Oh fuck. I’m 25 minutes out from the start of two 1-hour back-to-back job interviews and this thing shows up.
Home audio recording setups
- Thread starter Full Trucker
- Start date
Like Christmas
Didn't you just land a job? Screw being a responsible member of our society, go make some noise!
I am also worried about the pink tint of the picture. 
I'm gonna give it a test go here in a bit... just got done with the second of two 1-hour interviews. Fuckity fuck fuck FUCK.
Ha! Yeah... so that picture was taken on our patio table which is white... but the patio itself is covered by a reddish-rust-colored shade sail, so the filtered light is apparently giving it a pinkish hue?I am also worried about the pink tint of the picture.
Here 'tis bitches... my first go at doing something for real in GB with the new 22VSL.
soundcloud.com
Pretty stoked on how it turned out, for just a couple-three hours of dicking around.
Boot Soul Length
This is the second thing I've ever recorded in GarageBand, and the first thing I mixed and produced. Drums are a stock beat from the DAW, bass is a stock MIDI instrument that I pecked out using my mou
soundcloud.com
Pretty stoked on how it turned out, for just a couple-three hours of dicking around.
This thread is making me want to start recording.
Since the COVAIDS lockdown I've been playing my acoustic a ton and writing some instrumental stuff which will not ever, ever be misheard as bluegrass, and wanting to get it on tape.
My last home recording setup was a Tascam Porta 1 4-track and a Boss drum machine. I manged to get excellent results using that in a closed room with a shitty mic in front of a 4x12. This of course was about 25 years ago.
Since the COVAIDS lockdown I've been playing my acoustic a ton and writing some instrumental stuff which will not ever, ever be misheard as bluegrass, and wanting to get it on tape.
My last home recording setup was a Tascam Porta 1 4-track and a Boss drum machine. I manged to get excellent results using that in a closed room with a shitty mic in front of a 4x12. This of course was about 25 years ago.
Fuck yes. My work here is done.
But also... there's moar stuff to record. And honestly dude I'll be ~$200 into this stuff and it sounds totally fine. Shit, bordering on pretty fucking good.
Digital quality is pretty good. You get out what you put in.Fuck yes. My work here is done.
But also... there's moar stuff to record. And honestly dude I'll be ~$200 into this stuff and it sounds totally fine. Shit, bordering on pretty fucking good.
The real money comes in (well, goes out) when you want specific modeling of hardware devices, or fancy delays, or work flow enhancers. Plugins get spendy fast. If you want to make your mixes loud and you get into dynamics processing, then it’s worth it. But for scratching out ideas and demos, you can get going for relatively little money. Good interface. Good cables and mics. Good headphones. Done.
If you ever want some solid drum plugins for heavier music ideas, these guys make some cool products. The pricing isn’t bad, and they have a ton of sales fairly regularly. I’ve got most the midi packs for drum beats and three of their drum kits.
Ugritone - Metal VST Plugins, MIDI Packs and Drum Samples
Metal/Hardcore/Punk VST Plugins, Drum Samples, MIDI Packs and Virtual Instruments for Home-Studio producers. Audio software, Affordable Audio solutions, Music production tools, Creative music solutions
ugritone.com
Not too shabby. Keep going.Here 'tis bitches... my first go at doing something for real in GB with the new 22VSL.
Boot Soul Length
This is the second thing I've ever recorded in GarageBand, and the first thing I mixed and produced. Drums are a stock beat from the DAW, bass is a stock MIDI instrument that I pecked out using my mou
Pretty stoked on how it turned out, for just a couple-three hours of dicking around.
Anything you'd suggest from a production standpoint? Does it need to be louder? Mixed differently? Compressed in some other way? Even though I used to play (I still do, but I used to, too) pretty regularly and gig, I never got into the sound engineering part of things so any advice is welcome. Also happy to keep experimenting with random shit.
Got a mic on the way, but I do need new cables. Found the only guitar cable I have left from when I gigged regularly 30 years ago is just a little 3' guy. So... off to the music store I think I go. I think there's one actually open near me, gonna pick up a few things.
I suppose I oughta create a bookmarks folder for audio recording stuff now. Fack.If you ever want some solid drum plugins for heavier music ideas, these guys make some cool products. The pricing isn’t bad, and they have a ton of sales fairly regularly. I’ve got most the midi packs for drum beats and three of their drum kits.
