Home Recording
 

Any enthusiasts or hobbyists here lay down their own tracks?

Last night I recorded a demo for a friend so he'd have something to play along with as he develops a piano part for a song we wrote.

I miked my guitar amp with a Shure SM58 in my hallway, all the doors closed. The mic was plugged straight into the front jack of my Augidy 2 Platinum (having plugs up front is really nice).

Recorded the thing in one take, mistakes and all, into Cakewalk Home Studio 2002. I did the vocals onto another track with the same mic. Did a little bit of mixing, mixed it down to MP3, and I was done.

I need some more Microphones, though. I've got a Mackie 12-channel mixer, and I'd like to use it to record my guitar parts with two or three microphones.

Anyone else have a home "studio" setup?

I used to have a modest synth studio based around a Mac Centris 650. I have a Shure SM57 for miking acoustic instruments (I don't sing...my contribution to humanity). I used Logic Audio, Finale and Digidesign's Audiomedia card and software. Mainly used it for printing out my compositions, arrangements and orchestrations. I also dabbled in Trance, Drum & Bass, Techno, and Electronica productions and remixes.

Here's what I've gotten rid of:

Mac Centris 650
Roland S550 rackmount sampler
Boss MX10 10-channel mixer
Boss SE50 effects processor
Furman PB40 parch bay
Sony dual-well cassette deck with Dolby-S
SKB 12 space rack
Ensoniq ESQ1 keyboard
Buscher alto sax
Boss DR660 drum machine

Here's what I still have:

Korg 01/W keyboard
Korg Wavestation SR rackmount synth
Roland XP30 keyboard
Yamaha WX11/WT11 wind synth and tone generator
A Windows based PC I built myself
A lot of cables

This is off the top of my head so the lists are probably not complete. I haven't recorded much lately as I've been getting into digital video. Also most of my stuff is now software based (synths, samplers, etc.) so all I need is a MIDI keyboard for a controller.

I've forgotten how much fun I used to have creating music. I need to get back into it.

I have a very similar setup to you, TeeSeeJay. I use a Shure SM86 condenser mic plugged into a Behringer Eurorack UB 1002 mixer (mainly for the phantom power), which I plug into an Audigy (first model). And the software that I use is also the Cakewalk Home Studio 2002; it's affordable and works very well. I also have a simple MIDI keyboard for synth and effects, but, for the most part, I usually just use the mic for natural sounding instruments.

It's not a bad setup, and it gives you the whole DIY sound and feeling.