How to build a Basic Recording set-up

Building a simple mobile studio is a great way to record anywhere. But knowing the simple facts about audio gear is important so you save yourself time and money. If you are someone who isn’t willing to learn the recording process than the best way is to go into a professional studio.

Give Patch Werk studios a call because they are one of the best in Atlanta, guaranteed. It is a really well-known Hip-Hop studio for having clients including: T.I., Jay-Z, Ludacris, Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane, Dem Franchise boys and the list goes on. Studio 995, Studio 9000, and 1019 offer music artists one of the best recording experiences, so go there if you aren’t interested in recording yourself. For everyone else I’ll be talking about the basic set-up so you can record yourself or have an engineer hook you up. If you are a beginner than these will be baby-steps for you.

These are the basics to what you would need for your recording set-up. When it comes to the brand it would be up to you on how much you want to spend. I recommend people do a good bit of research like visiting the guitar center website to check on specs and reviews on the different gear. That way you are more aware of your purchases and dollars spent.

1. Microphone (Condenser) w/Pop Filter and Shock-Mount

2. Mic. stand

3. Mic. cable

4. Digi-design M-box (Audio Interface)

5. Lap-top (MAC-Book Pro for Laptops)

6. Headphones

7. DAW program software (Logic Pro or Pro Tools)

8. Vocal booth with sound treatment (Can be a closet booth with Sound proof walls)

9. Powered Monitors (KRK, YAMAHA, JBL, MACKIE, GENELEC,)

10. Desk (Big enough to fit your gear)

Alright, so what do you do after purchasing and collecting everything?

Hook it all up and get to learning or recording. You can start with the microphone and hook that up to your mic. cable. Once that is completed hook the end of the mic. cable up to the back of your audio interface (M-box), input 1. Hook the audio interface up to your computer through a USB cable. After doing this turn on your computer and open up your DAW software within the computer (Pro Tools or Logic). Once everything is set-up with the microphone and stand, create an Audio track within the DAW and hit the (r) Record button to arm your track to record. I would hope that you have some kind of knowledge of the recording process so the process shouldn’t be too complicated. If not than read audio books or visit Youtube videos showing you what I’m explaining. Alright, now go to the audio interface and hit the input 1 button on it. The microphone will have pre-amp power now coming from the interface. You are ready to go.

Make sure to have a good booth set-up for your vocals or even for live instruments. Its good to have the natural dry sound, so later you can go back and add cool effects or reverbs. One rule is to never have distortion or clipping otherwise your vocals will come out terrible. I hope all beginner engineers, artists, producers, and anyone interested in audio engineering benefits from this information. Come back for future tips and strategies. Good luck! and get your ideas in recording.

What's your take... leave your comments below.

Top 10 "Most Used" Protools Shortcuts

#1
Save (Cmnd + S) - Better safe than sorry -whenever you finish any idea worth saving, hit
Save.

#2
Toggle between mixer window and edit window (Cmnd + =) - This one's indispensable!

#3
Create a marker ("Enter" on the number pad) - Nothing will kill an artist's vibe like taking 10-minutes to find the bridge...you should make it a habit to mark the beginning and end of the most important parts of your song.

#4
Display marker window (Cmnd + 5 on the number pad) - Depending on the size of your session you may need to keep this window up

#5
Scroll horizontally with mouse wheel (Shift + scroll wheel) - By default the mouse wheel scrolls vertically however many times you'll need to scroll horizontally to see certain part of your session.

#6
Select edit modes (F1, F2, F3, F4) - Toggling manually between the Slip, Shuffle, Grid, and Spot functions will definitely steal some valuable time from your session.

#7
Select edit tools

• F5 (Zoomer)
• F6 (Trimmer)
• F7 (Selector)
• F8 (Grabber)
• F9 (Scrubber)
• F10 (Pencil)

#8
Select Super Tool (Press any two: F5, F6, F7) - This function is definitely one of the most useful. Like they say...once you go super...you never go back!

#9
Zoom Presets (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 above QWERTY keys)

#10
Zoom in-out hotkeys ('R' and 'T' with keyboard focus “a...z” enabled in toolbar)



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Get In Tune

If you have turned on your radio in the last few years I'm sure you noticed the "robot thingy". Yes I'm talking about the vocoder. Do you know the origins of this wonderful device though? Antares Audio Technologies is the company getting the awesome accolades. This device has became the savior of many careers. It is used to disguise inaccuracies and mistakes, and – due to its increasing use in modern music – has allowed many artists to produce more precisely tuned recordings. While Auto-Tune is only one out of many commercial pitch correction packages, auto-tune is frequently used in the media as a blanket term to describe any audio processing with a similar effect, perhaps because it was the first product allowing pitch correction in real time. Auto-Tune is available as a plug-in for professional audio multi-tracking suites used in a studio setting, such as Pro Tools, and as a stand-alone, rackmount unit for live performance processing. Auto-tune has become the standard for professional recording studios.

