

Line 6 makes very nice begginer recording interfaces which you connect via USB to your PC, that way you can get your bass and guitar into a DAW or recording software (E.g Cubase, Live,etc.) This one http://line6.com/podstudioux1/ also helps with vocal recording since it has an XLR connection with 48V phantom power. (In case you have a condense mic)
As for a drum machine you could easily just sequence the drums and play along to them.
The line6 interface includes POD Farm (modeling software) Ableton live which is a nice DAW and sequencing software that could get you started.
Finally,do you own a Mic, if not we could look into some that might work for you.
Hope this helps a bit

[facethebass]

Some more info on your set up might narrow this down or change this list but when I first set up recording on my own, this is what I bought.
I am assuming you have all the gear since you have already tried recording with mixed results. I had a Marshall MCA SP1 condensor mike (bought it for $60 online-They're great....not $5000 Neumann great, but great.) , a bass, a guitar and a microkorg (come to think of it, that is still all that I have).

My first recommendation would be to buy some used RAM and max out your computer if you have not already done so. It is very easy to do yourself. Much frustration avoided by doing this. That said I still only have 700 Mb-I need atleast another Gb to be happy.

Get an interface. It will save your computer from doing alot of the work. I am a huge fan of the Tascam US 122-l or US 122-l MKII (about $125) which comes with the light version of Cubase 4-a fairly adaptable DAW. It has 2 inputs so recording full drums or bands is not really an option but it does have MIDI and XLR inputs in addition to the 1/4" inputs should you need them.

For about $87 you can get a hold of some Alesis M1 Monitors if you need them (some will tell you to save your money and get better ones but that is silly-waiting is no fun, no they are not the best but they are adequete for what I think you are asking).

As for drums I am never satisfied with my drum machine programming skills so I found a website called Dooley Drums which has live loops recorded-different tempos and quite good sound. With the time stretch feature on Cubase and some creative editing I get a fairly good result. A one year membership costs about $25 which allows you to download and save all his loops.

So...
$125 US-122
$ 50 RAM upgrade if needed
$ 87 Alesis M1's
$ 25 Drum loops
$287 total which still leaves you $13 for beer!

Hope that helps
Dean

[jkramer5]

I'd revisit that korg pandora. Most of Thomas Rissel's video's on you tube , untill very recently were recorded the same way, he even gives instructions and the settings he uses on his website, playbassnow.com . If you don't know who he is, his youtube name is marlowedk - his youtube page is here http://www.youtube.com/user/MarloweDK for an idea of what that pandora can sound like.

I suspect that maybe your problem is that use used mic in rather than line in. If your sound card only has one input jack and not a seperate one for mic and line, look in the mixer and see if you can set to one or the other there, and use line in.

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

Before you tell me to go get a Mac, yes I know Macs are better for graphic, video, sound and music editing. Faster OS, better access to memory, etc...

I am a SQL & Dot Net developer and therefore a Mac is out of the question, but maybe one day if I have the extra budget

Anyway, currently all I have is a Pandora PX4D, I tried recording through the Mic input but it sucked bad.

I tried the PX5D but was not convinced.

I am looking to set something up so that I can record little demos. I'd like to be able to add some drum machine and record myself playing guitar and bass, plus maybe singing on top.

I also own a Peavey Tour amp and a DBX compressor.

I do not own a PA.

Thanks in advance!

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showth...90#post8238590

[Eublet]

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

yes I know Macs are better for graphic, video, sound and music editing.

Not to turn this into a Mac vs. PC thread, but the Mac is more entrenched in this market, and there are lots of great applications for those types of tasks. That makes them a better choice for most, but it's not required.

Faster OS, better access to memory, etc...

This part is not true at all. Even a decent PC can equal or surpass a high-end Mac in terms of performance, so if that's what you already have you should be able to accomplish whatever you wish without having to purchase a Mac.