The recording I did recently for Ryan McLoughlin is now online, with a fantastic video done by Oisin Griffin (oisingriffinphoto.blogspot.com). Check it out!
Monday, 27 June 2011
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Setup
I haven't blogged in a while and I figure an update is in order. In this post I'm just going to run through my setup and post some photos of where I will be doing (most of) my recording.
This is a picture of the whole lot. Two krk speakers, 13" macbook pro, alesis imultimix 8 usb holding 160gb ipod classic, dell keyboard, apple pro mouse, sony hifi headphones, wallet, blackberry and 70's cop glasses.
The krk rokit G5's are probably the best things I have ever bought. I used to have the attitude towards speakers that they were unnecessary and even a cheap pair would do. But after getting a bit of money I decided I'd try to get a good pair and after failing to find a pair of Tannoy's these were my second choice. I'm actually really glad they didn't have the Tannoy's; I'm really happy with the quality of these speakers and they look fantastic too. Having a good pair of speakers really improved my mixes and even the way I record. I bought them last November in Rub-a-dub records in Glasgow for £225.
This is my Alesis imultimix 8 usb interface. I bought it for €200 over a year ago on Thomann. For the money it's sold for, this is a brilliant interface, especially for beginners. It's design is loosely based on a tabletop mixer but more compact. It has 4 xlr inputs and the last 4 inputs are squeezed in to 2 tracks, split in to left and right channels. The middle of the console is where beginners get lost, or anyone for that matter. In this picture there is a db meter, and underneath there are three grey buttons; "Mix", "Control Room" and "Mix to Control Room". These buttons serve different purposes which I won't get in to now, but getting it wrong leads to lots of unnecessary problems which complicate sessions when you don't know that the buttons are at fault. It's the sort of thing you don't find on a rack mount interface, which I suppose is why it's misleading. To the right of the console you have an ipod dock and controls for your ipod. On the back of the interface are slots for usb and power adaptor and two switches; one power and one for 48v (phantom power). The interface records in 16 bit at a sample rate of 44.1 khz on to a pc/mac or ipod with a voice memo function and also has over 100 built in effects which sound pretty good. It's flaw? All 8 of the inputs on your desk can only be recorded as one stereo track in your DAW. If you can get passed that it's a good interface to start on, but once your needs increase (drum micing, for example) you might need to consider an upgrade.
My main microphone is an AKG perception 120 condenser microphone. This microphone cost me just over €100 on Thomann. It's a great all around microphone with a great sound, especially for it's price. It has a nice weight to it and a nice feel; well built. As all condensers do, it requires a 48v supply (phantom power), which is included on most modern interfaces. I also use a few cheap dynamic microphones at the moment but need to upgrade.
This is my Apple Macbook Pro which cost €1150 on the apple store. It has 4gb ram, 250gb hdd, Intel Core 2 duo processor and apparently a pretty nice graphics card which I haven't put to the test yet. My main DAW is Logic Pro 8, which is an excellent DAW used by many professionals. I also use lots of plugins but I tend to lean towards softube where possible.
Seeing as this was right beside the desk I decided to snap it and upload it too. This is my brother's Gretsch Catalina Club Jazz kit. It's small but has a big sound and has a great sound when tuned. Paiste 101 symbols and a Sabian B8 pro ride. Should sound really good recorded (properly).
So that's the bones of my setup, excluding guitars, amps, extra mixers etc. I have been doing some recording of recent; an eerie version of "Banks of the Lee" arranged by my Mum (how cool am I mentioning my Mum in my blog) and I should be recording for Ryan McLoughlin tomorrow.
I have also started playing drums in a pub cover band called "Back Seat Betty" and we're playing an interesting concoction of Jazz, Funk and modern day shite. This summer should be a busy one anyways and I hope I get as much done as I plan to.
This is a picture of the whole lot. Two krk speakers, 13" macbook pro, alesis imultimix 8 usb holding 160gb ipod classic, dell keyboard, apple pro mouse, sony hifi headphones, wallet, blackberry and 70's cop glasses.
The krk rokit G5's are probably the best things I have ever bought. I used to have the attitude towards speakers that they were unnecessary and even a cheap pair would do. But after getting a bit of money I decided I'd try to get a good pair and after failing to find a pair of Tannoy's these were my second choice. I'm actually really glad they didn't have the Tannoy's; I'm really happy with the quality of these speakers and they look fantastic too. Having a good pair of speakers really improved my mixes and even the way I record. I bought them last November in Rub-a-dub records in Glasgow for £225.
