Recording equipment

[rps14a]

im looking into some recording equipment and was wondering who here has experience with it and could be of some help. not sure yet if i wanna go all out or not as guitar will still be my #1, but theres some tempting stuff around. i was thinking about going 24 track digital, although it would put me in a financial position to where i would be collecting mics and cables and little stuff for months before i could get the full use out of it, possibly missing an opportunity to score better deals on the stuff while it sits waiting(seems to always happen). not to mention i wont have my usa jackson/charvel/ tube amp reserve fund and then something will come up i know. when i think of it like that it makes me wanna go 8 track (reel to reel cause im the tape splicing master) for 1/3 the price maybe less. just looking for people to speak up now and i could go into more detail about the specific equipment.


chris

[Inazone]

Re: Recording equipment

Having recorded on everything from old Tascam reel-to-reel through the current crop of computer-based equipment, I'd highly suggest that you start with a modest computer setup that leaves room for expansion but gives you good capabilities right out of the box. Reel-to-reel is cool in its own way, but it really depends on how you want to spend your time. My band has been recording and mixing with MOTU Digital Performer 4.5 on a Mac, and I can't believe how much easier it has been than the "old school" route.

At home, all I have to work with is a PC with an old version of Cakewalk, an Echo Mia recording card, and a couple of cheap Audio-Technica mics. To demo some new songs for our vocalist, we recorded drums at our rehearsal space on a little cassette four-track, with one track for the overhead mic (cymbals) and another for a trigger module (toms, snare, kick). Then I imported the drum tracks using Cakewalk, recorded the guitars, and had a usable mix with one night of work.