Simple Home Recording Components

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Keith1237
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Simple Home Recording Components

Post by Keith1237 » Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:34 am

Can someone give me a component list for a small home recording setup? Thanks! Keith
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Re: Simple Home Recording Components

Post by cosmicdolphin » Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:38 am

A Computer - PC or Mac..I would say go far a desktop tower type machine if you can so it's easy to expand with extra drives etc

An Audio interface - If you only need to record one mic at a time then there's loads of great budget options - Even the ultra cheap Behringer UMC22 is pretty damned good , I had to get one as a spare when my main interface was being repaired.

A Midi keyboard controller - 49 keys is probably the sweet spot, don't go for these weird brands that are dirt cheap on amazon they tend to break after a coupla years - plenty f good options at all budgets

A pair of monitors - best you can afford, most are powered these days so self contained

A set of head phones - closed back for tracking

A 2nd way to check your mixes...could be an old boombox or cheap computer speakers..something lofi - if you can hook it up to the audio interface via the headphone jack or something it'll make things easier

A DAW programs -Cakewalk is free - Reaper is cheap ...both fully featured. There are others but they are either more basic if free/cheap or they are full DAWs that cost several hundreds but they don't do any more than Reaper/Cakewalk really.

A mic - Get the best one you can afford

Also think about acoustic treatment , a good chair, a DAW controller

Mark

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Re: Simple Home Recording Components

Post by rizarefaldi » Sat Jun 05, 2021 2:21 am

cosmicdolphin wrote:
Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:38 am
A Computer - PC or Mac..I would say go far a desktop tower type machine if you can so it's easy to expand with extra drives etc

An Audio interface - If you only need to record one mic at a time then there's loads of great budget options - Even the ultra cheap Behringer UMC22 is pretty damned good , I had to get one as a spare when my main interface was being repaired.

A Midi keyboard controller - 49 keys is probably the sweet spot, don't go for these weird brands that are dirt cheap on amazon they tend to break after a coupla years - plenty f good options at all budgets

A pair of monitors - best you can afford, most are powered these days so self contained ukuran kertas a4

A set of head phones - closed back for tracking

A 2nd way to check your mixes...could be an old boombox or cheap computer speakers..something lofi - if you can hook it up to the audio interface via the headphone jack or something it'll make things easier

A DAW programs -Cakewalk is free - Reaper is cheap ...both fully featured. There are others but they are either more basic if free/cheap or they are full DAWs that cost several hundreds but they don't do any more than Reaper/Cakewalk really.

A mic - Get the best one you can afford

Also think about acoustic treatment , a good chair, a DAW controller

Mark
i use reaper but i got problem with VST3 plugins.
can you recommend me some better DAW programs?

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cosmicdolphin
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Re: Simple Home Recording Components

Post by cosmicdolphin » Mon Jun 07, 2021 12:17 pm

Try Cakewalk, it works with all my VST3's

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Re: Simple Home Recording Components

Post by Kolstad » Tue Jun 08, 2021 1:51 am

GUITARS, tons of guitars! :D
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Re: Simple Home Recording Components

Post by lesmac » Tue Jun 08, 2021 2:22 am

GUITARS, tons of guitars! :D
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Simple Home Recording Components

Post by Keith1237 » Tue Jun 08, 2021 5:06 am

Thanks for the help! I debated about joining TAXI for some time. I did not know the real requirements for the recording quality needed for submissions. Had I known that at the start such as being explained more fully at the TAXI initial website, I likely would not have joined. I don't have the equipment for properly recording songs for the submission quality needed. I did speak with a TAXI rep who was very helpful, but was advised mp3 was OK. Well, of the 5 submissions i have made, the feedback on all was poor/lack of recording quality among a few other very good comments. I can't participate to the TAXI level even to start it seems without at least minimum small/home recording studio and the ability to operate it. Wish I'd known that sooner. Thx!
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Re: Simple Home Recording Components

Post by Casey H » Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:19 pm

Also, some audio interfaces come with a free copy of DAW software. Tascam units generally come with Cubase LE which is a scaled down version of the full Cubase but has pretty much all required functionality.

Good luck!

:D Casey

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Re: Simple Home Recording Components

Post by Telefunkin » Wed Jun 09, 2021 11:42 am

For 'simple home recording' you can start with a 'simple home recorder', and if you only record guitars and keys you might not need a mic. You can listen to the results on headphones. That's it - job done - enjoy your 'simple home recordings' at home. Making serious and competitive recordings demands some knowledge and skill though.
Keith1237 wrote:
Tue Jun 08, 2021 5:06 am
I can't participate to the TAXI level even to start it seems without at least minimum small/home recording studio and the ability to operate it. Wish I'd known that sooner. Thx!
That seems an entirely reasonable expectation to me. I don't wish to sound challenging, but I'm not sure how you thought your music might make it onto TV without those things. BTW, its not really 'the TAXI level'. Taxi represents the expectations of the professional music libraries they run listings for, which in turn reflects the expectations of the professionals who make the TV shows that use their music.

TV music might be simple at times, but will almost always be well contrived and well produced by someone who knew what they were doing. I don't make the rules but the standards are high. As with any discipline, it is possible to jump in with very little kit provided you know how to make the most of that kit. Otherwise, any success would be a happy accident :). More sophisticated equipment helps get better results, but only if you know how to use it. Therefore, IMHO its always the knowledge that's the most important thing. Some learn a lot very quickly, but its usually a continuous journey. Reaching an acceptable standard that allows you to consistently achieve 'broadcast quality' (and there's a ton of threads on these forums explaining what that means) is not too difficult with a bit of study and guidance though, and if you have the inclination you should be able to pick it up. There's a ton of free info on Youtube about computer recording systems and production, and there's also some really good training at reasonable cost.
Graham (UK). Still composing a little faster than decomposing, and 100% HI.

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Re: Simple Home Recording Components

Post by cosmicdolphin » Wed Jun 09, 2021 4:29 pm

Keith1237 wrote:
Tue Jun 08, 2021 5:06 am
I did not know the real requirements for the recording quality needed for submissions. Had I known that at the start such as being explained more fully at the TAXI initial website, I likely would not have joined.
" Broadcast Quality " is plastered across every Listing , there is a blog where you can listen to what got forwarded and many many folks have posted about what TV shows their music has been in so you can get a really good idea how high the bar is from watching an episode or two.

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