My Studio
The main component in my studio is the computer. All my hardware is routed
through a mixer and connected to this via a sound card. The music is mixed,
mastered and burned to CD using an internal CD writer.
Equipment
Sound Sources: Roland G600 keyboard, Bass Guitar, Yamaha TX81Z sound
module, Casio CTK650 keyboard, Soundblaster Live sound card with Vienna
Sound font Studio, VAZ+ soft synth.
Recording Equipment: Behringer MX802A mixer, Shure SM58 microphone,
Alesis Midiverb III.
Computer Equipment: Fujitsu Pentium II / 350 MHz running Emagic
Logic Audio Gold 3.5 for Windows, various 3rd party plug-ins, Nero Burning
ROM for CD mastering.
Monitoring: A really old crappy Hi Fi Amp and Speakers. If it
sounds good on these, it should sound good on anything.
The Behringer mixer forms the hub of this set-up. It is a very useful device
although I tend to treat it more like a patch bay. A lot of people use
their mixer's pre fade sends to record into their computer and then patch
the output of the sound card into a couple of channels on the mixer using
the main output for monitoring and recording to an external device. I prefer
not to do this because the music is mastered inside the computer anyway.
The Behringer mixer has a two track input, separate from the mixer channels,
which can be routed to the control room output or to the main output on
the mixer. The output from the sound card is connected to this input. With
this input routed to the control room output, I can monitor everything
coming from the sound card along with everything coming from the main output
of the mixer.
Using the main mix output to record into the computer may not be the
best choice but it does offer a few advantages.
-
there is less risk of introducing feedback
-
it is possible to rehearse without switching on the computer
-
you can play or sing along with pre-recorded MIDI sequences before committing
to recording
-
it does away with the need for a separate monitor amp
The only real disadvantage is that you have to record all your MIDI tracks
as audio before you can overdub live instruments and vocals. In the past
I have used the pre fade sends and a separate amp for monitoring but I
found that, after recording the MIDI sequence, I would have to change all
the levels in the mix.
Read my step by step guide if you would
like to learn more.
Recording Guide
Listen to the music
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