Edition Large Diaphragm Tube Condenser . This worked just fine for the acoustic guitar tracks and if I do want to record any vocals in the future it will work for that too . These sell for $ 249.00 new . You can certainly spend more on mics and as time goes on I may keep beefing up this humble mic locker , but for my needs , I was able to skate by just fine with the two SM57 ’ s and the MXL .
Like I said , in my old retail days I was a fan of the double-speed cassette 4-track recorders . I recorded radio spots for the music store on them and I was the music producer for a 30-minute children ’ s television program – all recorded on the 4-track . A few years ago at one of my guitar shows I bought a Tascam Portastudio 464 to prepare the way for this recording effort I had in mind . I even bought some blank cassette tapes . I pulled out the Tascam to do a test recording when all I heard as I plugged it in was a constant “ click , click , click ” sound . Oh-oh , the belt drive was acting whacky . I knew I had to send it out for repair .
This was the moment my oldest son Drew ( a folk singer who has recorded scores of albums over the years ) was waiting for . He told me that although my desire to work in the analog cassette world was admirable , it was misplaced enthusiasm and it would box me in from collaborating with other musician friends of mine . He told me that I should learn the digital ropes on GarageBand as it was already on my Mac laptop and that after that , I can upgrade to Logic Pro X and feel right at home there . After giving this some thought I concluded that Drew was right and now looking back with several songs in different levels of completion under my belt , I am really glad I went digital . a VU meter in the home studio – the Bluetube v2 Dual-Channel Mic / Instrument Preamplifier ($ 239.95 ). I already had the third leg of this PreSonus trifecta in my possession , as about five years back I acquired a pair of their Eris Series E8 high-definition Nearfield powered monitors ( they have been patiently sitting there waiting to be pressed into action ). www . presonus . com
Any studio is going to need headphones and I have had a pair of Audio Technica ’ s ATH-M35 headphones for years . Next , I added a pair of Direct Sound ’ s Extreme Isolation Headphones ($ 140.00 ). I am liking these .
CREATURE COMFORTS : YOU NEED TO FEEL READY
When you get ready to hit the record button you want to be in a comfortable position and feeling like , “ Ready or not , here I come !”.
That starts with a comfortable chair with back support ( make sure your chair is not squeaky – if so , use WD-40 on it ). I have two different guitar playing stools as well . They are two different heights , and both have padded seats . I also have a Zither wood hanging guitar floor stand , so I can easily place the guitar on the
stand even with guitar cables attached and get to where I want to go quickly .
Lastly , inspiring items on the walls . What do you have that you can hang that helps create the vibe you are after for your creative space ? I like guitar company banners ( Fender and Takamine are represented ), plus I have some gold records from the Newsboys and others that were given to me in the past ( if only they were made of real gold ). I have a few promotional banners from our magazines and some other musical items that I find cool .
The most inspiring items of all though are the actual guitars and basses hanging on the walls and the keyboards sitting there ready to be played . Those are the winning tickets in my book .
In Part II , I will cover my individual ‘ guitarsenal ’ collection that I have built up to utilize for this project and discuss both the guitar tube amps and the analog keyboards that are in the studio . Then you will hear my first song that I am ready for the public to hear and the story behind it … how in despite of my own musical shortcomings , Phil Keaggy came along and saved the day !
Now enter the PreSonus gear . Although PreSonus offers Studio One ( which some of my good friends use to record with ) I did stay with GarageBand . However , I bought two of the next important pieces with the PreSonus name on them . The AudioBox USB 96 Audio Interface ($ 99.00 ) so now my Mac can interface with whatever I plugged into it and the first item with