First Interface and 'real' DAW Setup: Am I on the right track?

[cometazzi]

(some amount of pun intended)

I've recorded a few hundred miles of 4-track tapes way back in the nineteen-hundreds, but it mostly ended there. For years, nigh decades, I've been interested in building a DAW and making the jump to modern recording. I was going to roll an audio interface into my next PC Build, but that keeps slipping farther and farther into the future.

Welp, I've got a workplace bonus coming up and also a birthday, so I figured "why not?". It's not enough to build a new PC, but I think I could do plenty of damage with my current old PC and just a few initial basics:

1) Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen
2) Shure SM58 w/ on/off switch
3) Tabletop Mic Stand
4) Not-Sony-Branded earpads to replace the ones on my MDR-7506 headset that are flaking apart.
5) Misc cables, like an XLR, a 1/4"-ended speaker cable, some short patch cables, etc.

The Focusrite comes with a whole pile of TrialWare, most of which I don't know what it is. To be honest, I wasn't going to mess with that stuff for awhile anyway. I figure I'll mostly try to just put down multiple guitar/bass tracks in Reaper side by side, pretty much replicating what I used to do with a 4-Track in the 90s. Once I get good at that, I'll start looking at VSTs and V-Drums.

As stated, I'd be using Windows 10 on my old PC. I'd buy the individual version of Reaper (I have used it a little in the past, and $60 is a pittance for what it does). The ultimate goal is probably to go straight in with the guitar or bass clean, and then add amp/speaker/fx via VSTs. I'll have to work up to that. In the meantime I currently have:

Boss ME-30 MultiFX from the late 90s. Not awesome, but I'm familar with it and we know each other's quirks.
Various stompy-boxen.
Bugera PS-1 Power Soak which has a line out. In theory I could capture physical amplifiers (from the power end) that I own in the physical realm with this.
Some of my amplifiers have FX Send or Preamp out. I've used this in the 4-Track days to capture signal.

Unfortunately, I live in an apartment so using amplifiers will be rare. Most of the time I will be outwardly silent and monitoring with the headphones. At 2:00am. Possibly after a couple of beers.

Sweetwater doesn't sell talent, but otherwise does that seem like a reasonable jumping-off point into modern recording? Is there anything anyone would add, subtract, multiply or divide? I'm a bit excited about getting back into recording stuff, but this is a big huge new world for me in a lot of ways. There's a whole lot of "I don't even know what I don't even know" going on, I'm sure.

Thanks, and sorry.

 

[ahiddentableau]

Sounds like you've got enough to get going for sure. Decent enough interface, decent mic, cables, a way to go direct for your guitar/bass because you can't amp them and a DAW are the basics and you've got those bases covered.

The one thing you might want to get is a proper mic stand. If you use a tabletop type it's going to be really hard to keep the early reflections from the desk from colouring the tone, plus it's going to be harder to adjust it into a position where you can sing or play acoustic instruments in a comfortable and natural posture. That will probably hurt your results. Just a thought.

Good luck with your recording.

 

[cometazzi]

If you use a tabletop type it's going to be really hard to keep the early reflections from the desk from colouring the tone, plus it's going to be harder to adjust it into a position where you can sing or play acoustic instruments in a comfortable and natural posture. That will probably hurt your results. Just a thought.

This is EXACTLY why I came here to ask my dumb questions. I didn't even consider that. What is a 'proper' mic stand? There's one with a boom on it on CL right now for $20. I thought about hitting that but I don't know anything about mic stands.



Is that what you mean?

 

[arlum]

I'm in the same boat. I look forward to reading any and all responses.

 

[cometazzi]

I'm in the same boat. I look forward to reading any and all responses.

Funnily enough I almost titled my post "Help an old guy out" before I even saw yours. Now I'm reading your thread

 

[Blrfl]

What is a 'proper' mic stand?

Any mic stand that holds your mic where you want it, full stop.

The rest of your setup seems fine. Have fun with it.

 

[runstendt]

I would also get EZDrummer. The initial samples and beats sound great, and you can expand on it as you need or want to. If you’re into more detailed MIDI programming it can handle that as well, but it does come with quite a bit built in.

 

[clayville]

Everything I know about this I learned at 2am with headphones on after a couple of beers. I reckon you have a good plan so far and I wish you well. Don’t forget to sleep.

With an old(er) PC I’d resist loading up all of Focusrite’s freebie stuff at first - it’s likely to take up valuable space and provide minimal benefit in the early days. At the very least, use a separate email address to register that stuff, otherwise you’ll be looking at a lot of junk mail and “offers” in your regular email account.

 

[WireLine]

I think you'll be set once you secure a floor mounted boom stand. Dont be afraid of cutting guitar tracks with compression and overdrive from your boss unit though. If you dont like em, dump em!

Once you get signal to interface to DAW, there are really no more rules, just what sounds good.

