i've been recording my songs solo for a few years, and wanted to share notes on working on a short budget/learn about interesting setups.

lately, i've used an sm58 on the drums, setting it up slightly inside the bass drum.
i started off using an sm57 on the guitar and bass, but ended up using the 58 exclusively. i'd place the mic a couple of inches in front of a 60-watt amp, running acoustic guitar through the stock overdrive. i record the vocals mic-to-4track.

i was crunched for time, so i started doing the bass direct at my apartment to have more time at the space. it sounds different, but not bad, which i was expecting.
once done and mixed on the tascam porta-2, i digitize it into wav via a friend's computer. used vintage warmer last time out to get it matching the 4track headphone sound.

my older stuff was done w/ a radio shack mic. bad move.

i love one man band stuff, esp. jason and eric's solo albums.

Hello elias6

You are recording your drums with one mic, that is placed inside the bass drum? Do your drum recordings sound like... a bass drum?


A couple of ideas....

I dont know if you are transferring all four tracks into your computer and adding tracks / mixing inside the computer, but if you are, and your software supports VST plugins you can use FreeAmp3 to make your direct bass sound like an amp... http://frettedsynth.home.att.net/ there are presets to get you going... Try "Ampelian" for starters and tweak it to your liking.




If you are 'just' making a stereo mix to the computer, be aware that you can do some homespun 'mastering' to it... Use EQ / compression / limiting to liven things up a bit / level it out / make it louder...


Another possibility for the setup you describe would be to make a mono mix into the computer and record that back into one of the tracks on the fourtrack, giving you 3 more tracks to record to... seven tracks...
Do it again, and you have 10 tracks... but you have to have "a plan" with this method because everytime you make the mono mix to the computer and put it back on the fourtrack, that part of the mix can no longer be changed...

PSP's Vintage Warmer plugin is simply amazing. I love it.

Also check out BadBussMojo, it is also an analog circuit emulator.
http://www.stillwellaudio.com/?page_id=19



For more Audio Fun check out my DIY Audio Page:
http://www.jakerock.com/DIYAUDIO_INDEX.htm

if you are just using a tape four track i have found that using a condenser mic on and placing it infront of the kit and raising or lowering it to find which drum stands out the way i want it to...i don't know how much condensers are running these days but i don't have expensive ones...just some russian things that have changing polar tips and -10db pieces...i think they are called octava...and they were like 20 bucks for the full set on ebay (used)...they made recording drums easier than ever (i do a less is more thing with the kit set up as well as mic-ing it) the unidirectional mics i use for amped instruments....much easier for me- think it is a sure 58 (no ball at the end).

wow, thanks! you guys have given me some good stuff to research this weekend. the diy page is a great guide
i usually do a stereo mix and send it into the computer, but bouncing a mono mix from the computer back to the 4track sounds interesting. i attempted bouncing between 4tracks once, but didn't go too far.
i'll be giving that FreeAmp a try. the direct bass sound can only get better, i think.

Yeah, the bouncing mono / putting it back on the fourtrack trick is nice...
Back in my fourtrack days we didnt have computers / CD burners, so it was fourtrack > mix to cassette > record back onto the fourtrack... thats three stages of tape hiss and noize right there!!! Now with digital, alot of the hiss quotient is eliminated...

Glad that you like the DIY page, ive got big plans for it as far as writing how - to's and articles / rants, and expanding the links and resources sections... I want to link to some of the better tech / recording articles that I have read...

Thanks for posting here, I think there are a fair amount of folks posting here who record too, so lets help eachother out!

.....Jake

Check out this little four track...

Jason, can I just say without wanting to sound like a big kiss-ass!; You're really a lovely guy for putting this stuff up. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, recording-wise, and yr DIY page I'm sure is going to help me a lot.

I currently have a Tascam 788 digital 8-track, one Sennheiser mic, a moody copy of Fruityloops and a G4 12-inch Powerbook, so not exactly ideal for home recording......and the only instruments I have are an old Hohner acoustic guitar, and a Casio organ. Any tips for starting out? Fellers?

i'd start with that 8 track...is that one of those cassette things? i am really interested in those and wonder about their possibilities. what are you using your computer for? if it is just a way to get things to mp3 mastering or putting it on line, then you basically have all you need. i just listened to some of the stuff on your myspace page- is that done with the 8 track? it's pretty clean.

Yeah - so far I've pretty much just recorded the whole song into Audacity or something like that and then exported it as an mp3. That's probably sacrilegious to audio people?

Thanks for listening to the stuff on myspace - It's all old though and I've currently got tons of new stuff that needs mp3-ing. The drummer I play with has just got cubase and has been doing stuff with some of my songs. The thing is, I've been listening to the stuff we recorded live on my 2nd-hand 8-track (it's digital, no tape, and no cd-burner either - it was about £800 when it came out but you can get them on ebay for about £100 now) sounds miles better than the perfectly recorded stuff on cubase.*

The only problem is that the inbuilt hard disk only holds so much (quite a lot though) and I've become frustrated that I have to delete songs now before I record new ones. You can't sync the songs with cubase because of the time/tempo element.

*How much of that is down to the recording technique, and how much is down to the fact that I have more control over the 8-track stuff, wheras I rely on him totally when it comes to computer midi stuff, is a point that I need to address. He's a brilliant musician, and a decent engineer, but I wonder about his ability to actually construct tracks, if you know what I mean. I suppose it's like when a director leaves a film to be finished by the editor, not to sound too pretentious, but he re-recorded a bassline on one of my songs and managed to create a totally new bassline which doesn't go with the melody of the vocal at all. It was bizarre, cos he heard the bassline even though there are no notes like it in the original song!!!

i know nothing about the syncing up on computer software of any kind-that may be the reason i use the 4 track so much as well as the reason that it has a certain warmth/overdrive that comes with recording with it...as far as space, try getting an external hard drive (they may be somewhat cheap).

