OK, the heart of every recording studio must have these:
Yup, that's right..Headphones..You will find out very quickly that without these little jewels recording can become pure hell. The reason is simple, the more you can focus on what you are trying to achieve, the better the final product. This not only allows you to find your best, your flaws, and your edit points,. It also helps you from being distracted by the outside world.
**Next Component: Are you gonna sing? lalala!
Well if you are this is going to be obvious.
Yes, the infamous microphone. There's not much to say about this gear, except one thing. Quality! Don't waste your time with some crappy microphone. Get a good one, with good range. It will be a one time investment, so be wise. A Microphone will last you a lifetime..Well, as long as you're not a rock group like The Who, or throw it off the roof. Don't even waste your time doing vocals using some goofy, cheap, internet microphone that you blah, blah, blah with at yahoo, or somewhere..If you do, I can guarantee you..You Will Suck!
Next Component: A combo order..
This is purely my own suggestion here. It's just how I do things, and may not necessarily be good for you.
This is how I record. It utilizes both worlds in one piece of gear. The advantage to this, I think, is that it allows you to move around your studio more freely. You don't have some boom mic stuck in your face, or bonking you on the head. You will be able to monitor your own voice without the use of outside speakers, and they do love to squeal feedback. One final note: Remember Qualiy! Don't go using some headset from some telemarketing, or the phone company,,Once again you will suck. There are all levels of this gear out there. So be wise, and invest your hard earned money in quality the first time.
**Next Component: Now we get cool.
The MIDI Keyboard
Yeah! Let's rock! Not so fast there rocker. There are some things you should consider here as well. Are you going to just do analogue music (no midi), or digital music? Well, what is the difference? Hmm, let's say the difference between an acoustic guitar, and an electric one. An acoustic guitar will always sound like an acoustic guitar, so let's call it analogue sound. On the other hand, an electic guitar can be modified, or it's sound altered by introducing a variety of electronic effects. So we would call it digital. Get the idea?
So if you are just wanting a more mellow, or parlor type sound.. go acoustic. Acoustic can be recorded into the mic without any patching. However, recording this way will also record everything around it, as well. So it would not be a good time to drop a pot lid. Well, unless it's part of the effect.
If you want to go digital. you will need a keyboard that supports MIDI. Ok, lets stop here..I have said that MIDI name many times, what is it? MIDI stands for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface" I will be putting a glossary of terms at this end of this course for all of you that want to use big words, and stuff :) Anyhow, a MIDI keyboard will be neccessary for digital composing. What's that? Do I detect moans from my student again? I know.. you still have that image of them tinny sounding little internet MIDI songs. Trust me, once we get into the software part of this, you will see MIDI a whole new way. You may be a bit surprised to know that a lot of major recording people implement MIDI into their own music recordings.
**Next Component: The Sound Machine
These are pretty much standard stereo equipment, Most of these components you probably already own. A few you may want to add in the future for more effects, and enhancements.
That's correct..A dual cassette deck. You are probably thinking we use CDs these days, and cassette is history. Think again, the cassette industry is still alive, and making new enhancements all the time. I doubt seriously if CD recording will ever have the ability to record live, like the tape media has always been able to do. Next,,
Yup, a reciever and/or amplifier. Without this puppy, you obviously are not going to hear anything, patch your cables, or make your desk look really cool in the dark with all them little lights blinking..Here is where Quality comes to play again. Be very careful when selecting these. If you are using a reciever instead of a straight amplifier, beware of radio signal drifting into your recordings. Most quality recievers do quite well at filtering out radio interference to other channels such as your auxilary, etc. Just keep this in mind, or consider using a straight amplifier instead. Next,,
An equalizer..This is not a necessity yet, but in time I feel you may want to have this gear. This will be more of a final dub, or master recording machine, and is not used for input recording. What that would mean is you would use this to do such things as trim up your vocals, enhance your bass, and other things to produce a quality sounding final recording
Yes, this is that thing I told you about that they used to play records on. It's called a turntable. Records were like giant CDs with grooves. They were an analogue playback only device (remember that word?). They also could playback stuff on both sides. Hmm, and you thought CD / DVD thought that up? :) Anyhow they are still around these days. You have probably seen portable DJ stations using them, or seen them used in videos by major rap groups such as Salt'N'Pepa, or Run-DMC.
Final Component: The Must Have
You will most definitely need one of these. An audio mixing board. It doesn't have to be an elaborate one, but it must be able to at least support 4 channels. This mean 2 left, and 2 right channels for stereo playback. Most mixers also incorporate a microphone mixer control as well. Some mic contols are Mono (meaning 1 playback channel), but most are stereo.
OK, get out the flashlight, and fuses. We are going to wire this stuff together next lesson,,End Lesson 3.