How To Start Recording Music!

THE GIVE AWAY IS OVER!

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Postboks 27
4333 Oltedal, Rogaland
Norway

Hi there, my name is Leo and I run a studio on the westside of Norway where I record and produce bands, do video work and play live shows.

On my youtube channel there is lots of videos with covers, gear reviews , studio updates and other shenaningans.

For my covers I play everything myself as well as record, mix, master, shoot and edit the music & videos.

Please subscribe if you like what you see/hear and I am forever gratefull to everyone who buys songs so I can keep doing this as a living.

I do not add people I dont know on my personal facebook page, so please follow these links which are my "fan" pages:

Leo uses:

Contact:

Hey Leo.
You should make a video series showing you recording one of your songs/covers, every step of the process. It'd be great!

Cheers from Brazil!

[marvinrockon]

Hello to all beginners in recording, heres A LITTLE ADDITIONAL STUFF on how to set yourself up for recording n a budget (While Leo still did a good job.)
I have read a lot... and i mean A LOT of stuff about recording etc. for beginners and im into it for a couple of months now, so my vision on how to start out is quite fresh.
So i think i might help out here.

These "small recording boxes" are called Audiointerfaces. If you have a Mac, you might have a firewire or thunderbolt connection. So you can look for the onew with these connectivity. For Windows (and the lower price range for all OS´s), an USB-audiointerface will do the job just fine. The tech behind really evolved within the last couple of years.
I recommend Presonous, Focusrite or Steinberg Interfaces. Behringer got some, which are quite the bang for the buck, but they dont have a hi-Z channel, which is bad for guitar.

If you want to record a guitar, you might consider getting a decent DI-Box. They basically help getting a good signal from the guitar to your Audiointerface. Passive pickups on guitar = Active DI-Box. Active Pickups = passive DI-Box.

Alternative, you can record the AMP with: Guitar -> Amp -> Mic -> Audiointerface. A bad AMP is quite overhauled by the good AMP-Sims like Amplitube 4 (my favourite), EZMix2 and BIAS FX. Anyways, if you have a tube AMP, which sound you really like, record that. In the Opinion of many sound engineers, its still the best way to go, if you want a good sound.
If your budget is to tigth for that, there are some quite decent AMP-Sims which are totally free like the LePou.

The SM58 is quite a good start in terms of mics, if you want to start out and don´t have to budget for better stuff.
But READ about Condenser and Dynamic mics first. It´s crucial!
I got myself a shure 58 Beta A, since its like a enhanced version of the sm58 and a really good live vocal mic as well.
Also the 58 Beta A is my personal favourite on recording my Guitar Cab. I love the sound of it.
I terms of metal, the SM7B is quite the mic you wanna go with (as Leo said already). Get it, if you can spend like 300-400 bucks.


When it comes to the bass, you can directly plug it into the Audiointerface and enhance it with a AMP-Sim. Active Pickups are the better option for heavier music by the manual, but if you have one with passive pickups, it should be fine as well, but idk if you may plug something in between the way from Bass to Audiointerface.

When mixing, you might get some pair of studiomonitors. Headphones are way cheaper, but they alter the sound of the mix you´re listening to. I just sadly had to get some after i learned it the hard way. My wallet cries, but the problem is fixed now. There are quite affordable ones out there.

Now for drums.
If you wnt to record live drums, you might get a 8-CHannel Audiointerface and several mics (like the SHure SM 57), which is quite pricey. Oh and also a acoustic drum set, which could make your wallet cry.
However, if you want to accept not getting the best drum sound ever, but still one, which does the job just fine for starting out, you might consider to get Plugins like EZ Drummer 2. It´s like 200 bucks with some Expansions you should choose from, if you got it in a pack / bundle, and it would be quite good for the price. There are several videos on how to set it up and get started with it.

The DAW:
Nothing to add. Reaper is so cheap, but so powerful and the built in VST´s coming with it, are worth the 60 bucks alone imho.
Its a great DAW and definetly the one you want to go with.


