Buying Recording Equipment?
So you have finally found your way out of the land of beginners and are ready to record your first instrumental/song. Great, but do you know which equipment to buy and what to check for before buying? Here we are, with our very own recording equipment guide that will bring you up to speed with the beginner’s recording equipment that you can buy to record your first piece and share with your friends or even professional studios as a part of your portfolio.
Note- We are not setting up a studio here so the guide will be covering how to select the best home recording equipment in the most budgeted slots.
Deciding On A Budget
Okay so the first step is deciding your budget. Frankly, there are hundreds and thousands of options for you to select from and there over hundreds of cool new designs or gadgets being flooded into the market by the manufacturers. So the budget might not be fixed considering at what time you’re reading this. But for buying good recording equipment, you need to be sure of the amount that you can spend. This would surely help you in choosing the right combination of equipment that you can buy.
Cheaper alternatives are always there to the branded over priced ‘jewels’ but don’t stoop too low in prices or you will find yourself rushing for repair and replacement soon enough. There is no shame in buying second hand recording equipment. Mark my words; it is one of the best ways to get yourself started with in recording. Try your hands at the used one and after you know what you need, you can spend more cash in getting decent new equipment.
Caution- Never ever blindly buy the equipment being sold at the store as the sales guy there is just trying to make you cough up some cash so that he can take a fat commission home. Never go for a final buying decision before consulting some expert or forum or a previous user of the equipment.
What You’ll Definitely Need
There are a few things that you would definitely need if you’re thinking to record your first song/instrumental, the first being a laptop or a computer.
Computer/Laptop
Regardless of the speed, processor generation or the platform of the system that you have, any computer or laptop would do as long as it runs normal software smoothly.
If you have an Apple system – laptop or desktop, you are at somewhat of an advantage as compared to others as you would have access to some high quality sound libraries of Garage Band while enjoying the best hardware support for your audio plug in. If you are getting a new one, I recommend getting a cheap MAC with decent specs and then you can move forward with the rest of the items.
Audio Interface
Let’s get to the audio interface that you would need. As you are just beginning and do not plan to have a whole bunch of people in for the recording session, get a decent two in two out interface for yourself. One input for the guitar and one for the microphone if needed is good enough for now. Here are three popular and cheap options of audio interfaces that you can get-
- Apogee One- It comes with a built in microphone and he best thing about this is that it is powered by bus which gives you the opportunity to record anywhere anytime if you’re carrying your lappy or iPad with you. If you’re looking for easy connectivity, durability as well as portability, Apogee One should be your first choice.
- Focusrite Scarlet- Not that high on functionality, but it certainly does deliver good considering the price that it is available on. The Scarlet is cheap but doesn’t have a microphone but hey, you can always get one with the cash left!
- AVID Fast Track Solo- Small yet high on performance, AVID allows only one instrument to be recorded at a time. It is cheap and it comes with a Pro Tools Express Software which adds to its advantages.
Let’s go the other way round- do you plan on recording just your guitar for the time being with some occasional vocals which you can manage by layer recording? Then guitar multi effects processor is the best bet for you.
Whoa! Yes, instead of spending $150 on an interface, kill two birds with one stone and get a good digital processor like Digitech RP 300 or 350 for just $100. Not only do you get hundreds of effects and tones with a wah pedal, you also get an in built interface (with processor driver) to record your instrumental along with awesome preset beats and ability to loop. For small time players, I would highly recommend going for this option.
Microphone
Microphone shouldn’t really be on your priority for now but if you do want to get the vocals as well, remember to research well for some decent and less pricey microphones, preferably under $150.
Software
There are many software applications that you can use. The free ones include Audacity, the simplest of layer recording software for instrumental pieces. However, you can always go a notch higher with software like Cubase and Logic Pro. Even SoundForge and FL Studio are good bets when it comes to music recording and making. However, I would always recommend garage band for ease of operation and use as well as quality of pre-set sound libraries.
Final Words
Buying recording equipment is probably one of the toughest things that you would have to do after selecting the appropriate guitar. Thus, research well and don’t spend too much money on the equipment. Be decent in choices and it will allow you to get a good idea for a better buy in the future.
