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Old 01-02-2010, 12:17 PM   #1
rlyacht
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Default Best way to use my existing gear (beginner Q)

I'm a guitarist getting started with reaper, and have bought hardcopies of the manual and also Home Recording for Beginners. I'd like to record myself playing guitar directly, i.e. no amp/microphone, use various VST effects, and ultimately use jamstix for drums (I know that's not a first step). I'll need to do all my listening using headphones. I have the following gear
  • Tascam US-122
  • Zoom G2.1U (stompbox with USB interface)
  • ASIO drivers for the Tascam and Zoom installed and working
  • "eh" laptop: IBM T43, Pentium M 1.86GHz, 2G RAM, onboard intel 915 audio, no firewire port, USB 2.0
  • Headphones
  • Numerous guitars

I realize this is not the greatest assortment of gear, and so I'm really just looking for advice about how best to use it. I could spend a little on more gear if it would make a big difference, but would prefer not to. I can get various combinations working, but I'm not sure what I'm doing is optimal.

Thanks for any advice!
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Old 01-02-2010, 01:09 PM   #2
3mph
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What do you plan to record? My advice is to forget your hardware and do it in the box with software. If you need to record vocals or drums you'd need additional mics, a soundcard with more I/O.

I don't know anything about drum-mics, but for vocal and guitar I recommend a Golden Age TC-1. Cheap and good sounding. For recording amps I recommend an used AKG C3000 - maybe in combination with the good'ole sm57.

A computer with core2duo would be an advantage too.

I would stay away from hardware effects or amps unless you plan spend a lot. Of course, you can never recreate the sound of the AC-30 from the late sixties, but if you haven't got the mics to record it there's no point in it. With the amp-sims and software effects you can get today (even for free) you offer yourself a lot of (other) alternatives that might be enough to forget about the expensive hardware reverbs, amps and mics.
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Old 01-02-2010, 01:46 PM   #3
Omni
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Alright, I don't know if the Zoom can do reamping (record dry while listening to a wet signal, then play the dry signal back and record the wet signal) but assuming it can:

1) Use the Zoom as your interface while recording Guitar
2) Use the Jamsticks for your drums with whatever drum program you like for sounds. EZ Drummer, AD, Superior Drummer, BFG, whatever
3) When you're ready for vocals, use the Tascam.

I recommend getting a Line 6 UX1 or higher. It'll give you Pod Farm which can give you bass guitar, guitar, and vocal amp models to run on your laptop. It'll give you a Mic and Line input and can record dry.

For Bass guitar, if you don't have one, play it on your guitar and use Cool Edit or something to tune it down an octave or two. It sounds terrible by itself, but in a mix it can do a pretty convincing job. I know. That's how I used to do it until I could buy my own bass. BTW, my Squier P-Bass (with J-Bass pickups) that I just bought for $200 sounds WAY WAY WAY better than my "nicer" ibanez bass. I recommend picking up one.

For Vocals, you'll want a LDC or large diaphragm condenser microphone. There are a ton of low cost LDC's like the MXL2003. These won't sound awesome but at your level they'll be more than adequate. Your Tascam has Phantom Power, which you'll need to use the LDC mic.

When all is said and done, you laptop will suck at this job. The processor is slow and the RAM is insufficient to do very well at running lots of plugins and samplers. If you can record your guitar track, then define the sound you want, then render it to a stem track, that'll help you alleviate the plugin processing. Same with drums. Get what you want figured out, then render the tracks to .wav files.

If you check out www.myspace.com/offormerfame and listen to the songs there (The Pharisee is brand new). I've used this setup pretty much. I use the UX8 so I don't need 2 interfaces. However, drums were recorded in MIDI and run into Addictive Drums or EZ Drummer. Guitars, Bass, and Vocals were all done with Pod Farm. Reverbs and such were all free plugins. I have some expensive plugins too, but honestly I don't need them a lot with Pod Farm.
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