The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: mozar on January 14, 2017, 09:57:04 AM
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I want to set up a music studio. I have a keyboard and a guitar so far. What I want to do is live looping with voice, guitar, violin, keyboard and bongos. So I am thinking of getting a mic (and protector) and stand, a pickup for the violin I'm getting and guitar, and plug those into a looper and plug the looper into an amp. I'm just playing, I don't need to record and mix.
I'm thinking of this looper: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AWWYD8K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_11?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
And this amp: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001L8PIFW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Should I get a mixer too?
Although I'm no where near the point of being able to write music I do need to figure out how to get my vocal cips off my phone. Do I need a DAW? My phone recorder doesn't export and I don't mind recreating them but I don't know what to get for my computer. I also will probably have to get a mic to plug into my computer as well.
Do any of you upload your music to the cloud (like google for example, not soundcloud)?
Thanks.
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I'm going to recommend one of two very affordable DAW's that I've used.
Tracktion: https://www.tracktion.com/
Reaper: https://www.tracktion.com/
These days I pretty much exclusively use Tracktion, because I like it's 'no mixer' interface.
Now, you can use those with your built-in sound card, but the results and the experience will be much less than ideal. But that is indeed where most people start out. So experiment with that.
There is a LOT to learn before most people get satisfying results. Don't let that slow you down though. Go learn:
http://lifehacker.com/the-basics-of-music-production-lesson-1-set-up-your-h-499088482
I also recommend the book "Guerilla Home Recording".
https://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Home-Recording-Second-Coryat/dp/1423454464
Don't underestimate the local library. Mine has a few books on DIY recording. Not usually the most recent ones, but enough to get started.
Finally, are you -sure- you can't get your audio clips off your phone? There's usually a way, especially if you can mount the phone as a drive on your computer. Otherwise you can get a cable that goes headphone-jack out of the phone into the input of the computer and try to re-record the sound as you play it on the phone.
Or, get a mic and replay and record it. the quality of mic you can use is going to vary depending on what hardware you have. If you only have a computer input and no mixer then it's hard to use a decent mic (which would have an XLR connector). You could shoot for a small 4 channel mixer from Craigslist, that would let you use better mics.
Can't comment on the looper. I do all my looping in the DAW. Some people do some amazing things with loopers though.
Good luck, and don't forget to have fun with it.
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Thank you!
I was thinking of plugging the mic with the xlr cable into the looper and then into the amp or computer. I didn't know you could loop in the DAW but that makes sense. I don't think I want to have a computer with me while on stage. But maybe for home use. I'll look into AirDroid type things.