hi,

could someone list some stuff i would need to record into a laptop? i assume i need a much better soundcard.. do i need a preamp for that? for microphones i am assuming i will probably just rent them when i'm recording, and i should be able to research what sounds good.

i want to make some decent lofi recordings, i am willing to put in the work and spend a ton of time trying to make everything sound okay.. i just want to know the best way to bridge the gap between instruments and my computer.

if someone could tell me what's absolutely essential i would really appreciate it.

Well the minimum you could get away with would be a stereo preamp and the standard sound card in your computer, assuming it has one. That would let you record stereo (or two channels, depending on what you're recording and how you're recording it) non-condensor mics.

I usually use one or two mics, into a mono or stereo mic preamp, into the line input on my mp3 player or the input(s) on my sound card. I have a USB soundcard that I use with my laptop because my laptop doesn't have a line input on it.

Mic(s)->Preamp(s)->Soundcard

That's the simplest way. If you want to go with more than just two mics at a time, you either need to get a box for your computer that has multiple line inputs, and if it doesn't have preamplification that's good enough, external preamplification.

You can use something as simple as a small mixer (even a cassette 4-track) that will get you extra mic inputs that you can mix down to a stereo submix and record with any normal stereo soundcard.

Those are the simplest ways I'm familiar with.

i actually find the line 6 guitarport pretty good for lo-fi stuff. it acts as a sound card, it's USB, and there's about a hundred 80's hair metal presets.

but it's cheap and it acts as an (albeit not great) preamp

the tascam us-122 is pretty easy/cheap and sounds ok.you don't need a high end pc to use it.

I just bought a Groove Tube direct box so I could play guitar right into the computer. It's a pretty useful thing to take on the road, too.

yeah, i'm going to be recording a ton of instruments.. um, i have a digital piano & an electronic drum kit which i can just plug in directly, and i've already tried recording that way with my regular sound card and it sounds just fine to me.

for acoustic drums i am pretty sure i'll just have to rent 5-6 microphones from some music store, so i guess i will need a mixer. does it go mic->mixer->preamp, or mic->preamp->mixer?

then there's guitars/bass, which will be both acoustic & electric. would it make more sense to mic the amp or try and run an electric guitar directly into the computer, assuming i buy a better soundcard?

davesec wrote:for acoustic drums i am pretty sure i'll just have to rent 5-6 microphones from some music store, so i guess i will need a mixer. does it go mic->mixer->preamp, or mic->preamp->mixer?

It would probably just go mics->mixer->computer. Your mixer will have mic preamplifiers built into it. Make sure it does anyway. Unless you're going for really hi-fi sound, you won't be using external mic preamps. Just use the ones in the mixer.

davesec wrote:then there's guitars/bass, which will be both acoustic & electric. would it make more sense to mic the amp or try and run an electric guitar directly into the computer, assuming i buy a better soundcard?

If you want it to sound good, mic the amp. If you want it to sound totally unnatural and right in your face (which can be cool), plug in direct.

Why do you need to buy a better sound card? I thought you were shooting for lo-fi?

davesec wrote:hi,

could someone list some stuff i would need to record into a laptop? i assume i need a much better soundcard.. do i need a preamp for that? for microphones i am assuming i will probably just rent them when i'm recording, and i should be able to research what sounds good.

i want to make some decent lofi recordings, i am willing to put in the work and spend a ton of time trying to make everything sound okay.. i just want to know the best way to bridge the gap between instruments and my computer.

if someone could tell me what's absolutely essential i would really appreciate it.

For lowfi I would get a Tascam MSR24 reel to reel. You can get good sounds from it but it is not the cleanest tape machine (quality lowfi). Then you can do away with all the other stuff (sound card , ADAs and such).

Get a few nice mics. A Mix Wizard (or the like) for a monitor board/pre amp(s). Watch your gain staging and goto town. You can make some nice sounding stuff.

Yes you will almost always need to amplify mic level to line level (pre amp) and with condensers, you will need to supply it with (phantom) power.


OTOH, if you really want to go PC, regardless of what brands you get, the cleanest method would be to use an external AD/DA and use a sound card that has digital ins (ADAT, etc). Use what ever SW you are comfortable with (Audition, Traction) and with the above mics and console you are ready to roll.

This really is an open-ended question...everyone could write for days on it, so I hope this helps,
spoon

If you have enough people to paly the instruments all at once and an amp for vocals, I would say for a low fi sound get

-a "rad" old tape deck off craigs list for $10 (actually three because only one will work)
-two mics
-and two of those crappy little tube pres for $50.

But that doesn't address the computer question. For that you can get a two channel preamp with USB for under $200 from M-Audio.

And do the recording with the mics in a conventional stereo setup. This site has some cool info on stereo micing techniques like ORTF:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.burmajster/index.htm

The reason I suggest stereo is because you said you don't want to put a lot of work into it...you'll get a cool low-fi sound, not a bad mix.

you might wanna check this site out www.soundonsound.com

the forums are excellent for computer recording advice