Photo courtesy of Tim O’Brien

June 12th, 2008 - This is the first installment of reader questions. Please post questions you might have about anything songwriting or music production related. Depending on the amount of questions, I may or may not be able to answer them all. When submitting questions, please try to think of questions you might have that other people may also want to know the answer to. Answers about specific hardware setups will most likely not get answered because I would have to see the set up in person in most circumstances which, of course, is not feasible. I look forward to your questions!

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at 1:12 am.
Categories: Asides, Questions, Reader Mail.

7 Comments, Comment or Ping

  1. Alf

    My first of many future questions: I’ve been experimenting with recording acoustic guitar very recently (aka yesterday) but my recordings are barely audible, even when I stick the mic (an SM57) really close to the soundhole. I have to turn the gain/volume on my (crappy) interface all the way up to get anything above a whisper but that results in excess static and noise. I’ve also tried messing with the Cubase mixing board but it wasn’t sufficient. What’s the most effective way to record using this simple setup? Do I need some sort of signal boost? Or am I doomed to using the on board preamp?

    Jun 12th, 2008

  2. Sean

    @ALF: Good question. I’ll go over some things to try in a post soon.

    In the meantime, keep the questions coming people!

    Jun 13th, 2008

  3. 3NOS

    There are lots of different kinds of mics out there. Can you help de-mystify the purposes of the different types and explain what they are good for? For example, what’s the difference between cardioid, dynamic, condenser, capacitor, and ribbon microphones???

    And as an extra, are the really expensive mics worth it?

    (I realize this may time some ‘xplaining)

    Jun 15th, 2008

  4. Sean

    @3NOS: Funny you should mention it, I’m working on a several part series about microphones. There’s a lot of information to know, so it will have to be split up into sections. In the meantime, today’s post will answer ALF’s specific question about the SM57.

    Jun 16th, 2008

  5. 3NOS

    sweet. looking forward to your mini-series, haha.

    Jun 20th, 2008

  6. Shav737

    Hey. Love the site. I’ve been playing guitar for as long as I can remember but I’m brand new to recording. A friend hooked me up with Cubase SX and told me to play around with that for a while. I rapidly found out that I have no idea what I’m doing, and my computer mic isn’t cutting it. I’ve looked into MIDI interfaces for guitar and mic but don’t even know enough to ask the right questions.
    1. I plan to dive into this more in the future, what kind of hardware would be a good investment that will last me beyond a beginner’s phase?
    2. What else should a beginner know?
    Keep up the good work!

    Jul 28th, 2008

  7. 3NOS

    Thanks for the advice on what to invest in for a beginner’s recording set-up.

    What I’m wondering now is, instead of buying an audio interface for my PC, is it worth it to purchase a smaller, stand-alone product like the Boss BR-600, or even bigger hardward like the Korg D3200 (which I have at work)? I’m doing “unplugged” stuff, vocals, acoustic guitar, and bass.

    On a dedicated recording station, there are physical sliders and buttons, no extra software is necessary, and products like the BR-600 is portable (tho that’s not a high priority for me). Granted, I’ve read that limited memory can be a problem, and an integrated CD burner will cost more on a higher model, and I’ll still need to buy a good mic (as per your strong suggestion). I’m just thinking maybe a stand-alone product might help streamline the process and also cut down on set-up time.

    Any thoughts?

    Jul 29th, 2008

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