Ugritone - Metal VST Plugins, MIDI Packs and Drum Samples
Metal/Hardcore/Punk VST Plugins, Drum Samples, MIDI Packs and Virtual Instruments for Home-Studio producers. Audio software, Affordable Audio solutions, Music production tools, Creative music solutions
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The Dieswitch drums sound good. They’re produced and punchy. The kit doesn’t eat up much CPU. I bought the 1st Gen Kvlt Kit on a sale and it’s lofi. Avoid it unless that’s specifically what you want. The Northern Artillery Kit is quite nice but more CPU intensive.
The midi files should work with most other drum plugins that utilize a piano roll arrangement. You might need to do a little bit of arrangement tweaking but nothing crazy.
I like using these just for bass practice. They give me patterns to work with other than just a click.
I've never played to a metronome or click track, and that wasn't easy. I gave up and loaded the simple drum beat in and that was WAY better to keep the groove.
The “final” piece arrived a couple days ago, the Sennheiser e835 mic.
I found a small guitar shop that was open last Friday and bought a new guitar cable (the one I had was only 3’ long), a mic cable, and a used mic stand. Ordered a headphone extender cable from Amazon, so I could have some slack there and not have the cable get in the way when recording stuff with the ‘phones on.
I haven’t recorded anything new yet, but I’ve been playing and noodling around with chord progressions and little melodies and such. The weather Is supposed to turn to shit in the next couple of days, so I’m hoping to record a few tracks then. Gonna try a song with my gal, she has a nice voice and I figure I can do a reasonable John Prine impersonation so we’ll see how that goes.
I found a small guitar shop that was open last Friday and bought a new guitar cable (the one I had was only 3’ long), a mic cable, and a used mic stand. Ordered a headphone extender cable from Amazon, so I could have some slack there and not have the cable get in the way when recording stuff with the ‘phones on.
I haven’t recorded anything new yet, but I’ve been playing and noodling around with chord progressions and little melodies and such. The weather Is supposed to turn to shit in the next couple of days, so I’m hoping to record a few tracks then. Gonna try a song with my gal, she has a nice voice and I figure I can do a reasonable John Prine impersonation so we’ll see how that goes.
Side note: I also ordered a few wall mount guitar hanger hook thingies, so I’ll be hanging my guitars up in this room as well. The room is my office and our guest room, and now apparently the recording studio. Might as well have an instrument or two hanging about, and the floor guitar stand you can see in the pics is old as and not quite deep enough to really hold the acoustic.
Well fuck, these fucking headphones I bought came from a smoking dude and they REEK... and now my home office reeks, and it's disgusting. Even the plastic part of the 'phones smells like smoke. I've got the ear and head pads soaking in Borox, I've already hit them with Febreze fabric and washed them in dish detergent. The plastic part (you know, the headphones themselves) is hanging outside. Gonna try and let them air out a couple three days and see if it helps. Bummed, and a bit pissed at myself for not paying more attention. Might just pull the trigger on a new pair, and sell these. Might have to note in the CL or eBay ad that they came from a smoker and I am way too sensitive to keep them.
In other news, I've been dicking around with tabulature writing software to be able to "jot ideas down" -- @mandown any experience with anything like that? I'm currently using TuxGuitar because it's free and I wanted to see if I'd actually use a tool like this before spending money on something. But the interface is kinda fucked and difficult to use, so even as a proof of concept it seems to be setting itself up for failure.
In other news, I've been dicking around with tabulature writing software to be able to "jot ideas down" -- @mandown any experience with anything like that? I'm currently using TuxGuitar because it's free and I wanted to see if I'd actually use a tool like this before spending money on something. But the interface is kinda fucked and difficult to use, so even as a proof of concept it seems to be setting itself up for failure.
Smoking smell in gear is awful.
I don’t have experience with the tab software. I know some DAW software has a mechanism for conversion to sheet music (terry sure Logic does this).
I’d say learning how to chart and use the Nashville Number System could get you a huge part of the way there, depending on your theory background and the detail of the parts you want to notate. Are you trying to tab out chords or riffs or both? How’s your basic music theory understanding?
