[LAU] hardware: recording voice and acc. guitar

[Dave Phillips]

schoappied wrote:
> I want to be able to record voice and acc. guitar.
>
> I like to have it cheap, but good... ;)
>   
How cheap and how good ? At some point those two qualities will part 
ways, i.e. you can have cheap but not good, or good but not cheap. Go 
with the goodness whenever possible.

> 1. Which mic do you recommend?
>   
As good as you can afford.

I use a Shure SM58 for my vocals. I haven't done much straight acoustic 
guitar recording recently, but when I do I use a mixed mic setup.

> 2. Do I need a mixer?
>         If yes, which one is good, or which brand?
>   
It won't hurt to have one. Again, the deciding factor is usually a 
combination of needs and available money. Smaller Mackie boards are 
often recommended because of their price, and you might be able to score 
an exceptional deal on eBay (and maybe not). I have experience with 
Mackie, Tascam, and Yamaha mixing boards, they were all good. Other 
folks here will surely recommend other brands.

>         Do I need digital effects?
>   
Possibly. I tell my students that that kind of question is a musical 
one, i.e. the music should determine what effects are needed.

>         What are other important things?
>   
Practice mixing. If you're new to it, make up some lightweight projects 
for exploring the functions and possibilities of your gear. You'll want 
to know at least the basics of audio engineering, and you can count on 
having to learn a lot more as you progress.

> 3. Do I need a new soundcard? I've now an onboard one and can play 
> guitar with not to much latency or xruns...
>   
The real matter is the sound. I switched from using consumer-grade 
cards, spent some extra money on a decent low-end digital audio system 
(M-Audio Delta 66) and have never looked back. I can assure you that the 
difference is appreciable.

Best,

dp