The vocoder was introduced to the world in 1930 as a telecommunication application. The idea was to code speech for transmission. The vocoder was first used in the music industry in the 1970's by The Alan Parsons Project, Giorgia Moroder, and Pink Floyd. 80 babies how can we forget Rockwell's use of the device on his one hit wonder "Somebody's Watchin Me" with Michael Jackson on the hook. Nobody personified the meaning of the vocoder like the late great Roger Troutman. He finessed the keyboard synthesizer that created robotic-sounding vocals through the simultaneous use of a piano-like interface and breath controller(breath tube), somewhat like a guitar talk box. In 2004 a brother named Akon revitalized the voice box with the hits "Locked Up", "Belly Dancer", and "Lonely". This opened the door for his secret weapon to the world. Enter T-Pain. Since then everybody has hopped on the bandwagon. Hip-Hop artists like Kanye West, Chris Brown, Ciara, 50 Cent and Lil Wayne have used Auto Tune in their own songs and in those of others.

The problem I'm having is everyone is feeling like they don't have to sing anymore. I know I'm nice in the shower but this might change the way I express myself. I imagine more people are utilizing Autotune than you think. This is how we are making it happen in 2008 so get use to it. Everything is repeating itself so I wonder what is next.

Step Your Game Up: Mbox 2 Micro

Ever wanted to take your Pro Tools mix session with you but didn't want to go through the hassle of packing your Mbox and all the cables that come with it? If you're a producer or engineer that is constantly having to leave your studio setting for one reason or another then the answer is probably YES! Well the Pro Tools gods have FINALLY answered your prayers and have created a little piece of music heaven called The Mbox 2 Micro.
As the much anticipated answer to one of the top requests from Pro Tools® users, ultra-small Mbox® 2 Micro enables Pro Tools users to edit, sequence, and mix sessions created on Pro Tools|HD®, Pro Tools LE®, and Pro Tools M-Powered™ systems on the go, as well as compose music with virtual instruments and loops.

About the size of a typical USB flash drive, Mbox 2 Micro offers high-quality 24-bit / 48 kHz sound, a 1/8-inch stereo output for headphone or speaker monitoring (no audio inputs*), and a convenient volume wheel, providing you with the freedom of true editing, sequencing, and mixing mobility. Whether you’re looking to work on studio-created or live sound Pro Tools sessions on the go, or create loop-based or virtual instrument-driven music, Mbox 2 Micro lets you work wherever inspiration takes you.

Tech Tip of The Month - Get A Good Mic PreAmp

Save your money to buy a great Microphone Preamp ; Don’t sacrifice your quality sound.

A commonly overlooked element in your signal chain is a microphone preamp. You can get away with using your preamp(s) built into your audio interface but you can dramatically increase your sound quality by purchasing a good microphone preamp. Some are listed below for you:

-Universal Audio SOLO 610

-Focusrite ISA One

- D.A.V Electronics BG1

-Universal Audio LA610

- Avalon VT737

Step Your Game Up

PIONEER SVM-1000
AUDIO/VIDEO DJ MIXER

Simply crammed full of features, the Pioneer SVM-1000 ($5,999; www.pioneerprodj.com) audio/video DJ mixer is an attempt to tear down the walls between DJing and VJing. To begin with, each of the SVM-1000’s four channels can operate as a video input (with or without audio) or an audio-only input.

Pioneer’s new Multiple Video Blending Technology with full A/V effects section is controlled via the gorgeous 11-inch LCD touch screen at the center (not multi touch, but it’s still very cool).

Effects include 12 AV Beat Effects that synchronize to bpm, 12 AV Touch Effects that allow Kaoss-like use of the touch screen to manipulate visuals directly as they appear on the panel and Text Effects that display and manipulate messages entered via the touch screen or a USB keyboard, all in sync to bpm.

What’s more, a JPEG viewer allows using effects, looping or mixing with as many as eight still images. The audio system uses 24-bit/96 kHz A/D conversion and operates internally at 32-bit DSP resolution. The extensive back panel offers video inputs and outputs for S-Video, component and more.

More features include full MIDI integration, AV Sync, Video Trim and Video EQ controls, a talk-over microphone input and full crossfader section with curve adjust. Patchwerk Recording Studio’s engineer intern, Cheese, agrees, the SVM-1000 is an exciting new tool in the fight to help creative people cross the boundaries of media.

By Asher Fulero (www.remixmag.com)

Contributed by C. Webster for Patchwerk Studios (www.patchwerk.com)