Tell Us What Works Best for You!

[Lazyknife]

Like Matthew I haven't made a huge impression in tv/film songwriting yet, not any impression at all actually . I determent to change that!

I'm a guitarist. I record my electric guitar through an sennheiser e606 into an digi002. I spent some time on the position of that mic in front of the amp, because I don't want to spend lots of time eq-ing.
My acoustic guitar tracks are recorded with an Rode NTK. Mostly mic to 12th fret. There's an TC C300 in the chain to compress it a bit. Vocals are also done with the NTK. I really love that mic!

I use protools 8.0.1. Rough ideas are also recorded with it.

I've put another topic on for lists of all your equipment/VI's. Thought it might compliment this one.

[leonh]

I prefer hardware so I use Korg m50 and old but still going strong yamaha QY 700 sequencer.

[jonathansorensen]

I use a Shure SM7 through the Greatriver mic pre or the A-designs Pacific Pre. For a mid priced mic pre, the great river is an unbelieveble tool. (goes for about 1000) The Pacific is one of the best mic pres I've ever heard. It has a very clear, clean, defined sound, especially on the high end. It's phenomenal for vox or guitars.

I track bass through the A-designs REDDI direct box into the pacific with the pad on to attenuate gain, then through the distressor. It's a beautiful thing. BTW, the price for the Distressor compressor has dropped and this tool is probably the most musical, widely used and affordable you can find.

I use the apogee 200 AD/DA into Cubase 5.5 but I find all the important stuff happens before the music hits the computer. I took Ronan Murphy's Home Recording Boot Camp and just moving a mic around, half an inch here, half an inch there can make a HUGE difference in sound and quality. I used to spend hours and hours eqing but just changing from a heavy pick to a floppy one and putting on new strings got me a shinier more professional sound than any eq ever did.

If you are a song writer or producer who tracks themselves or even if you're a pro tracking other people, I would have to say out of all the money I spent on gear (and the higher quality stuff DOES make a BIG difference, don't let anyone lie to you), the most important investment I made was going to the home recording boot camp. If you're not getting forwards because of production, spend a week with Ronan. It's worth every penny. Or just go to his class at the taxi rally. I've saved myself a lot of money that way. At the very least, I can track high quality tracks and have someone else mix them. Since the class I've also gotten some 8s & 9s on production. Before I was getting 5s and 6s.
Jon

[davewalton]

For the midi-based crowd, the biggest thing is getting good, quality virtual instruments. In today's market where an almost perfect reproduction of a Bosendorfer or Steinway can be had for a few hundred dollars, and a full-blown ultra realistic orchestra (i.e. "Is that a real orchestra?") can be had for under $1000, there's really no excuse for working with instrument sounds that are obviously fake.

What works for me is a small collection of quality virtual instruments. Then I can focus on the composition/mood/genre because the sound quality is more or less taken care of by itself.

[dynamicalan]

Hi Dave,

I've noticed that Komplete 7 is only a few hundred dollars. I know the Vienna Orchestra is a great collection. Do you use logic?

Alan

[orest]

Hi Dave,

I've noticed that Komplete 7 is only a few hundred dollars. I know the Vienna Orchestra is a great collection. Do you use logic?

Alan

Vienna is a great sounding library, but I mainly use east west platinum orchestra for my stuff.
If you're composing and want that "Hollywood" sound, I think east west qualifies better for this task. Just my opinion though.
There are also a bunch of other great orchestra software out there.
Vienna is dryer and I use it for my classical music.

I use Logic 9, and it works great with all my plug-ins, I rarely have any problems, and if I do, it depends on a bad driver from the software company, not Logic.
I think Logic is the best choice for me because I compose a huge amount of orchestral music, and it's very easy to edit with Logic. But, if you are used to Cubase, Pro Tools and likewise, you can probably edit things similar to Logic and the other way around.
I like that Logic is made by Apple and it works really great with their computers.

[anne]

Presonus FP-10 Preamp , purchased mainly for the clarity and detail when recording acoustic guitar and vocal.
This is a work horse for the price!

[dynamicalan]

Hi,

do you think the guitar sounds in Logic 9 are better than in Logic 8. I noticed there are pedals for guitars in Logic 9.

Alan

[vasek.g3]

I like and use equipment from: PRESONUS, YAMAHA, SQUIER by FENDER, HUGHES KETTNER, RODE, SHURE, ....
There are so many companies offering equipment for musicians, sometimes it is difficult to decide, what to buy.
Maybe better for us, some great tools (instruments, software) are for really good and affordable prices.

Vašek

[DaveZ]

Superior Drummer with Metal Foundry, My Axefx and my Shure sm7b.. course then there's the chair I sit on and I cant forget my comfy socks... or my favorite shirt..... and that one hat.... or


Dave