I've never heard of this system, I'll have to take a look.
Both, I'd say. What I'm primarily using it for at the moment is like a notebook... I'll noodle around on the guitar and come up with a chord progression or riff that I like, and I just want some way of jotting it down so I can "remember" it later. I could just record it, but if I forget the chords or fingering or whatever a recording just means I have to figure it out again by ear later. I quick tab chart seems easier for this purpose. As they say, a short pencil is better than a long memory.
I'd say it's super basic. I probably know a lot more than I think I know, but don't know what things are called or whatever. Like... I know what a key is, what a time signature is, can handle odd time signatures or polyrhythms, can write simple chord structures and progressions, melodies, that sort of thing. I'm primarily self-taught with a lot of this stuff so I'm not gonna sit down and write a song without playing it or anything. And once you start talking dorian and mixolydian stuff my eyes glaze over.
Looking at the NNS and I'm not sure it'd work for me, for the purpose I'm thinking. It looks good, for what it is. And I understand basic theory enough that I think I could use it for certain things. Like if someone was like "Hey this one is in F#m and the chords are roughly I, IV, I, III, blah blah blah" it seems like I could maybe follow that.
For examples, below is the kinda thing I'm hoping to capture. Pay no nevermind to the bass staff being all wonky against the treble staff, this is just a way for me to jot down the basics so I can help myself remember things later. The bass part is A.) not a complete riff and B.) doesn't have accurate "note lengths" for what's in my head.
*Also it should be noted that while I'm *pretty dang sure* this is the key of G#min and has a bluesy feel, I have *zero clue* what those chords are... which kinda makes the NNS useless to me since I can't read music. I could in 7th grade when I played cello, but not now. I could figure the chords out for sure, but it would take me a minute to identify the notes and sort through it.
For examples, below is the kinda thing I'm hoping to capture. Pay no nevermind to the bass staff being all wonky against the treble staff, this is just a way for me to jot down the basics so I can help myself remember things later. The bass part is A.) not a complete riff and B.) doesn't have accurate "note lengths" for what's in my head.
*Also it should be noted that while I'm *pretty dang sure* this is the key of G#min and has a bluesy feel, I have *zero clue* what those chords are... which kinda makes the NNS useless to me since I can't read music. I could in 7th grade when I played cello, but not now. I could figure the chords out for sure, but it would take me a minute to identify the notes and sort through it.
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The guest room/home office/recording studio (ha!) has never had much in the way of “decoration” but I decided to fix that this morning. FKNA.
I think all of these guitars except the Nuno are early-80s vintage, which is early 90s and might be the first year of the N4/N2.
Nuno (not sure if it’s an N4 or N2,the neck is bolt on which might mean N2?) that I bought new in the early 90s
Les Paul Custom in TV Yellow.
Strat with a Bill Lawrence humbucker in the bridge and a couple of SRV Texas Specials in the mid and neck positions. This things screams, sounds awesome even for a Japanese Strat.
Takamine time, bitches! Bought this lady new for like $350 in probably ‘93 or ‘94? Had a slimline pickup installed at some point, it’s a pretty nice sounding guitar. This is what I recorded the little loop and U2 tunes with.
Hoo dang this thing! I just borrowed this from a friend, might buy it from him. Early 80s Martin 0000 size guitar. Has a couple center cracks running from the bridge back towards the strap button, but it still sounds phenomenal. Puts my Takamine to shame, and it’s a pretty good sounding guitar.
I think all of these guitars except the Nuno are early-80s vintage, which is early 90s and might be the first year of the N4/N2.
Nuno (not sure if it’s an N4 or N2,the neck is bolt on which might mean N2?) that I bought new in the early 90s
Les Paul Custom in TV Yellow.
Strat with a Bill Lawrence humbucker in the bridge and a couple of SRV Texas Specials in the mid and neck positions. This things screams, sounds awesome even for a Japanese Strat.
Takamine time, bitches! Bought this lady new for like $350 in probably ‘93 or ‘94? Had a slimline pickup installed at some point, it’s a pretty nice sounding guitar. This is what I recorded the little loop and U2 tunes with.
