Black Violin

This is something I stumbled across on Youtube. I love it when that happens don't you.
These guys have taken an instrument that we all associate with Godfather movies and elevators and totally re-invented it.
Take two guys with violins (Wil-B “Simply Sick” and Kev Marcus) add a DJ (DJTK, known by most as “Lethal Weapon”) and you get ... Black Violin. Their sound is somthing new, it's a blend of clasical violin and hip hop that is a welcome change in the music wolrd. The video that I saw on youtube was great so it was off to google to find their website which is http://blackviolin.net/.
Check it out, its nice when somthing new and fresh comes around in the music world.

Inside Home Recording's Podcasts

If you are really getting into home recording this is a must. This site has the best podcast Ive found on home recording. The first time I heard one I listened to 5 more that night.
It's basically a podcast that covers the latest in home studio recording and is hosted by keyboardist-producer Paul Garay and web guy–drummer/guitarist–editor Derek K. Miller.
They Go over a lot of stuff at a great pace that is just right for the beginner or the Pro. I listen every chance I get.
Anyone interested in recording music, podcasts, or other audio should subscribe, even if you’re an expert already. There is a wealth of knowledge in these podcasts and they are fun to listen to. check them out here http://www.insidehomerecording.com/ or if you have itunes just set it and forget it.

RecordingReview.com's Soundcard Wizard

I recently ran across a cool website with an even cooler program in it that is used to figure out what type of sound card you will need for the PC or mac in your studio. This site has a wealth of information on it for every type of musician. It breaks down into categories for all types of artists with blogs,forums, and reviews of just about everything.
The one thing that I found really helpful on this site was the Home Recording Sound card Wizard. This little program will save you hours of time when trying to figure out what type of sound card you need for your machine. It also has a Beginners mode that will walk you through some questions about what you are needing in a sound card and then will give you a list of all cards that fit your description. This is a great tool that will take a lot of the guess work out of your quest for the perfect sound card. check it out, here's the link http://www.recordingreview.com/soundcard/soundcard_wizard.php

Starting your own Home Studio

Being a musician in today's world is great. With all the hardware and software available out there the possibilities are endless. 10 to 15 years ago you would have to go pay for studio time in a professional studio to get your music on tape or CD. Now with computers as powerful as they are and all of the the great software we have anyone can get their music heard.

I imagine if you're reading this then you probably already have a computer, so a big part of your studio is already paid for. It's pretty safe to say that any computer three or four years old or newer should be okay to run today's recording software. I would suggest having at least a gig of RAM though.

One thing you will have to buy is an audio interface. There are many types of these, some that snap into your PCI slots on your motherboard just like a normal sound card, some are boxes that use a USB cable to connect your computer, and others use a FireWire cable. The good thing about the external ones that use USB or FireWire is that they will connect to any computer that has one of these ports, desktop or laptop.

Before you buy your audio interface you need to think about how you are going to be recording music. Is it just going to be you, will you be recording more than one instrument at the same time, do you need a midi interface? All of these factors need to be considered before you go and purchase your hardware.
A good website to go to is http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ to learn more about audio interfaces. There are ton of them on there with factory specs for each one. This is also a great site to learn about pretty much all of the hardware and software you might need for your studio. They are always doing reviews of the new stuff that is coming out.

Once you have your computer and sound card out of the way it's time to think about what software you're going to use. There are many out there and it can sometimes be confusing especially when you have salesmen pulling you in every direction. A good thing to remember is that almost every one of these companies offer a trial version you can download over the internet that will let you try out the software for free for a short time period. I would suggest doing this before you go and drop your hard-earned cash on one only to find out you like another one better a month or so down the road.
If you want to get your feet wet without spending any money at all try out Audacity. This is a free audio recording program that really does a great job considering it’s price (free).
You can find it here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Some other (not free) programs that are popular are: Protools,Cubase,Ableton live, and cakewalk.
I’m sure there are many more out there but these are the ones I can think of right off the top of my head.



