professional musicians, i need your help

[Siren]

alright, my friend wants me to build a system for him, but the requirements are different from any ive built/been accustomed to in the past. he wants me to build a system for use in mostly recording music from a piano. i have read several of the threads that have floated around about professional music, etc, but i have several questions as to how i should get started. first of all, what speakers/sound card/audio set up is recommended for something like this (and recommend piano or keyboard too if you have knowledge about that) for a user on a budget (say around no more than 600-700 usd excluding the keyboard)? also, what are some good sites that have good info or reviews about these things ive mentioned above...ie, professional sound cards, software, keyboards, speakers, and whatever else? if there are any tips are things i should know, please, tell me. thanks, your help is appreciated

 

[TheKid]

Well I had to break it to you but a professional soundcard can run from 500.00 to 1000.00+. That's just for the card. I personaly use a SB Live 5.1 Plant. I do mainly acoustic guitar work and can plug directly into the live drive without losing any quality. The 5.1 also has midi hook-ups in the front of the live drive. You may want to try n-Track for a good multitrack recording program for cheap. This is what I use and it works great. I think it also has links for electronic recording. Also try Mars Music

Keyboards is a totally different bag of marbles. If he wants to spend the money get a Korg Workstation. This is one of the very best on the market. These run about 3500.00, but will last a lifetime. I would put more into the keyboard, than into the sound card. If he's really serious about his music, he will eventually be going to a professional studio. He can then take his keyboard with him. That's just my $0.0278.

 

[Siren]

ok, thx. will the platinum be fine? i mean, this person isnt like a professional musician, just a big big hobby so to speak. also, i saw a link for a card likethis. how is that? and i heard someone else mention a guillemont isis card? how is that? im new to this...

 

[SuperNoOne]

Well, i'm looking for something just like this, a home recording sound card. I got a message saying that a yamaha card (ds something) was considered the best, and the guillemot was pretty good as well, only cheaper, well, ONLY 400$. But it was also said that anything thing cheaper doesn't have enough quality for recording.

 

[spamboy]

This is important: does he want to record a real piano (like with microphones), or does he just want MIDI? Because you can do MIDI with any card and it won't make much difference. If he wants to record a real piano he will need two studio microphones (plus another if he wants to sing at the same time), a recording card (piano requires higher quality than a normal sound card), and software. You are looking at $400 for two decent mics, plus 300-400 dollars for a home recording card with a breakout box. If the recording card doesn't already have them built in, you'll need mic pre-amps, too. Then you need software. Cakewalk Home Studio is 8 tracks and $200. $300 gets you Cakewalk Pro Audio which has like 64 tracks or 128 or something. There are several other good programs in the $300 range as well. Obviously, it's quite an investment.

However, that isn't to say you can't just use a Soundblaster card. You can. It just won't sound super professional. If he just wants to have fun or make a demo, the soundblaster would be fine. But if he wants to make a real album, he needs to spend some money for good equipment.

Hope this helps.

 

[spamboy]

Echo's Darla 24 is an exellent recording card for $300. www.americanmusical.com probably has it.

n-track is a good program (great considering it's free), but it has memory leaks and limited functioanlity. It's worth it to buy a real program.

 

[Siren]

alright, thanks for the info. btw, i only think he wants to record via an electronic keyboard. if that is the case, a sblive platinum is just as good as one of the other high priced cards?

 

[Vinny N]

Yah if it's just MIDI, the Platinum well be fine, hey he might even have fun with mixing and matching the soundfont capabilities of the Live with the MIDI keyboard.

 

[divinemartyr]

SuperNoOne

The card you're referring to is the Yamaha DS2416 and yes it is the best audio card available. All of the reviews indicate this is the absolute top of the line audio card to get. You can pick one up for about $400 if you search around. This should be an essential component for recording good-sounding music.

dm