by Alley Cat

Created on: March 01, 2007   Last Updated: April 02, 2007

Have you ever wondered how easy it could be to record your very first song, or what you will need to do it yourself? Surprisingly it is easier now than I thought it would be originally. To begin with my friend had all the instruments that he needed to make the sounds of a standard rock band outfit, except a drum kit. He had an electric bass guitar, an electric lead guitar, an acoustic guitar and a multi voiced keyboard, so the only MIDI item that we needed was a drum-kit, something which we have gathered from various parties giving them away on line.

Now you may also think that you would need a superfast computer with a top of the range sound card to make a song sound anywhere near decent, but I only have a system with 256 MB of RAM, a processor with a speed of 1.93 GHz, and my sound card is a Creative SB Live. Although now I use Windows XP Pro, we used 98 SE to begin with. The equipment that we use is not as pricey as some equipment that recording studios use. My buddy uses a Behringer V Amp to power all of his instruments, except his keyboards which have their own in build amplifier. These are then connected up to an input channel of a small Behringer mixing desk - it only has 8 mono input channels. The microphone that we use is a Behringer Condenser microphone with an XLR to XLR lead, which connects into the mixing desk in a row where phantom power can be used to amplify sounds that the microphone captures.

When inputting each instrument through the mixing desk it is important to get the recording level right before it goes through the "Line In" of your sound card. I usually allocate one channel for each instrument used, and stick to it throughout the recording session, doing this eliminates having to reset the sound level each time you record that instrument. It is best to use a formula that you can remember which channel was set for which instrument; my own personal preference is setting them alphabetically ascending: Acoustic guitar, Bass guitar, Keyboards, Lead guitar, with microphone in the end channel. Another thing for engineers to try and remember is to get the musicians to set their instruments and amps up full, that way you are in control as to how the instrument sounds going into the computer. The only other item I would recommend avoiding is "Clipping into the Red" on your mixing desk, this will only make the sound distort when playing back. Always try to get a good level on an instrument whilst the musician/singer is doing a sound check, setting

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>