Some software only works with certain audio interfaces. For example, if you wanting to use ProTools then you must have a ProTools compatible interface. So this is something you want to check out before you buy.
Okay now that you have your computer, your audio interface, and your software of choice there’s one more thing we need to get before you start recording. We need something to listen to the music with. I’m sure it won’t take you long to find out that the speakers that came with your pc aren’t quite cutting it.
This is where studio monitors come in. They range anywhere from 100 bucks to well into the thousands of dollars. I have a very cheap pair of m audio monitors that only cost around 149 dollars a pair but I think they work quite well, at least for now. Do a quick Google search on Studio Monitors and you will soon see that there are a ton of them to choose from so it’s all in what you are wanting to spend.
The reason it is good to have studio monitors is because they have a flat frequency response. This means which you hear is closer to what the real mix sounds like. When you use regular stereo speakers it is hard to set up your mid range, bass, and treble. Most regular stereo speakers are built to enhance sound whether it is by giving it more bass, more treble, or whatever. So if you're using these speakers when you are making your music it might sound totally different when you get into another stereo,car,or mp3 player.

Studio monitors are made to put out a flat frequency response. This means no bass boost, no enhancements at all, just a flat, true sound of your mix. Get your music sounding good on these and you should be good to go wherever your music is played.
So all in all if you already own a computer that is not much more than three or four years old. You have an audio interface and some studio monitors. Just figure out what software you want to use and you should be ready to start recording.
I would venture out to say that anymore for under $1000 you can have yourself a pretty nice setup that would do just fine for any musician that wants to get started in home recording. These are good times for musicians, you don’t have to go to a professional studio and pay for studio time. You don't need to "know the right people", with all the Myspaces and Youtubes out there you can go from being the guy with the guitar the party to the next big thing with a little luck.
So get down to your local music store, pick up the things you need, and start recording some music. It's a lot of fun and I'm sure once you get started you won't be able to stop.

Condenser vs. Dynamic microphones

Let's take a look at both of the microphones and compare their advantages and disadvantages. The most common microphone found in studios is the condenser mic, it has a much greater frequency response. The output of the microphone is louder and has a much cleaner sound to me. One thing I have noticed with condenser mics is that they pick up every little detail. This took some getting used to as the mic would pick up strange sounds your mouth would make, your feet on floor, or any other noise you might make while in the booth.

The main thing I noticed about condenser mics is their price in comparison to dynamic microphones. They are generally a lot more expensive. I have seen them anywhere from $200-$5000 in a local music stores around here. Since I'm not made of money I started with a $200 microphone. Even though it was bottom-of-the-line I couldn't believe the difference in the sound it produced. It was like a whole different person in the booth. His voice had more bass, and more treble. It basically produces a full sound like the person was right there.

One thing about condenser mic you need to know is that they require external power called Phantom power. Most any mixer you buy today will provide this.

There are two kinds of condenser microphones large diaphragm and small diaphragm. The large diaphragm microphones are usually used for recording vocals. You will get a much warmer sound with a large diaphragm microphone.

Small diaphragm microphones are better when you want to record something a wide frequency such as a live taping or a guitar.

One other thing you need to know about condenser microphones is that they are very fragile. Usually one good drop to the floor and you're reaching and your wallet for money to buy a new mic.

Dynamic microphones are used more in live performances or onstage because they can take a beating. These things are like tanks, drop them all you want and they'll still work like new most of the time. They do really well on stage and can withstand very loud yelling and lots of screaming guitars.

The good thing about dynamic microphones is that you can get a good one for around $100. One of the more popular ones is the Shure sm57. I'm sure you will find one of these in just about every professional studio.

So in a nutshell, if you're going to be on stage get yourself a dynamic microphone that can take a beating but when it comes to your booth, grab a large diaphragm condenser mic to get the full rich sound you're looking for.

It's gettin HOT in here...

I've noticed a lot of people asking about the heat issue.

I'm not really sure what to do about this myself, for now I've just been doing 20 minute sessions.

I've looked on the web and found stuff about venting sound booths but everything is either very expensive or out of my league. There are some prefab booths online that cost anywhere from 2000 - $4000 dollars, they all have venting but none of them say how they do it.

I thought about using computer fans in the top since they are so quiet but that kinda kills the soundproof qualities of my booth. I also thought about pumping AC into it but then again the same problem arises.

If there is anybody out there who has done this before or knows of a link that can help let me know. I would appreciate any feedback , good or bad. A little constructive criticism never hurt anybody right?

Messing around in studio

Just trying to get the hang of the whole midi, sync stuff. This is not really the kind of music I play but its still fun so I figured I would post it.

When I get comfortable with the recording process I will attempt to record some acoustic guitar and piano or keyboard.

Lots of new videos added to blog!

I have been up for the last 2 days looking for good videos to embed in the new players on the blog. There are now 4 players with over 90 videos to watch. All videos have to do with home recording and there are a LOT of training videos on there.
There are training videos for Ableton live, Cubase, and Propellerheads Reason plus a lot random videos showing off peoples recording and beat making techniques so get comfortable and have fun.

