Where Do I Start With Home Recording?

[shirojiro]

I'm with ya! I have the 2Seemy as well. I just put together The Green Room to start recording again. But the D3200 is just too much for me. I am retired and have all the time in the world but relearning that thing gives me anxiety and has me thinking about selling it. There are people who love them. Haven't used it in many years out of frustration. I just don't know if there are any desk top platforms that would be easier. I have a long time friend who swears by Garageband.

I have Garage Band on my desktop and my IPad and I still can’t figure out how to use it.

I'm also struggling a little with GarageBand - mainly because I have to learn what the icons mean, and hover over them so that I can figure out what they do.

I think there's a lot of trial and error for me since I get bored watching Youtube videos about how to use GB.

I think it's probably about the right speed for me at the moment. My band mates are learning Logic which looks like the next step up from GB.

 

[brianrost]

shirojiro,

YouTube is your friend, don't give up on it. There’s hundreds of tutorial videos for GarageBand. Quality varies, you have to wade through some bad ones. Skip the “learn everything in ten minutes” ones.

For Logic, tell your bandmates to check out MusicTechHelpGuy, his videos are excellent and free.

GarageBand is Logic under the hood, with the advanced features disabled. You can import GB projects directly into Logic, although not the other way around. Although it can work with MIDI, it’s not really focused on electronic music, rather guitarists, singers and bands. Working with just the supplied Apple Loop library it’s easy to put together complete songs….perform the parts you can and use loops for the rest (drums, etc.)

 

[Geddyfleaharris]

Software is typically much cheaper and has more functionality as well. You are tied to the computer but if you need to be mobile (like recording in a rehersal space) just get a laptop.

Since you are familiar with the old tape 4-track proicess, there are still machines like that out there and dollar for dollar they are stupid cheap. Tascam sells Invalid Link Removed that costs $650, less than what I paid for one of their cassette 4-tracks back in the 1980s.

View attachment 5140550

Zoom makes similar machines, the current R20 for $450 has 16 tracks, an onboard drum machine and an onboard synth that can be played by plugging in a MIDI keyboard

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You can buy even less expensive machines with fewer tracks, here's a $300 Tascam with 8 tracks.

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They all come with onboard effects and have a DI input for your bass or other electric instruments.

Some handheld recorders can multitrack, too. For instance, the Zoom H6 which is a 6 track (doh) machine for $280.

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You can buy older, discontinued machines for even less. I have a Boss 8-track from about 15 years ago that I don't use. It's similar to that Tascam 8-track above except on the used market it's only worth maybe $100 max. Plus it has a CD-R burner for backups or burning playable CDs, something more recent machines can't do.

Like I wrote, software is cheaper (free, even) than a hardware recorder if you ignore the money you spent on the computer or tablet. You can buy audio interaces for under $100 and they all come with recording software. Then you just need a mike (if you plan on singing or miking up instruments or amps) and some headphones. You can plug your bass into the interface without needing a DI. The free software is usually track limited (8 tracks being common) with a path to buy the "full" version later at a discount. If you happen to own an Apple, you get Garageband for free which is even more fully featured than the free "lite" packages that come with interfaces.

This is an interesting thread. I have tried home recording set ups a couple of times. I currently have a Focusrite that I can plug into a computer. It comes with Ableton Live I believe. A former band mate set up a computer for me with the Focusrite stuff. However he said the storage wasn't big enough, I would need an external hard drive blah blah blah. My eyes gloss over. I have tried my set up a couple of times but the DAWS is not intuitive to me. I don't have the time, nor do I want to devote the time, to trying to learn an elaborate set up.

I am not trying to accomplish a finished product.

I simply want to be able to record an idea quickly, save it, then be able to play it back for the guys in my originals band.

Is that possible with any of the standalones in the quoted post? I have been looking at handhelds too. Is one of those really all I need? Does a handheld do a decent enough job that I can upload to YouTube or Facebook or not really? I am trying to keep my recording gear to KISS.

Thanks in advance.

Apologies in advance if I hijacked the thread. Not my intention. But a lot my questions are being addressed in this thread.

 

[SoulReflection]

This is an interesting thread. I have tried home recording set ups a couple of times. I currently have a Focusrite that I can plug into a computer. It comes with Ableton Live I believe. A former band mate set up a computer for me with the Focusrite stuff. However he said the storage wasn't big enough, I would need an external hard drive blah blah blah. My eyes gloss over. I have tried my set up a couple of times but the DAWS is not intuitive to me. I don't have the time, nor do I want to devote the time, to trying to learn an elaborate set up.

I am not trying to accomplish a finished product.

I simply want to be able to record an idea quickly, save it, then be able to play it back for the guys in my originals band.

Is that possible with any of the standalones in the quoted post? I have been looking at handhelds too. Is one of those really all I need? Does a handheld do a decent enough job that I can upload to YouTube or Facebook or not really? I am trying to keep my recording gear to KISS.

Thanks in advance.

Apologies in advance if I hijacked the thread. Not my intention. But a lot my questions are being addressed in this thread.

For something quick and easy, I would use a looper pedal like this one (tuner included):

https://www.amazon.com/LEKATO-Funct...t937FDPp1Oo7z9Uf0wv0Ah5AX4xoCNrMQAvD_BwE&th=1

 

[Geddyfleaharris]

For something quick and easy, I would use a looper pedal like this one (tuner included):

https://www.amazon.com/LEKATO-Funct...t937FDPp1Oo7z9Uf0wv0Ah5AX4xoCNrMQAvD_BwE&th=1

That is what I am talking about for simplicity! Thanks.

 

[SoulReflection]

That is what I am talking about for simplicity! Thanks.

Works great...I use it when I have a quick inspiration and it doubles as a great way to tune in pedals and amps without have to actually playing bass at the same time (main reason for buying it). I still prefer my Reaper setup for DAW recording and learning new tunes.

 

[brianrost]

I am not trying to accomplish a finished product. I simply want to be able to record an idea quickly, save it, then be able to play it back for the guys in my originals band.

Just use your phone. You can make the recording and then text it to everyone.

 

[toddsterbassist]

My home setup has evolved but is still centered around how I started - with recording directly into a fostex MR-8 with an internal hard drive. I record my tracks into the fostex (don’t like recording to a pc) but export those wav files to a computer running an old version of Cubase. Here I mix and eq the tracks. A lot of times I’ll move mixes back and forth from the computer to the MR-8. I usually route my signal (bass, guitar, drum machine, vocals) through a Rane MLM-42 to the fostex. The Rane gives me some additional control and flexibility of the signal, including fx loops for my vocs or drums, prior to the signal hitting the recorder. I generally don’t like to use DAW software for my tone (other than eq if needed) so all guitar and bass is recorded, usually direct, via Tech 21 gear. Amazingly a sonic maximizer on the drum machine works really well too. For me, the simplicity of recording ideas to the fostex is key. I don’t like equipment interfering with the creative process and flow so the simpler the better. I’m much more of a songwriter than an engineer. I am simply trying to capture a demo of the song and always assume I can record a song professionally, utilizing better engineers, recording gear, guitarists, singers, and drummers if the idea gets that far. This approach probably won’t work for most people. My dilemma is going to be if my fostex dies as I believe it’s no longer in production and I’m not sure any other similar products offer the same functionality.