amplification and recording mutations - marshall + akai

[1 1 Dragon 2 2 2]

hello again great taste in guitars people.
before making any big purchases i definitely
have to make a stop by jemsite. i've been
financially preparing for the equipment for a couple of
years.

the amp:
marshall jcm2000dsl; want to go legacy but
i can't deal with the midrange thing right now.
what do you think? the sounds necessary will
be grateful dead + curtis mayfield + the association +
+ black and white movie sounds + many other
monstrosities. i really believe tone is in the phalanges
(etc.) and as long as the amp has punch, good head
room, and solid clean channel i'll be able to work it out.
unfortunately, unlike the beautiful legacy head, the marshall has common eq. at 1 grand i'll have no
choice but to skimp on 2 4x12 cabinets and

the multitrack:
i'm thinking akai 16; tascam seems to have a serious
'use our cd burners' affliction. the akai looks very good
for 2 grand and the market (? what do ya think ?)
- my only problem with it is that the eq is 3 (NOT 4)
band. i feel stupid to buy a 24 bit, 96khz recorder
with 3 band eq. yamaha comes thru here, but 3+
grand is not rational at the moment. i envy those
of you who are in the position where the br8 will
work for you.

the mixer:
one of you mentioned a behringer in a br8
discussion. i looked at some of the more massive
models and they have 4 band eq. however, they're
not expected until march. then there is carvin; they
offer more inputs for the buck. i can hold
probably until end of summer on the mixer so
there is plenty of time.

the power brake:
anyone using power brakes? the price is ugh.. a bit
frightening.

sequencing software for XP-30 (roland):
i don't think what i need exists. i checked out
cakewalk 'overture' and it ain't going to be able
to be easily fed TempoMental. anyone else
having difficulty finding software to eat The Frank
Zappa Guitar Book without regurgitating?

[darren wilson]

Just as a side note, Dragon, you don't have to hit "return" every time you reach the end of the text input box. The text will wrap automagically so you don't get long lines
and some short lines
that end prematurely
like this.

[Doink]

The amp:
I can't comment much here. Get whatever you like. I run my RG's through a DOD multi effects board and a Fender Super Twin with a 4 12 cab. I hope to get a POD pro or a Triaxis someday, but the amp is definatly a keeper.

Recorder:
I personnaly prefer a computer based system, though real time recording does have some advantages.
Right now I run multiple soundcards with Cool Edit Pro. I can record 3 stereo tracks at the same time, and if I pan certain things over on each track, I can, in a sense, get 6 seperate tracks.
Eventually, I'd like to get something like the M Audio Delta 10/10 which allow 8 tracks simultaniously at 24 bit/96 kHz and will sound MUCH better than the sounblasters I'm working with right now. The Delta 10/10 sells for $550 from GC.
If you have a good computer, I suggest using it as your recorder.

Mixer:
If you record to your computer, you can skimp on the mixer. I personally use a Mackie 1604, but I hear that Allen & Heath and Studiomaster make much better mixers in the same price range. I supose the stuff from Carvin will be pretty good too.

Power brake:
Again, I can't really comment here. If your amp is too loud, (assuming your amp has 4 or more power tubes) you can always remove the 2 outer power tubes and double your impedance. *This will cut your power in half. You can crank it, it will saturate nicely and sometimes even sooner, and it will be much more forgiving to your ears and neighbors.

MIDI sequencers:
I don't know much about this. Cool Edit Pro is completely MIDI compliant.

One thing that you need to consider if you decide to go with real time recording and mixing is the extra money you'll need to put into outboard processors. EQ's, compressors, reverb units... All that can really add up.

You also never mentioned mic's or monitors. These are also essential to making a good recording.
It would also help if you told us your total budget and what all you plan on recording.

(Edited by Doink at 12:38 am on Jan. 18, 2001)

[1 1 Dragon 2 2 2]

Thanks for the automagic tip Darren, and your web page is very smooth.
Doink, have you heard anything about the Fender Cyber-Twin? Thanks for the Delta 1010 tip, I'm looking into it.

[Doink]

The Cyber Twin looks like it's just another modelling amp. The POD series has proven to be the best modeller so far.
The Delta 10/10 is just one of many multi track sound cards, but I hear it's the best one for under $1000. Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) and DigiDesign make some really good stuff in the $1000+ range.
Are you sure you'll need to record 8 tracks simultaniously? This will mainly involve the drums. If you're just using a drum machine, you won't need an 8 track card.

I guess I'll go into mic's a little bit.
The Shure SM 57 is a great start. You can buy it for $100 and it will do a decent job of micing anything. If you're micing drums, look to spend close to $1000 minimum on mics (7 or 8 57's plus cables and stands).
If you can afford more, get a pair of Shure SM 81's ($350 each) or 94's ($180 each) for overheads, an AKG D112 ($220) for the kick drum, and Sennheiser MD 421's ($300 each) for the toms (in that order of importance).
The 57's will do fine for micing a guitar amp and snare drum. The 81 can double as a vocal mic too. But if you want to spend a little more for the vocal mic, look into the AKG C 3000 ($320) and C 1000 ($200).

Monitors:
A good set of monitors and a good power amp are also crucial. Carvin makes a good power amp for the studio (I believe it's called the HT 150). Event, JBL, and Alesis make good, low priced monitors.

The one rule I've learned is that NO peice of gear is as important as a good set of ears. All the money and gear in the world won't give you a good recording unless your ears can tell your hands how to operate the equipment.

Check out www.homerecording.com

[1 1 Dragon 2 2 2]

Midiman or Motu? Motu described
as 'pristine', 'superb', and 'beautiful'.
Delta 1010 described as 'good; very good'.
In the models I'm interested in, Motu has 1
96kHz machine. And every analog I/O on it is..er..
XLR. I don't like the routing in Delta 1010 in that
it seems to group in groups of 2. The ability to
route 1 by 1 would be nice. Motu seems to be
Mac biased and I'm put off by this. Also, the Motu
seems to have alot of Star Wars lights that are just
one further thing to break down.
I like the Allen & Heath mixers (think I got the name
correct), but I'm still looking into what type if any
preamps they have. The Mackie 1604VLZ Pro
looks very nice. As far as do I/O needed, etc. -
it's never enough. The Motu 'rely on progress of
PC/Mac technology' philosophy is right in line with mine.
For me, Digi is out of the question. I'm open minded
to it in future, and will work with it when possible to
become competent with it, but I'm not jumping into that
camp as far as I can tell. Geesh.
Thanks for the input Doink.
Jeff

[Doink]

I've never actually compared them side by side, but I hear from others that MOTU makes better stuff than Midiman. I suggest not getting the MOTU with the XLR inputs, you're going to want to use the preamps on the mixer. I don't quite understand what you by the "groups of 2" thing. Each input will go to it's own track, and you can program each track's output through either it's own output (if you want to use some outboard processors) or through a main mix output.
From what I hear on homerecording.com, Allen and Heath make better stuff than Mackie. And like I said, don't rule out Studiomaster or Carvin either.

[rgr]

Your computer will see an 8-input card as 4 stereo inputs. *Your s'ware will allow you to use them as mono ins and outs though. *

BTW, I'm happy with my Behringer MX-2004 mixer for home recording.

[Jimi D]

i envy those you who are in the position where the br8 will work for you.

Hey, I resemble that remark :biggrin:

Jim [size=-2:1cdfd5850b](who's quite fond of his BR-8, and willing to suffer the derision of his peers in it's defense)[/size:1cdfd5850b]