Where do you guys record?

NewbieUkie

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I'm always curious about where others play at home, and if they record, where and what kind of gear do they use?
I recently cleared out a room in my basement that had been the work-out room everybody wanted but NOBODY, (yes, I'm guilty as well), ever used.
What do you guys do?
I'm not sure if this kind of thread has been run here before, and I apologize if it's been covered.
It would be fun to hear about what kind of gear you're using, where you use it, and see some pics of your dedicated space, (whether it's a room or a corner of your bedroom), and maybe learn a little from each other on how best to make some home brewed tunes that we can take with us on a CD when we travel, or give to friends for the bragging rights, etc!
Any interest in sharing some info and some pics?
 
I wish I could help you out but I don't even know how to use my webcam thing built in my laptop lol so I don't do a whole lot of recording.
 
I don't have a sophisticated set up at all. It would be nice to get pro-quality gear, but I just don't have the money right now.

So it's my MacBook Pro and GarageBand for me.

Before my instruments get fed into my computer, I pass them through a pre-amp. I'm using the M-Audio Mobile Pre.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MobilePreUSB-main.html

I also have a lightweight gigging keyboard that's on the fritz right now, but it's the M-Audio Pro Keys 88sx.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/ProKeys88sx-main.html

Before it broke, I loved it. 88 semi-weighted keys, a couple of good piano sounds, and it only weighs 17 pounds.
 
it really depends on how much money you CAN to spend. with mics the old saying "you get what you pay for" holds true. i cant help you on specific questions.

check this forum out, when it comes to recording they generally know what they're talking about. all i can say is that its going to cost a shiny nickel.
http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=10

as for recording, i use a mic thats in my MP3 player.
 
I've only really played around with recording my own voice (and I usually wait until the house is empty in respect for everyone with ears) but all I use right now is a single mic called a snowball from Blue. It works out pretty well and once you run the recording through some software (I use Adobe Audition) it's even better.

http://www.bluemic.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Products&file=index&prod_id=18
 
Since I'm just a uke enthusiast with no designs on a music career, I just use some basic stuff to record whatever I've recorded for fun. For videos, I use my digital camera, which is a Sony Cybershot T-7 (pretty old model now). For MP3's, I use my laptop with a cheap plugged in microphone and Audacity (free version).
 
I second Audacity. Free and easy to use. I use an OSP condenser mic through an ART preamp (Tube MP Project Series with USB) into my laptop, and Audacity. I can overdub voice and other tracks, including my cheap casio keyboard.

UkéDan

Hey. This is my first post...
 
Usually in my basement home studio. Not the best room, but decent once I turn off the aquarium, the furnace/AC, and chase the kids out of the house. For a small source like a uke, signal chain is usually, Neumann KM84i --> Pendulum MDP-1 Pre --> Lynx Aurora 8 --> nondescript Pentium 4 PC running Sonar 6 --> NHTPro A10 monitors.

I recently picked up a used Apogee Duet for my secretary to do Voice Over work. After playing with it a bit, that would be a truly fantastic simple all-in-one interface for someone wanting to record uke/vocals and who ran on a Mac platform. It was designed for Mac and integrates with Garage Band and Logic. Very, very nice preamps and converters with a FW connector - major value for the price. Truly elegant. If I was using a Mac platform, I'd seriously look at a Duet or an Ensemble for doing home recording.

Oh, and if you think that ukes generate GAS, wait until you get into recording! It's a black hole that swallows money. If you have an interest in recording, two other sites to check out are www.gearslutz.com and www.homerecording.com. The former is frequented by lots of pros (some of whose names may be familiar to you) and the later is more purely a home recording site (although a few pros drop by from time to time).
 
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I don't really have much equipment cuz I'm really strapped for cash. All I have are a few mics and a few amps. I use a chord to hook up to my comp to record my music and I use my music room which was chosen for its acoustics so it wouldn't really be necessary for much gear. If I could get more gear I could probably do better recordings.
 
How about some pics?

Wow guys...great responses....as varied as we all are as people....cool, huh?
How many of you have a dedicated room? What does it look like?
Show us some pics!
I'll go first:

Take a look...(sorry for my horrible photography, and there's a vocal booth, but it doesn't show in the pics, (all the way to the left, if you look you might see the edge of the window to the room from the booth), and in the second pic you'll see I have both a PC and a Mac...I can't decide yet which I like better! (for recording....I like garageband too, but the PC has a couple programs that I like as well...) (I just realized that in the second pic you can also see a little of the door to the vocal booth...it really helps to lay down isolated vocal tracks having a separate area.)

StudioRoom2-1.jpg



StudioRoom1-1.jpg



StudioRoom3-1.jpg
 
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