New video players on blog

There are two new video players on the blog now. One is called the HST video player which has a bunch of random home recording videos mostly from youtube or Google video and the other is the Cubase tutorial video player which also pulls videos from the internet about using Cubase.
The cool thing about these players is that I am the one who has to go spend the countless hours on youtube, Google video, etc. to find them, then I put them all in one place for you to enjoy.
I will update them as I come across more cool and interesting videos and I plan to add more players on different subjects in the future.
They are pretty straight forward to operate. Hit play, if you don't like the particular video that is playing hit the arrow at the bottom of the player and it will go to the next one. You can also click on the menu button and it will give you a list of all videos on that are on that player and you can pick the one you want to watch from there.

Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the video players.

Flooring in studio ?

I am getting ready to rip the old, gold, and very dated carpet out of the room I'm building my studio in. I'm not really sure what I am going to put down yet.
Ive been looking at pictures of studios all over the web and there is a little of everything going on in the way of flooring. Some have carpet, some have hardwood, some even have some sort of rubber stuff going on in them.
Any suggestions to what I should use and why. I was just gonna use carpet. ???

Mac or PC ?

OK I'm probably gonna get massacred by some people for being a PC guy.........waiting...waiting....cool, no gunfire.
I never used Macs before I got into PC's, as a matter of fact I didn't even own a computer until the last year of the super-awesome windows ME. (what an OS to start with huh)
My first experience on a computer was with the worst operating system ever made. The good thing was I had nothing to compare it to so it was all so new to me it was still great, hindsight is 20/20.

It was less than a year later when xp came out and I have probably touched a computer everyday of my life since then. I first got into computers because of art, not music. I had a friend who was a web designer and I saw him using Photoshop and that was it, I bought a PC soon after and in the 7 years that followed I have been at it full throttle and changed careers all because I saw someone move a person's head to another body. I now work on computers for a living and they are an everyday part of my life.

I remember the first time used a Mac. I was in a Photoshop 7 class I took at a local community college. I seriously had to have someone open Photoshop for me because I could not find the "START" button. Since then my job has made me have to use them on occasion so I'm not so bad with them anymore.

I got into music recording just last year and since I have been fixing PC's for 3 years I already knew a lot about them so I was not about to switch to Mac and relearn everything. When something breaks on my PC I know how to fix it. I can upgrade it with ease and as far as the price goes we all know it's a LOT cheaper than a G5.

Im not a closed minded, die hard PC nut so I started doing research online to see if there was some super underground secret I didn't know about Macs that made graphic design and home recording a breeze. I was thinking if I found one I could tell my wife how I had to have one because I cant do whatever with my PC. I looked forever. Websites,blogs,forums. I found many stories telling the pros and cons of both but most were just opinions and I could not find one strong enough to let me part with 3 thousand dollars.

So, I did what anyone would do. I went to a friend who worked at the local Mac dealer and asked his opinion. He did his job and told me how great they were and how they were made for the kind of stuff I do. He told me that everything is right where you think it should be and they are way easier to work than a PC. That might be true if you were not a windows user and had not already trained yourself that the "x" was in the upper right hand corner.

I must admit, when I saw the G series desktops the look alone makes you want one. They are a beautiful machine to look at. I was also impressed with the whole "swishy" feel of the 'OS.
I still wasn't sure so I told him I didn't know what I was going to do so my friend said "why don't you borrow my Mac book for a week, I'm gonna be outta town anyway". I took him up on the offer. I took the laptop home and put my PC away for a while.

I will say at first it was cool simply because it was new to me but soon the newness wore off and then the frustration set in of not knowing how to do everything. I loaded Ableton live on it and started playing with garage band a little too. After all was said and done I was like YUP....you can record music on these too. I honestly did not see any reason to go drop 3 g's on a new box, buy a new sound card,new software, AND deal with relearning a new OS. I'm sure the Macs work great for recording and graphics. I'm sure they don't get many viruses if any (if I were a virus writer I would target 90% of the population too) All in all they are awesome machines but my whole issue was "what can they do that I cant do with my PC" and I didn't find anything out there significant enough to make me switch.

So for now I'm gonna stick with my PC (and some good spyware protection of course). Maybe someday Ill buy one just to have one but I see no real reason to cross over at the moment.

I would love to read your comments about this, remember I am new to home recording and I don't know a lot about Macs so
I could be missing the big picture. Maybe there will be some comments that could change my opinion.