Mini guide to starter gear for recording (cheaply)

[Mornats]

I thought I'd try to start a guide about getting started in recording your own music, focusing on the bass of course, as cheaply as possible. I think it's a lot easier than most people think to start recording their own stuff. I never thought I'd manage it but after some gentle encouraging from a friend I got into it and haven't looked back!

So as a start, here are some suggestions from me and I'm sure more people will chip in with their own advice.

[b]Your Computer[/b]

Mac or PC, that's your choice. They're both more than capable but I won't go into details here on what's best to have inside your computer. Maybe another time...

[b]Audio Interface[/b]

Very simplistically, this is the box that you'll plug your bass into in order to record onto your computer. I managed to get myself a Native Instruments Guitar Rig Session which came with Guitar Rig 4 LE and I use this for everything. Sadly, they're discontinued which is a shame because for £80, you had the guts of what you needed. It even came with Cubase LE!

Anyway, M-Audio offer some cheap routes into this although there are others out there.

M-Audio Fast Track USB looks like their entry level one (around £46 from Thomann, £80 ish from DV247).

I'm struggling to recommend any here as I've only used my Guitar Rig Session (which isn't available) so I'll leave space for others' suggestions. I do know that you should ideally go for one that records at 24bit/96khz rather than 16bit/44khz. Best to read the specs closely before buying.

[b]DAW (the software that lets you record and arrange stuff)[/b]

This is easy. If you're just dipping your toe in the water, or even if you want to do pro stuff then I can heartily recommend Reaper ([url="http://www.reaper.fm/"]http://www.reaper.fm[/url]). Their free trial never expires but a licence is only $60 which is a bargain for what you get. Plus we should all support a company that doesn't believe in DRM. Check it out, it'll do pretty much anything you want it to.

If you have a Mac, then chances are you'll have GarageBand installed. Give it a go, the learning curve is tiny and you can easily upgrade to Logic Pro which is now in the Mac App Store for a bargain (relatively!) £140. This is basically Logic Pro for a Logic Express price. Of course, Reaper is available for Mac as well as PC so you can give either a go.

[b]Guitar Amp Software[/b]

Reaper and GarageBand both have amp modelling plugins which should be enough to give them a bash. There are more free ones available though.

As I've said, I use Guitar Rig 4LE and really like it. Native Instruments do a cut down free version but sadly it doesn't come with a bass amp so this is really for guitary stuff only. [url="http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/guitar-rig-5-player/"]http://www.native-in...r-rig-5-player/[/url]

All is not lost though...

For bass, check out Amplitube Free which is basically the full Amplitube amp software with a few free amps, cabs and effects that allows you to buy amps, cabs etc. individually. The bass amp is enough to get you started. [url="http://www.ikmultimedia.com/amplitubefree/features/"]http://www.ikmultime...efree/features/[/url]

FreeAmp 3 will get you started too: [url="http://rekkerd.org/fretted-synth/"]http://rekkerd.org/fretted-synth/[/url]

[b]Virtual Instruments[/b]

[indent=1][b]The paid-for stuff[/b][/indent]

A decent virtual drummer will be a great help. I use EZDrummer ([url="http://www.toontrack.com/products.asp?item=7"]http://www.toontrack...ucts.asp?item=7[/url] which is around £70-80. Do a bit of research and look for deals, either cheaper prices or bundles that include extra kits. It's simple to use, add it as an effect in your DAW, select a drum kit, choose some of the midi drum loops and drag them into your DAW and arrange them. Simples.

BFD Eco ([url="http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=103"]http://www.fxpansion...ex.php?page=103[/url]) is another one that's recommended although I've never used it. It's around £60-70 and I believe it works in a very similar way to EZDrummer.

There are others too, Steven Slate Drums for example. Both of the ones I mentioned above have upgrade paths to their bigger-brother versions (Superior Drummer and BFD2).

You might want to use other instruments too so I'll recommend some stuff in the next section.

[indent=1][b]The free stuff to help get you started[/b][/indent]

Before you buy anything, check out the free virtual instruments you can get.

First off are the Native Instruments players: [url="http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/?category=1339"]http://www.native-in.../?category=1339[/url]

I've already mentioned the free Guitar Rig 5 player but grab the Kontakt player for some virtual instruments and the Reaktor Player for a synth. That should get you started and let you add something different to your music.

Also grab SampleTank Free (which is a bunch of virtual instruments like the ones in Kontakt): [url="http://ikmultimedia.com/sampletankfree/features/"]http://ikmultimedia....kfree/features/[/url].

Finally, the third one that I know of is Independence Free: [url="http://www.yellowtools.us/cp21/cms/index.php?id=842"]http://www.yellowtoo...ndex.php?id=842[/url]

These are some quite hefty downloads (several GB each) so watch out if you're on limited downloads with your ISP.

Also check out [url="http://www.kvraudio.com/"]http://www.kvraudio.com/[/url] as they have a good list of free plugins and instruments.

[b]Midi controller[/b]

Finally, even though you can record say, a virtual piano using your computer's keyboard, it's much easier to do so with a midi controller keyboard. I use an M-Audio KeyRig 49 (now replaced with newer models). I'd recommend you pay a little extra to get a 49 key (or more) keyboard as you'll definitely appreciate the extra octaves on them. You can 25 key keyboard fairly cheaply. The Akai LPK25 is around £40 and comes recommended (I've not used one myself though).

I don't know much about these, but it looks like some of the M-Audio KeyStudio keyboards have built-in audio interfaces too. Could be a bargain or could be a waste of time, I don't know. It really depends on how much (if any) they've had to compromise by combining the two. Looks like they go for £80-£120 or so.

[b]Finally[/b]

That's it for now although I hope this mini-guide will grow as people add in their own suggestions. I've not mentioned mics or reference monitors or headphones and that's mainly because I wanted this to be a guide to getting set up cheaply, just to make the “plunge” easier as really, it's not much of a plunge even if you think you can't write songs. Trust me, you can Check this out if you don't believe me: [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18034617"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18034617[/url].

Oh, and grab yourself a free Soundcloud account to upload your music to: [url="http://www.soundcloud.com/"]http://www.soundcloud.com/[/url] and add your stuff to the Basschat Group on there: [url="http://soundcloud.com/groups/basschat"]http://soundcloud.com/groups/basschat[/url]. And of course, ask our opinions on your music - there's a sticky about the Basschat Soundcloud group here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/156658-basschatters-soundcloud-accounts"]http://basschat.co.u...dcloud-accounts[/url]/ where you can post a link to your Soundcloud page, find all of our pages and generally chat about it.

I'll leave you with the words of advice that got me started in recording: "Remember, only YOU have to listen to what you've recorded so what's there to lose?".

[b]*Update* Recording live[/b]

Check out this thread, it looks like it's shaping up to be a good one: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/176980-recording-equipment-on-budget/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/176980-recording-equipment-on-budget/[/url]

Edited May 22, 2012 by Mornats

[Mornats]

Not sure if this is allowed, but if loads of you chip in with advice, this may become a long post! I plan to update the above based on what people say as it's easier to get the info that way. So this is a reserved post for some overspill, assuming of course that I can edit this post in the future...

[yepmop]

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.