Well, I would:

+Record it into Audacity @ 24 bit 44.1

+Do whatever editing / mastering stuff you need to

+Then export it from Audacity 3 times:
Format 1: 24 bit / 44.1 (for hig res archive of the mix)
Format 2: 16 bit / 44.1 (for burning a proper audio CD)
Format 3: mp3 / any bitrate above 192 (for upload / download)

Definitely do the 16bit mix!!!
Making Audio CD's from MP3's sounds like crap.



If your collaborator is importing MP3's into his Cubase session... That could be why they sound crappy.
Give him AT LEAST 16 bit 44.1 files, and 24 bit 44.1 files if possible!!!





Well, the director / editor paradeigm seems to work here... sounds like he is putting stuff you dont dig on your songs....
Bottom line is... If it doesnt suit the song DITCH IT!
Just because I was a cool idea, doesnt mean it belongs!

Thanks so much for the free engineering lessons......the internet rules!

Now I only have to put my foot down with the dodgy basslines.......

Yes, I've noticed that Cd's from mp3's sound shit, but I'm unsure of how to do otherwise - does anyone have a program for burning CD's that they would recommend? I may be able to get a copy of Toast......

When you make your final mixes....
Make one as an mp3, and another one @ 16bit / 44.1, and make your audio CD from the 16bit one!
Heres a freeware burner for windows...
http://cdburnerxp.se/features

I use Nero (windows) and everyone I know who is on Mac seems to use Toast....


If anyone knows of free stuff to burn audio CD's in mac...
OH wait... cant you use iTunes to burn CD's from NON MP3 source files???
I dont know personally... I uninstalled iTunes a long time ago...
That bloated sack of code!

Them Oktava MC012's, quite the bargain they are. Make sure you get the real ones when you're ebaying it. They're dead simple to tell apart and are a serious sonic difference. I have two pair, one with the cardioid heads and pads and one full blown matched pair with the cardioid, hyper and omni capsules. They really excel as drum overs and on acoustic guitars. I have also got some very positive results on close miced 4x12 cabs, vocals and snare. Serious bang:buck.

A used Shure beta-52 would be a great choice for low end sources.

With some cute ebay sniping you could snag a pair of the MC-012's and a Beta-52 for about $200 and be set to track a LP.

Use the 52 on kick and the mc-012's as overs: there's your drums.

52 on the bass cab (maybe use an MC-012 coincidentally as well and submix them).

MC-012 on the guitars.

Mc-012 on vocals.

Season to taste.

This is great advice - I honestly never realised that just making mp3's of the songs then burning them in itunes was the reason that the CD's sounded crap!

Don't know whether itunes can burn non-mp3 things. I only started using itunes when someone GAVE me an ipod and you pretty much have to use it, esp if you want to use the video bit. (after the initial novelty of watching South Park in miniature on the train, you don't)

RE: the cubase thing - no he tried recording the song from the 8-track but it doesn't seem to like it if yr songs haven't been recorded perfectly in time with a midi metronome - I uploaded a couple of new songs onto myspace that were recorded on the 8-track/done with Audacity as per Jake's advice - if anyone gets a chance, listen to "Worst Friend" and let me know what you think - and it's better if you are able to listen on some decent speakers/headphones cos you can't hear the Roland bass-synth which is probably the best thing on it!

www.myspace.com/boywho

Those are some great mics Pat...
I think we used your omni capsules on that Houlihan recording and it was fantastic....
Having a great drummer didnt hurt either .

I didnt know they were SO affordable!

Another great small diaphragm condenser mic is the
Rode NT-5... More expensive though, like $450 / pr.
These are totally on par with the most expensive German mics IMO.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NT5/

But, so are the Octavas, with the benefit of being able to switch the capsules!

I just looked on ebay to get an ide of what they are going for and didnt see much... Seems strange.

Anyway thanks for chiming in Pat!
You make great recordings, and I know what a gearslut you are!

Respectfully skeptical here...
There should be no problem recording stuff into cubase (2track mix, or all 8 tracks)
MAYBE, your buddy doesnt like not being able to put your 8 track stuff into Cubase and have it instantly "on the grid" (click / metronome).

But, Cubase doesnt know or care whether your stuff is on a metronome or not... It has no opinion on the matter.

I would be interested in knowing the specifics of the problem... maybe you could ask him and report back?

Anyway, I am glad that you are hip to the fact that MP3's make lousy Audio CD's...
Now we just have to hook you up with a good Audio CD burner for mac...

Best, JL

Thanks tons for this advice. It's definitely given me some confirmation of my suspicions that he doesn't want to do anything unless it's the way he's comfortable doing it.

I'll ask him and get back to you. It's definitely become frustrating for me. He has the power, so to speak, because he understands all this cubase stuff and I don't.....plus he's the biggest stoner in the world which doesn't really help.....

But thanks for yr advice, I'm gonna ask him about the "grid" thing!......

Well,
Dont get upset yet!
Maybe theres something going on with the way he is doing things that we can help you figure out...

Between writing, making music, recording, computers, software, and basic human communication theres alot to know...
Too much for any of us to master all of it.

Let us know what you find out OK?

SmartPatrol!
So did it work out with you and your engineer friend? I was quite enjoying this thread, because I think you're on a similar plane to me on the technical end of things.