 

[suthol]

Register the Focusrite and there's some free VSTs to be had

 

[THX1139]

Backup usb drive to store archived projects and samples on, especially if your going to use EZ drummer or software synths. Get a solid state one of a decent size and it should outlast your old pc. Surge protect all the electronics as well.

 

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

I agree with the others - this sounds like everything you need to get started. Assuming that is that your various line out solutions work and you're able to play silently when you need to. So, the only thing I might add to your setup is an amp sim pedal of some kind, with IRs and such. I'm thinking something like the Strymon Iridium, UAFX Dream 65, or Joyo American Sound. But if your current solutions get you what you need, you're probably good to go.

 

[Grandy]

I prefer using VST amps for guitars. Easy to tweak tones afterwards.

 

[kennl]

most important aspect of the process will be mastery of the software
developing a workflow that fits your needs will improve efficiency

BTW : I'm a fan of the Sony MDR-7506 headphones - I check my mixes on those, as well as car, iPhone. and studio monitors

 

[sadfield]

Slate Drums 5.5 Free will give you a drum kit to get started with.

Steven Slate Drums 5.5 - $9.99/mo for 12 Months

Get the perfect drum sound in seconds with 148 pro drum kits in every style and 2,400 MIDI grooves. Now $9.99/mo for 12 months, own for life after 12 months

stevenslatedrums.com

Here's a good free amp modeller, that you could use to add speaker emulation to your power soak output, or DI in and use the full amp modelling.

Neural Amp Modeler | Highly-accurate free and open-source amp modeling plugin

Neural Amp Modeler is a free and open-source technology for modeling guitar amplifiers and pedals using deep learning. Get started making music with NAM, contribute to the code, or build your own products using state of the art modeling.

www.neuralampmodeler.com

 

[Lawdawg]

You're good to go. That's a good interface and if I wasn't already down the Apple Logic road, Reaper would be my top alternative.

If you're ever in a place where you can start recording live guitar amps or other acoustic instruments I'd get some different mics like the SM57/Sennheiser e609 for electric or a small condenser mic like an AKG P170 for acoustic. They're all in the $100 new price range but you can save some bucks buying used mics.

 

[Buzzgrowl]

My basic advice: Do not record hot.

Aim for -18bd and don"t go over -12db coming into the daw track. Set the track and master faders in Reaper to 0db. Then use the gain on the interface to get there.

You can gain up the sound later, once inside the daw. This to avoid transient distortion coming in hitting the AD convertors.

Its not such a problem if your interface costs several thousand $. Those tend to have more headroom.

I do audio editing as a part of my job, in case you are wondering.

 

[TomBrokaw]

Backup usb drive to store archived projects and samples on, especially if your going to use EZ drummer or software synths. Get a solid state one of a decent size and it should outlast your old pc. Surge protect all the electronics as well.

Great point - have a backup plan. I keep all the installers and .dlls in a folder on my storage drive. When I installed windows 11 earlier this year, it was trivial to reinstall the plug-ins that I needed.

 

[Boreas]

Being an elderly Luddite, I have always found DAWs have a steep learning curve. I am most familiar with Audacity - and while trying others recently (Fender Studio, Sound Recorder, USB Audio Recorder, MixPad), I keep coming back to Audacity.

I found the Scarlett 2i2 to be a great interface, but recently bought a Sonicake Pocket Master pedal and am using that a great deal directly in to my W11 Laptop via USB-C. It has tons of amp/FX/EQ presets and almost limitless effects and tweakability. For $65, I have about a bazillion ways to tweak my guitar output, and meshes well with Audacity if I want to record something. I can even record direct to my guitar through the PocketMaster into my Android via USB-C using Fender Studio or other APP du jour. I like the PocketMaster because I can hear it through my amp while I am recording, as well as headphones if desired, and don't have to rely on post-effects on my DAW. I no longer am using the Scarlett 2i2 for most of my noodling requirements as the PocketMaster essentially takes its place and has a ton more functionality. The Scarlett is still used when I need to mic something like an acoustic.

BT connectivity to a proprietary fone app makes tweaking the settings easier than the menu-driven functions on the pedal itself.

And the PM can be used on rechargeable lithium battery power - also via USB-C. So when the unit is connected via USB-C to my laptop, the battery does not run down as it is simultaneously being charged by the laptop. But the on-board Li battery does last quite a while.

 

[tonepoet333]

Unfortunately, I live in an apartment so using amplifiers will be rare.

@cometazzi What I did in an apartment and still do in this rented house is to use isolation cabinets in a closet. If you have an amp where the speaker is connected with a 1/4 inch jack, you unplug that speaker and use a speaker cable with 1/4 inch jacks to connect the amp chassis to the speaker inside the isolation cabinet.

In the 2nd floor apartment I was in, I took a 3" thick futon mattress and surrounded the isolation cabinet with that in the closet and never had a neighbor complain. I doubt that they ever heard anything.

Front, inside, and back:

This particular model is not made anymore (Jet City Jetstream ii) but you may find one used for $200 or so.

Inside this model, you can use two mics.

tonepoet
www.jackshiner.com