Help my recording setup work!

[MattF]

Hey!

Tomorrow I'm getting a few drum microphones for my birthday (Beta 52A and not sure what overheads, but they'll be penicls most likely). I want to get recording with spending as little extras money as I can. Here's the equipment I have at my disposal here at home:

Soundcraft Spirit M12 Mixer (http://www.soundcraft.com/product_sheet.asp?product_id=24)
About 5 SM58s
Soundblaster Extigy (USB sound card, since line in on my laptop is crap)
Laptop
Basically unlimited supply of random sound cables, adapters, and microphone boom stands.

I told my dad to get me just the overheads and the kick mic, instead of a crappy mic pack. This way, I could have good quality microphones that I could build a full good-quality mic set with.

What I want to know:
1) What's software do you recommend for my home use? (Disregarding price)
2) What future purchases should I look into to improve this setup?
3) Any tips you guys have for cheap soundproofing, and also just general recording tips?

Thank you!

Matt

[surftex363]

sound proofing cant be done cheap. costs prob a couple thousand dollars to sound proof. foam does nothing for sound proof. Adobe audition is the best software IMO. you can download it via bit torrent pretty easy. other than that your set

[SMX_Dizzy]

Foam does nothing for sound proof?....you're gonna need to back that statement up.

[Tju85]

...I think what he means is that the acousic foam that studios put up on their walls for the "acoustic" sounds, does nothing for sound proofing.

[MattF]

Yeah, I said sound-proofing because currently I want to annoy the neighbors as little as possible when recording. Currently, I use a few tricks to do that which take away from the sound of the drums a lot, but I want my drums to sound as nice as they can while recording.



Which also brings up: what should I be doing about acoustic reinforcement in my room? It's a small room, solid walls, drums right in a corner. Would hanging blankets on the walls make a big difference?

Thanks for the responses so far!

Matt

[Butnutz]

That particular Spirit mixer has been discontinued.

Instead of spending cash on a mixer and sound cardl you might look into the recent trend of firewire mixers such as the mackie ONYX series. stay away form the behringer XYNYX knockoffs(or whatever they are called).

Honestly, the ONYX series preamps as the best low cost preamps i have EVER HEARD. ive heard and done shootouts between the onyx pre's and EXPENSIVE professional preamps, and the difference between some are negligible. this isnt sales hype either, i was honestly curious and took it upon myself to borrow an onyx 400f to compare the pres, and they rock! too bad they dont work with protools[actually i just got an idea!..i see PTmpowered in my future with a lightpipe bridge & 2 onyx800f units]

the alesis firewire mixers are OK, but the preamps suck.

think of preamp quality as the difference between crappy steak and good steak. both are meat, but one is better tasting.

going this route, you will save money in the long run, and be able to record individual tracks instead of a stereo submix. a mackie onyx 1620+firewire card will run you about $1000, maybe 1100. if you dont need the built in EQ(which comes after the firewire outputs, so you cant record anything with EQ engaged), i would spring for an Onyx 800f, or a presonus firepod.(the mackie pre's are better, but the firepod is half the price)

[MattF]

That particular Spirit mixer has been discontinued.

Instead of spending cash on a mixer and sound cardl you might look into the recent trend of firewire mixers such as the mackie ONYX series. stay away form the behringer XYNYX knockoffs(or whatever they are called).

Honestly, the ONYX series preamps as the best low cost preamps i have EVER HEARD. ive heard and done shootouts between the onyx pre's and EXPENSIVE professional preamps, and the difference between some are negligible. this isnt sales hype either, i was honestly curious and took it upon myself to borrow an onyx 400f to compare the pres, and they rock! too bad they dont work with protools[actually i just got an idea!..i see PTmpowered in my future with a lightpipe bridge & 2 onyx800f units]

the alesis firewire mixers are OK, but the preamps suck.

think of preamp quality as the difference between crappy steak and good steak. both are meat, but one is better tasting.

going this route, you will save money in the long run, and be able to record individual tracks instead of a stereo submix. a mackie onyx 1620+firewire card will run you about $1000, maybe 1100. if you dont need the built in EQ(which comes after the firewire outputs, so you cant record anything with EQ engaged), i would spring for an Onyx 800f, or a presonus firepod.(the mackie pre's are better, but the firepod is half the price)

Yeah, in the future I'd love to switch to something cheap like that. Thanks for the suggestion, the 1620 actually looks awesome, and the price is impressive.

The things I listed (Spirit M12 mixer, etc) are things that my Dad uses for live sound, so I have them at my disposal. He doesn't do music or recording, so that's why I need all my own equipment. Money's extremely tight here, but since I'm going away to college next year having my own mixer might actually be a great idea. For now, I just want to get a good recording using what I have along with whatever little cheap things will make a difference.

Thanks for the response!

[Butnutz]

Foam does nothing for sound proof?....you're gonna need to back that statement up.


foam doesnt soundproof anything.

3 things stop sound:
Mass, Density, and Space.
foam only quickens the absortion of frequencies above 1k, which generally wont be transmitted through a solid structure very far anyway.
basically, in order to absorb a frequency, the material used must be 1/4 of the wavelength of the lowest frequency you wish to absorb.
for example:
the full wavelength of 4000hz(4khz, or 4k) is 3.39 inches at sea level between 68 and 72 degrees farenheight. so 3.39/4=0.8475".
so, in order to properly absorb the frequency of 4000hz and higher, you would need a thickness of dense foam 9/10ths of an inch thick.
keep in mind, this is not total absorbtion, but a reduction in a DB value that is determined by amplitude(volume) and the dimensions of your room.

acoustics makes me head hurt at night, so ill type up my notes and add them to the thread titled "How recording Works"

[Butnutz]

Yeah, in the future I'd love to switch to something cheap like that. Thanks for the suggestion, the 1620 actually looks awesome, and the price is impressive.

The things I listed (Spirit M12 mixer, etc) are things that my Dad uses for live sound, so I have them at my disposal. He doesn't do music or recording, so that's why I need all my own equipment. Money's extremely tight here, but since I'm going away to college next year having my own mixer might actually be a great idea. For now, I just want to get a good recording using what I have along with whatever little cheap things will make a difference.

Thanks for the response!

ah, i missed the part where you said you already HAVE the listed gear. My bad...its been a long day.

[Milkman]

For acoustic treatment look into combining bass traps with broadband absorbers. General construction for these is based on using rigid fiberglass. Lots of good info at:

www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

Lots of other good plans and info at

www.homerecording.com/bbs