Recording Equipment & Software -- What should I get?

[Metal Core Pony]

I'm pretty new to music producing and recording instruments. I play Metal music and some mellow stuff. My current equipment isn't the best out there, and there's a certain sound that I want my instruments to have but can't get. Vocals for my songs have a lot of unwanted sounds, such as hissing and too much emphasis on the "p" sound. I'd like to get any suggestions on what equipment I should consider purchasing. Which software should I get? What kind of microphone should I buy? Should I use live recordings or an Audio Interface whenever recording guitar? I'd also like to know of the necessary equipment needed in order to make a song.

[Versilaryan]

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=695

Vocals, I'll knock out of the way really quickly. Assuming you're a man, the Shure SM58 is supposed to be really good for male vocals. I use an Audio-Technica AT2020 for vocals -- it's really crisp, but hella bright. It really depends on what you want. Also, get a pop filter. Even if you can't afford one, get some pantyhose and a wire coathanger and make one yourself. That will get rid of the "p" problem. If your s's are too loud, then just practice not singing them as loudly. It'll be less work than manually de-essing and sound better than a de-essing plugin.

Now, for guitar, there are two things you can do. One, if you have a killer rig set up (or just really like the sound of your amp), you can record your amp. Heavy metal guys seem to like condenser mics a lot, but just using any old dynamic will do. You'll have to play around A LOT with where in the room your amp is, where the mic is located and where on the speaker it's pointing at, etc. If you're using a condenser, you'll have to do all your playing from behind the condenser somewhere, or it WILL pick up the sound of you hitting your guitar strings and lessen the quality of the recording.

The other way is to plug your guitar directly into an audio interface and using NI Guitar Rig, Amplitube, or some other amp sim to get the sound you want. It'll get you the cleanest recordings faster, but you won't have the benefit of listening to yourself play, unless you invest in a cable splitter to feed your guitar's signal into an amp as well as the interface. Similarly, getting an AxeFX (if you're rich or perform live a heck of a lot) or one of Line 6's POD series will do the same thing, without the need for amp modeling software.

Also, to clarify, an audio interface isn't just for recording guitar. Things like the POD are, but not audio interfaces in general. An audio interface is just an external sound card with extra inputs for mics and stuff. It will probably deliver a MUCH higher quality sound than any built-in sound card will, especially if you're using a laptop, and if you get an audio interface instead of using USB mics, you'll get much higher quality recordings in the future, as well.

Software-wise, anything but a tracker or FL Studio will do. (Don't mean to rip on FL guys -- it's just a royal pain to record in.) Ableton's really good. REAPER, if you want something free.

In short, if you plan on doing a lot of recording, I highly recommend you save your money and invest in an audio interface and a good mic. Anything decent will run you at least $100 (that's how much the SM57, SM58, AT2020, and other similar mics will cost), and an audio interface will cost you anywhere upwards of $30. (***NOTE*** If you're using a condenser mic, MAKE SURE YOUR AUDIO INTERFACE SUPPLIES PHANTOM POWER. The really cheap ones won't do that and then your shiny new mic is absolutely useless.) The cheapest solution would be to buy a USB mic and use that on both your guitar and your vocals. The POD things are supposed to be really good, too, if you don't want to go through the hassle of micing your guitar.