Home Studio Advice.

Tastyboy

Hi all,

I need some help/information regarding setting up a small home studio. I can play several instruments etc so think it's a good idea to pass time either way!

I'm getting a new laptop next week firstly, it'll have the pentium i5 with 4 gbs of RAM. Is this sufficient? I'm assuming it should be to run reason etc.

Secondly, it'll be a windows based system, so what program would you reccomend? Reason, Logic, etc.

I presume I buy an interface after that so I can connect instruments etc. What price or model would you recomend for the position I'm in? I want to gradually build things up over time so don't want anything that can't process much when I get goin.

For drums I suspect you connect a mixer to the interface? Is that correct? Like a P.A mixer?

Also, what other software is necessary to get various sounds etc? I'll also be getting a midi keyboard...

Does this cover everything? What else do you suggest I should purchase? Also, what is the best technique to making drum beats? It'll be a while before I record drums as I will need lots of mics etc so is there a program people use or what?

Thanking you dearly!

flyswatter

Reason should run on any computer nowadays so that shouldn't be a problem.

Logic is Mac only though so it won't run on PC.

How many instruments do you want to record at the same time? The smaller ones can only do 1 or 2 at a time(but of course you can lay each track down piece by piece) Then there are interfaces like the M-Audio Profire which will let you record multiple inputs.

Are you referring to electronic or acoustic drums?

Tastyboy

I guess I can connect electronic drums to it, but yes, I was referring to acoustic drums.

Basically with all that I mentioned, should I be covered? I presume it'll take me a while to get used to reason, I'm well up for it. Do you think reasson is the best for a windows based system?

I'll probably be only recording 1 instrument at the time & layering things up, until I get good with the program that's basically how I'll do things.

I've heard of other software you can use to make drums sound like their acoutic, even if you program them. I'm all new to this, bare with me!

Cheers again...

flyswatter

Tastyboy wrote: »

I guess I can connect electronic drums to it, but yes, I was referring to acoustic drums.

Basically with all that I mentioned, should I be covered? I presume it'll take me a while to get used to reason, I'm well up for it. Do you think reasson is the best for a windows based system?

I'll probably be only recording 1 instrument at the time & layering things up, until I get good with the program that's basically how I'll do things.

I've heard of other software you can use to make drums sound like their acoutic, even if you program them. I'm all new to this, bare with me!

Cheers again...

To record acoustic drums you will need several mic's positioned near the kick drum, cymbals etc all routed into your interface. You will need an interface with several mic inputs to record ideally for this.

Maybe look into getting a pair of monitors/speakers for monitoring purposes and/or a good set of headphones.

I don't have Reason but I've heard good things about it. Be aware you can't use free or commercial VST's that you have bought in Reason. It's a closed system in that regard. However, this is what makes it a stable piece of software. Also, I believe Reasons synths are top quality.

Different software apps take different approaches towards making music. They all end up doing the same though so it's just a matter of personal preference. Some prefer linear composition so they use an app like Cubase, some like building loop based patterns so they use FL or Ableton Live.

There are indeed software that mimics acoustic drums, the Abbey Road Drums packages from NI being a recent example.

Hope that helps.........

Tastyboy

flyswatter wrote: »

To record acoustic drums you will need several mic's positioned near the kick drum, cymbals etc all routed into your interface. You will need an interface with several mic inputs to record ideally for this.

Maybe look into getting a pair of monitors/speakers for monitoring purposes and/or a good set of headphones.

I don't have Reason but I've heard good things about it. Be aware you can't use free or commercial VST's that you have bought in Reason. It's a closed system in that regard. However, this is what makes it a stable piece of software. Also, I believe Reasons synths are top quality.

Different software apps take different approaches towards making music. They all end up doing the same though so it's just a matter of personal preference. Some prefer linear composition so they use an app like Cubase, some like building loop based patterns so they use FL or Ableton Live.

There are indeed software that mimics acoustic drums, the Abbey Road Drums packages from NI being a recent example.

Hope that helps.........

I got headphones, I totally forgot about monitors. I guess they'll be a few hundred quid? I've cash saved so might as well get a good pair.

Also, you stated: "Be aware you can't use free or commercial VST's that you have bought in Reason". Just to clarify, are these programs that work along side reason? Basically they are not compatable so? What about cubase? Can I use a variety of software & will it be compatable?

Yeah, thanks for your help!

flyswatter

Tastyboy wrote: »

I got headphones, I totally forgot about monitors. I guess they'll be a few hundred quid? I've cash saved so might as well get a good pair.

Also, you stated: "Be aware you can't use free or commercial VST's that you have bought in Reason". Just to clarify, are these programs that work along side reason? Basically they are not compatable so? What about cubase? Can I use a variety of software & will it be compatable?

Yeah, thanks for your help!