Hoo dang this thing! I just borrowed this from a friend, might buy it from him. Early 80s Martin 0000 size guitar. Has a couple center cracks running from the bridge back towards the strap button, but it still sounds phenomenal. Puts my Takamine to shame, and it’s a pretty good sounding guitar.
Looking good.
Here’s a rough shot of my studio. The short scale Fender Mustang stays out, while my closet queen basses hide in a closet. I’ve got various pedals on the right, including unused ones in the black totes under the table. I’ve got my PA speakers holding up a synth and a few pedals along with a mixer. The desk has a 42” monitor I can use when I don’t feel like squinting at my laptop. Adam A7X monitors and my hifi system for playback.
Here’s a rough shot of my studio. The short scale Fender Mustang stays out, while my closet queen basses hide in a closet. I’ve got various pedals on the right, including unused ones in the black totes under the table. I’ve got my PA speakers holding up a synth and a few pedals along with a mixer. The desk has a 42” monitor I can use when I don’t feel like squinting at my laptop. Adam A7X monitors and my hifi system for playback.
Does the Les Paul have a floating bridge for a wang bar, or is the locking nut just for OCD tuning?
Wild. The dark spots on the bridge are the 3 option holes for the bar, based on more detailed pics I found.that looks like an old Kahler trem to my trained eye
Yeah, y'all have it right: it's an old Kahler tremolo on there. I kinda always thought one of the previous owners had that put on there, but I was perusing Reverb.com today to get a sense for what these things are worth (not selling them, just curious) and it looks like it might have been stock? Mine is a 1981 guitar, based on the serial number, and I am seeing later models that have Gibson branded Kahlers on them so who knows? Way back in the day I had a guitar repair guy (luthier, right?) "fix" the tremolo in place, so it doesn't whammy any more. Easy to undo, but I really never used the whammy, despite ALL my electrics having one. I don't recall if I had the Fender fixed as well. And, I've apparently lost or thrown away the actual bar for both the Les Paul and the Strat.
I honestly never knew "tv yellow" was a thing. I assumed that was a 70's faded Alpine White finish.
Got looking for some info about MIJ Strats of the 80s and 90s, to see if the one I have is crap or quality. The serial number dates it in the 1984-1987 range, and I found an article that seems to suggest it's a darn fine instrument.
Yeah, it's a fricken neat color, originally created for use on old B&W television so it didn't flare out under studio lights or whatever. This guy talks a bit about it in this video, and the double cutaway '60 model he has is friggin' cool AF.
Looking at my guitar some more, there's NO WAY that Kahler came stock on this thing. You can tell the truss rod cover plate was hacked in half to make room for the locking nut, and there's bare wood underneath the tremolo where the body was routed out to make a hole for it. Another interesting thing about this Les Paul is someone went through the trouble of sanding the TV Yellow finish off the back of the neck...
...and then slapped a thick as coat of clear varnish over it.
This is (of course) a way more baller setup than I have. Looks awesome, like you could really make some serious noise in that room. I have no amp at the moment, but I still have my old stomp boxes.
Another article about the TV Yellow color: TV Yellow – The Faded Origin of a Classic Guitar Color
I can make lots of noise. Fortunately, my common wall neighbor doesn’t generally complain about anything unless it’s a couple hours of techno kick drum.
I’m really near my limit for gear. I’ve got a couple things on my lust list, but something might have to move out before anything new comes in.
Erica Synths makes a rad delay called Zen that’s been on my watch list for a while. There’s a hardware synth they’re releasing soon that I also want. Polyend has a new Tracker based sampler/sequencer that I’m eyeing. I occasionally think about an Elektron Octatrak since it is such a powerful sampler/sequencer, but it’s got a brutal learning curve.
The only thing definitely coming in is the Hilbish Sol Invictus preamp pedal. It’s a model of a Sunn Beta. It has an A and B channel that are switchable or can be blended. It outputs A and B or A+B at instrument level. It also does balanced and line level outs for A+B.
My budget headphone hanger 
C Clamp.
550 cord.
Done.
C Clamp.
550 cord.
Done.
My current headphone hanger for the smoketastic pair I bought on eBay...
Thinking about a similar setup for the new pair (arrived today!) but in my office rather than under the carport.
It’s one of my favorite terms.
Cranked out another.
I dig it.
Cranked out another.