This is my Alesis imultimix 8 usb interface. I bought it for €200 over a year ago on Thomann. For the money it's sold for, this is a brilliant interface, especially for beginners. It's design is loosely based on a tabletop mixer but more compact. It has 4 xlr inputs and the last 4 inputs are squeezed in to 2 tracks, split in to left and right channels. The middle of the console is where beginners get lost, or anyone for that matter. In this picture there is a db meter, and underneath there are three grey buttons; "Mix", "Control Room" and "Mix to Control Room". These buttons serve different purposes which I won't get in to now, but getting it wrong leads to lots of unnecessary problems which complicate sessions when you don't know that the buttons are at fault. It's the sort of thing you don't find on a rack mount interface, which I suppose is why it's misleading. To the right of the console you have an ipod dock and controls for your ipod. On the back of the interface are slots for usb and power adaptor and two switches; one power and one for 48v (phantom power). The interface records in 16 bit at a sample rate of 44.1 khz on to a pc/mac or ipod with a voice memo function and also has over 100 built in effects which sound pretty good. It's flaw? All 8 of the inputs on your desk can only be recorded as one stereo track in your DAW. If you can get passed that it's a good interface to start on, but once your needs increase (drum micing, for example) you might need to consider an upgrade.
My main microphone is an AKG perception 120 condenser microphone. This microphone cost me just over €100 on Thomann. It's a great all around microphone with a great sound, especially for it's price. It has a nice weight to it and a nice feel; well built. As all condensers do, it requires a 48v supply (phantom power), which is included on most modern interfaces. I also use a few cheap dynamic microphones at the moment but need to upgrade.
This is my Apple Macbook Pro which cost €1150 on the apple store. It has 4gb ram, 250gb hdd, Intel Core 2 duo processor and apparently a pretty nice graphics card which I haven't put to the test yet. My main DAW is Logic Pro 8, which is an excellent DAW used by many professionals. I also use lots of plugins but I tend to lean towards softube where possible.
Seeing as this was right beside the desk I decided to snap it and upload it too. This is my brother's Gretsch Catalina Club Jazz kit. It's small but has a big sound and has a great sound when tuned. Paiste 101 symbols and a Sabian B8 pro ride. Should sound really good recorded (properly).
So that's the bones of my setup, excluding guitars, amps, extra mixers etc. I have been doing some recording of recent; an eerie version of "Banks of the Lee" arranged by my Mum (how cool am I mentioning my Mum in my blog) and I should be recording for Ryan McLoughlin tomorrow.
I have also started playing drums in a pub cover band called "Back Seat Betty" and we're playing an interesting concoction of Jazz, Funk and modern day shite. This summer should be a busy one anyways and I hope I get as much done as I plan to.
Monday, 16 May 2011
First Post
Hello everyone, I'm new to this blogging thing, but I've always been interested so I figured I'd give it a shot. I think I'm going to focus the blog around trying to record my first ep this summer. It's something I've been procrastinating about for a long time, so while I've got the house to myself I'm going to try to use the time writing and recording a bit more efficiently than I have been for the last few years. I've been learning about sound and sound recording for the last few years also, between school and study and a band and girlfriends. The band finished at the start of the year and now I'm trying to concentrate on my own music, as well as trying to improve my understanding of recording. I kinda hope this blog will help me keep the bloody thing on track. I have a habit of starting songs and not finishing, so I figure putting myself under pressure to write about it might get me working a little harder.
So the set up is okay, it's something I'm hoping to improve over the summer also. I'm running logic pro on a macbook pro 13" with lots of plug ins, it's not worth mentioning them all. Hardware-wise, I'm using an alesis imultimix 8 usb interface. It records in 16bit and does the job I guess. The main problem I have with it is that it can't record the 8 interface inputs on separate tracks in the software, so all your inputs are essentially making up one overall stereo track. I don't think this is the same with all usb interface's, so it must just be a massive flaw in the Alesis then. I'm hoping to get my hands on a focusrite saffire pro by the end of the year. I have an AKG perception condenser microphone, and a few cheapy dynamics. I also use KRK Rokit G5 monitors.
Once I get started I'll be posting as often as possible; photos, problems and all. Thanks for reading :)
So the set up is okay, it's something I'm hoping to improve over the summer also. I'm running logic pro on a macbook pro 13" with lots of plug ins, it's not worth mentioning them all. Hardware-wise, I'm using an alesis imultimix 8 usb interface. It records in 16bit and does the job I guess. The main problem I have with it is that it can't record the 8 interface inputs on separate tracks in the software, so all your inputs are essentially making up one overall stereo track. I don't think this is the same with all usb interface's, so it must just be a massive flaw in the Alesis then. I'm hoping to get my hands on a focusrite saffire pro by the end of the year. I have an AKG perception condenser microphone, and a few cheapy dynamics. I also use KRK Rokit G5 monitors.
Once I get started I'll be posting as often as possible; photos, problems and all. Thanks for reading :)
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