Personally I'm thinking of buying these when I have the cash:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/krk_rp6_rokit_g2.htm

By VST's I mean for example plugins such as software synthesizers that work inside software like various Digital Audio Workstations. But Reason can't host VST's inside it. VST's can also be for example effects such as delays, flangers, distortion etc. Cubase supports VST plugins so yes they will work inside Cubase (In fact the company that makes Cubase invented the VST!)

i57dwun4yb1pt8

the two main things to know
a/ do not record drums at home
b/ do not buy monitors if you arent going to properly treat your mix room.


expanded version ;-)

1/ forget about recording drums at home , just forget it - its not worth the grief
( note this come from a person 200% determined at the time to do home drums no matter what , and who also has 30 years experience )
I got good results in the end , but the time / hassle and cost was not worth the effort.

( myself and yoda on the forum are both experienced drummers and have gone through the whole process
the hassle aint worth the results - we both went with Vdrums and samples in the end , though i still mic a live ride and hi hat .
unless you have a seperate , very good sounding room, or a seperate - very dead room -
and have about a grands worth of mics and another grand of preamps( and this is doing it cheap )
- even basic home drum tracks do not cut the mustard .
and thats never mind the months of learning to mic it , mix it , eq it and compress it properly .
trust me - you will end up hating what you are doing - becasue it will suck all of your time .

the drum sound of the recording is the part that SCREAMS Amateur if its not done well
and will make or break a tune in most cases.



2/ you are better of using an ekit with samples - such as Superiour drums 2 or ez drummer
fantastic results , and the stock midi grooves are great - just copy and paste an instant drum track. - no kit at all needed if you want .
its a fcuking god send to the home producer.


3/ I would begin by downloading and using reaper - its free to try for as long as you like and you will learn aload by using it.
has all the plugins you need to learn on , and they sound good .

you need one good mic preamp / DI , or sound card with a mic preamp built in
an RME fire face or a TC electronic konnekt is a good buy .
the di is also good on these - for the bass / and guiar if using software amp sims .


4/ you will need monitors and a treated room - or else use hadphones only
( ath 50 is the best buy here to mix on )
if you dont treate your room, properly - then forget getting monitors - is wasted money
use phones and then check the mix / low end in the car.


5/ if you do guitars , get a low watt tube amp and put it in a cupboard and mic it full blast
else get a digitech gsp 1101 - its fcuking brilliant
forget the pod - it records like crap .
amp plugin sims are also good , but they do have a toppy edge to them in most cases.


6/ vocal mic - sm58 will do you fine ,
or an SM7 even better cos its hi quality and pics up little of the room .



so in
summary - cheap

1/ xp firewire sound card such as RME fireface or TC konnekt
2/ reaper software ( and use guitar sims from the DI )
3/ ez drummer software
4. phones
5/ mic - sm58



summary

expensive



1/ xp firewire sound card such as RME fireface or TC konnekt
2/ reaper software
3/ superiour drums drummer software
4. phones
5/ sm7-b mic
6/ good monitorss ( adams or focal )
7/ well treated room
8/ gsp 1101 guitar processor or tube amp with sm57 mic .
9/ good preamp such as dav bg 1 / or adesigns pacifica .




note make sure you check that the sound card will work on your windows version
- xp is better than vista / win 7 for recording at the moment .


good luck , its a steep learning curve and I hope you have patience !
but its great fun .

DamagedTrax

surprised no-one has mentioned this to you yet - you cant record audio in reason.

TelePaul

DamagedTrax wrote: »

surprised no-one has mentioned this to you yet - you cant record audio in reason.

Was just going to say. It's a shame that reaper and reason sound so alike!

Tastyboy

Ok, great guys & thanks for everything. I will start with reaper so, is reason not a great option? Regarding audio, why will this not work? Cheers.

I'm looking forward to starting, I'm sure it'll be an enjoyable experience when I get there!

dav nagle

Tastyboy wrote: »

I'm sure it'll be an enjoyable experience when I get there!

Where is 'there' as a matter of interest??

DamagedTrax

Tastyboy wrote: »

Ok, great guys & thanks for everything. I will start with reaper so, is reason not a great option? Regarding audio, why will this not work? Cheers.

I'm looking forward to starting, I'm sure it'll be an enjoyable experience when I get there!

reason is an enclosed synth/sampler/drummachine/sequencer environment and was never intended to record incoming audio. the same company released "record" for this purpose and it integrates very nicely with reason, although you are still limited to proprietry plugins (ie, no third party fx)

Tastyboy

'There' is when I'm comfortable recording in a home environment & have a good grounding for the use of the software. Does that anwer?

Regarding reason, I understand now, I assumed it was for audio etc also. I think reaper is appealing for a starter & I'm happy to use that for a while. Thanks again everyone...

dav nagle

Tastyboy wrote: »

'There' is when I'm comfortable recording in a home environment & have a good grounding for the use of the software. Does that anwer?

Best of luck Tastyboy