You still have to google some stuff, but i hope i can give some beginners the right direction.
But the path you choose is still up to you and some stuff depends on what you want to achieve or going for.
Still think this might help. Cheers!

PS: If you want to get recommandations about gear, comment below. It took so much time getting a good view of what and why to get when starting out. I don´t have the answer for everything but i might be able to give some useful output :)

[joshyliv]

Don't be too discouraged with all this equipment anyone who reads this! This is just how to get great sound and record properly. I personally film with my Samsung tablet and it doesn't even sound bad! Don't be discouraged from recording what you want and don't let money be an excuse!

[Cluni-s]

it would be really awesome if you can make a beginner tutorials on how to use a D.A.W. (recored, master...etc) along side tips and tricks.

[razorgear]

Thank you for this video! I've never recorded a song before and I've always wanted to. You've inspired me to give it a shot. Thank you again.

[warrevdv]

Do a cover of "hit the road jack", i like to see how creative you can be with this one ;)

[jimbomac]

Sure getting spoiled when my favorite artist busts out epic music every week and then does one or two other vlogs too a week! I've only been visiting youtube for a couple years and this has been awesome!

Thanks for this gr8 video. I also thought I'd never be able to create a home studio. By getting myself an audio interface + studio one I can now record. Btw u don't need a soundcard when u have an audio interface

[randolphcamp]

Hey Leo I'm a big fan and also a fellow musician. Just want to say I fully support what you do as an artist and hope you keep it rocking brother, best of luck.

[GabeWilliams]

Always go to a music store and pick your guitar. Two exact same guitars can have different sounds, you definitely need to feel it before you buy it. Great video!! I need to get to recording stuff myself, I have no excuse not to besides time management.

[warrenpridgeon]

Some good tips there. I started with cheap mic plugged into the microphone port. Recorded my Peavey Rage 158 amp. LOL. Later I used a cable from the output of my Boss GT8 into the mic port.

Currently I'm using my Line 6 POD HD500X through USB into Reaper.

Start with what you have and keep adding.

[digitalzoey]

dude i live in the bush we are lucky to have high speed internet at 250mbps and i just recently moved from a big city of welland ontario canada and showed all your music and your the best man your my morning coffee with blasting music over my subwoffer xD love you bro keep it going! your

[soul]

Hi Leo. Greetings from Finland. Keep on the good work, all your videos are awesome.

[smitch]

This sounds a lot like what hear for Every Day Carry. I carry a Ruger SR9c. With a spare mag or two. They all ROCK!

[headkickko]

Guys if you need a cheap interface look for the UR22 MKII, buy a simple DI box. I was lucky to get a ART Tube MP. Go into the jack input on the Tube MP, and into the UR22 with a XLR cable. DAW on 100% and adjust the input and output levels. As for speakers, the M-Audio AV32. 1 are cheap and will do the work just fine. With the UR22 you get a free version of Cubase. All you need now is Amplitube or similar and you are ready to go...

[SilverLiningBand]

Hi there man ! you oppened my eyes to music and inspired me to record my own covers and songs and start my life in music, just by watching your channel i acquired a taste and will for music, and for that i can only thank you, keep up the good work !!

[SophiaAphrodite]

I did the same thing for my first electric back in 1995. Ended up with a Peavey Tracer and still have with upgraded hardware.

[briansmith]

These are great! So much useful Information about the nuts and bolts of recording. Thank you so much.

[AndrewWilley]

I really enjoy your channel. As someone starting to gear up my baby home studio, wanted to follow up with a few additional thoughts. I agree with you on the overall theme of the video ("Just use what you have and what feels good"), I think there are a few additional things you can do to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.

With guitars, for example, it's great if you have a guitar that "you like", but if you're buying a guitar for recording, you might want to think about things like getting a fixed bridge to make sure your tuning is stable. And with the interface, while all of the entry level focusrite or presonus boxes will sound great with 1 or 2 inputs, it's a good idea to think about getting one that has an optical input to expand more preamps.

Thanks for all your great work, keep

[Morksen]

The PreSonus AudioBox 22VSL, you showed in the Video, is quite good for all matters of simple audio recording. I use one for myself and love it!