Having a home recording studio used to be something that very few of us could afford. They took up lots of space and cost a ridiculous amount of money. However, in the last 10 years the cost of recording yourself at home has dropped to less than the cost of buying a guitar (depending on setup of course).
In this episode of “Bryce’s Guitar Journeys”, our forum admin Bryce goes through a very detailed explanation for how he’s set up his home recording studio, explaining both software and hardware. So if you’ve been considering recording yourself at home but aren’t sure where to begin, you should watch this video!
Live
Thanks Bryce!
great tutorial ,, I learned something new and agree how technology advances the old hardware depreciates considerably.. might look around for better sound /video camera,, only thing I’m using is a blu studio c5 mobile phone..sure there are much better sound video quality phones.. but I’m not selling nothing yet.
I’m starting out on my guitar journey so this is really valuable information. With today’s changing technology it really helps to have a grasp on what gadgets are out there for us to showcase our guitar playing.
There’s no question Bryce that you took the time to really make this video informative, clear and easy to understand. Much appreciated!
I’m glad this was helpful Tim! Thanks for the kind words! Happy Picking!
A USEFUL WAY TO CONNECT CHORDS USE THIRDS OF THE CHORDS AND SIXTHS
MY FAVOURITE WHEN STARTING IN C ALL WAYS THE FIFTH POSITION THE CHORD
BEING C6 OR Am7 OR C SO F WOULD THEN BE 10 POSITION AND G FOLLOWS AT THE 12
Best Wishes Carl James
Bryce,
Just an excellent video! I really aim to improve my recording and this was extremely helpful. Thank you!
Cheers, Debra
Great summary, thanks. After doing a fair amount of homework, I opted for the M-Audio M-Track 2X2 USB interface. It’s $100 on most music gear sites, comes with quite a bit of software, and is easy to use. I’m just beginning to record myself, but as I improve, I want to be able to play for friends and family and need to hear how I sound. I expect to one day be able to lay down a rhythm track and lead along side it. Lord knows there are plenty of lessons here to learn that!
Hi Bryce.
Thanks for some very useful and accesible advice. I’m still just recording directly into my ipad video camera ( and then deleting in horror!!?) but your video here has encouraged me to be a bit more organised in future. So thanks again. Paul.
One other note: there are no shortage of DAWs (digital audio workshops) out there, and some are really complicated, in-depth and difficult to learn and use. For those of us who just want to lay down one or two tracks and have basic editing capability, Audacity is free and fully capable in that regard. It runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux and the community it has gathered keeps it up to date with effects (no instruments) plug-ins as well. Did I mention it is free? So, if you are just getting started and opt for an interface like the M-Audio (again, plenty of others from which to choose), Audacity is the perfect companion for it, IMO. Good luck to all!
Bryce,
Many thanks for the information, most helpful, not going to be doing any recording of my playing just yet but one day my friend one day!
Thanks Bryce, I have not exported other than to a CD I did long ago to my mother who always says I’m so good ?? She lost most of her hearing now at 89 years old.
Cheers
I have been using Audacity for quite a bit for recording and overdubbing. It is basic but serves my needs. However, I am not great at editing so if anyone has any tips about what settings they use (equalisation, compression, reverb, …) for guitar, acoustic bass guitar, mandolin, vocals, I would be grateful. Example, what would be your highest volume level when recording to accommodate three instruments and vocals added in layers?
Anton
Hi Anton, I’m assuming you’re laying down one track at a time. You should record each track at the highest level before distortion occurs. Do this by playing or singing the loudest part for this track while watching the volume level, either meter or led readout, meters that are lights have generally a green yellow/orange red sequence. Needle type meters usually have something similar to tell you an optimum range. Turn levels up until your loudest part clips, or, goes into the red, and back it off just enough that you see no red or only transient spikes very infrequently. Ideally, you want to be in the upper yellow/orange zone. The higher the level each track is, the less you will have to boost them after recording, which can introduce noice. Use your ears to tell you the level each track should be in the mix. Once they each seem to be as distinct as they can be, as well as balanced they way you want them, by volume level, you can start further ways of clarifying and balancing the mix. First, which requires no altering a track , is to simply pan the tracks , say, drums panned just left of center (thinking drum track here) say, 10% left, vocals remain centered (generally) bass to the right, say 10-15%, rythm guitar, single track, pan it to the left, say, about 15-20%. Notice how each piece becomes clearer and more distinct. All this before modifying any of the tracks. You’ll probably hear some more level adjustments now that the tracks are panned. Final level of the mix total is done at your master fader, which also has level meters just like your individual tracks do. Crowd the red zone here, until you hear distortion, then back it down a little. Start doing mix downs to mp3’s and listening to your work. Be sure to dance madly as you do! Celebrate!
Compression: when recording, either not at all, or as light as possible. A vocal part that goes from quiet to loud may require a little. The less you can get away with the better. Save a full dynamic width track and you can tinker with compression afterwards, with no loss of the original track. EQ’ing… always save it for after you’ve recorded your track. If you’re recording a good track you won’t need to do a lot. It has more use for helping to separate tracks when you have several tracks. But that’s a bit down the road. I mainly eq acoustic guitars and vocals, once again, after they’ve been recorded. (Because I can only afford fairly good mics, not REALLY good mics.) Acoustic guitars, try dropping everything below 250, and then tapering the range from there to 400, just playing around to find out what brings out the crisp the clear drops the mud out, and then toy with subtle changes above 2000. Somewhere between there and 5000 you can find a beautiful lifting of a sense of “air”. Probably getting to far down the rabbit hole here, huh? No matter, this should all be about play, experimentation. Make copies of all your tracks BEFORE you start, to save your self heartbreak and grief. Hit the save button frequently. If you’re experimenting, do “save as” and as a new version, it’ll also save you frustration. And always: have fun! Dance! Jam out! And watch those ideas flow
Thank you, that was good info…
Does anybody know how I can separate in DAW the two individual channels from my audio interface (in two tracks) when recording them simultaneously ?
Thx
Just found this Bryce and thanks very much for it… Lots of handy tips there. I’ve just acquired the same Scarlett interface and am just getting into Logic Pro with it. Having lots of fun (at 70, and in lockdown UK 2020!)
Question is about recording / transcribing to TAB…. IS there, or have you heard of a computer program or software for Mac that “HEARS”/records and Transcribes what you play on guitar through a personal computer and then transcribes it into TABLATURE in REAL TIME ?
I’m not sure this is the correct forum for this question but perhaps someone could point me in the right direction. As a Senior citizen I have develop fairly minor tremors that are enough of a problem to interfer with my guitar playing. I have taken low dosage prescribed drugs but they do alleviate the tremors quite enough plus there side effects. Jack Daniels seems to be somewhat helpful but also has side effects! I know I can’t be the only person playing a guitar who has develop tremors and I refuse to lay down my Strat/Taylor/Alvarez-Nylon . . . playing means too much!
I would appreciate very much hearing from someone who has a similar situation/solution or can offer advice. Thanks!!