Promote your music with your own virtual TV station.

Want some powerful online tools for DIY promotion?
I have been experimenting with the Helloworld suite of products after opening an account last year and I have come to the conclusion that this is an amazing toolbox for any musician serious about promoting their music with streaming video.
I have recently posted material on their online TV station which is already generating a flow of good traffic and puts me in the running to win prizes and a spot on national TV.
Some musicians are also opting for broadcasting their live shows.
You can also podcast, videoblog and send streaming video via email which is guaranteed to get attention (and you can easily add video to your website - All the coding is done for you).
What I really love is the creativity I have with these tools and their ease of use.
While YouTube and Myspace have their place (I have used both) I think the old saying "You get what you pay for" is true.
For less than the price of a movie and burger per month I can have the same tools available to the big players which levels the playing field.
Move over commercial TV, the indies are coming....

Microphones -which one do I choose?

Unless you are feeding into your compoter direcly fron a jack in your guitar or keyboard and not using any vocals or drumkit it is more than likely you will need microphones for your studio.
Microphones come in various types and pricetags and are suited to different purposes.
There are mics designed specifically for vocals and others for instruments.
Some are highly sensitive and work brilliantly in quiet environments for recording softer sound sources in the studio for example.
Others are perfect for live stage work and are highly directional (they pick up sound from the top of the microphone and are less likely to pick up unwanted noises from the side and back) and can be "aimed" to pick up what you are recording.
There are also studio mics specifically designed for drums and clip on the actual kit eliminating a lot of unnecessary clutter with stands.
I personally use a number of different types of microphones.
A Shure sm58 (a dynamic mic) which is primarily a stage vocal mic - but also works well with many instruments and is less sensitive to outside noise.
A Behringer B1 studio condensor mic for vocals and harmonica (this is more sensitive).
Two AKG C100 condenser mics (these I use to pick up ambient or environmental noise) I position these in front and above a choir for example to capture a broad area of the group) and also in the outdoors for recording nature sounds.
Depending on what you are recording it is worth having a selection of a few mics for each type of instrument you are likely to be using.
You don't need to spend thousands of dollars on equipment in this area (on the other hand a 20 buck microphone bought from your electronics store just won't cut it).
Brands such as Shure, AKG, Senheiser are good choices as well as some of the behringer models. (plan to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a decent microphone).
To find out more about microphones here are some resources.
www.zzounds.com
http://www.coutant.org (a little bit about early microphones)

Building your computer - based recording studio pt 3

Mixers- Do I need one?
This is a question I asked myself a few years ago when setting up my studio (I was beginning to get the occasional person calling me wanting to do their own album).
Perhaps the best way to answer this is to ask yourself what kind of work are you intending to do.
If you are recording a band playing live or jamming all at once then you may need a mixer (with as many channels as their are instruments, vocals etc).
Typically if you are recording a drum kit you'll need to mic up kick, snare, hi hat and toms.
Most bands will also have bass, guitar, maybe keyboard and perhaps a lead guitar and vocals so you will possibly need at least a 12 to 16 channel mixing desk.
You can then adjust these inputs to the right levels so nothing drowns out another instrument or vocal add effects etc(more on mixing in a later blog entry) and then feed this into your computer as a single stereo input.
If you are doing studio recording (ie not live) you may or may not need a mixer depending on what and how you are recording.
For example, I'm a solo artist so I generally don't use a mixer since my inputs are adjusted by my analog to digital converter (see my previous entry).
I also have 8 inputs and can mic up everything from there and my mixer with all it's effects is handled inside my computer by the software.
(the mixer is displayed on my screen and I can make adjustments from there via the mouse and keyboard).
I also record my material one track at a time (this is how the pros do it) and make adjustments and editing later once everything is recorded.
All professional recording studios however,use a mixer of some sort of at least 16 channels or more since they may record several tracks at once just for the drums.
Again it's worth thinking about what you are recording.
Remember also that mixers vary in quality and price and the cheaper ones can sometimes introduce unwanted noise so do your homework.

Part 2 Building your own computer - based recording studio (the software).

There are several producers of audio recording software, each with it's advantages and features.
Yes there is freeware out there some of which is great for beginners who want to record just a couple of tracks (one such product is Audacity) without much in the way of effects and limited editing capabilities.
If you are planning on purchasing a Mac you might want to consider the iLife software package which includes a program called Garage Band.
I have heard good things about this program and that you can get some excellent results with a few tweaks.
Apple also produces Logic and Logic express (the latter being a scaled down version for beginners) which are higher end programs.
Perhaps the two best known programs available on the market today are Cubase and Pro tools which both have a reputation as being professional recording products.
I personally use Cubase and have found it to be an excellent program.

Some companies bundle hardware and software together, so before you plonk down your hard earned cash It's worth doing some research.

Hardware Bundles

Obviously when recording an analog signal from an instrument you need a way of converting this into a form that your computer can work with (a Digital signal).
The item that does this is called a Digital-Analog converter.
Most commonly this is the sound card in your computer which takes your microphone or other input signal you have plugged in and converts it to a digital form.
For basic fun recording this is usually adequate and your sound card will do the job, however for a decent quality recording that you are going to eventually burn to CD and sell you will need a better unit that can convert your signal more accurately.
This can be either a "High end" soundcard that you plug into the motherboard of your computer (these usually use your computer's processor power to run and only have one stereo (left and right) input).
Or you can choose an outboard model which has it's own power supply and is connected to your computer via a usb or firewire cable.
High end soundcards are usually cheaper and are great for beginners on a tight budget while seperate "D-A" converters, having their own case etc can have several inputs/outputs with controls on the front panel and usually are less processor hungry.
I personally began my recording using a high end soundcard and then upgraded to an outboard unit.
My system "heart is a Machintosh G4 and a MOTU 828 D-A converter which is very stable, reliable and produces exceptional quality sound.

In both cases above the companies usually have bundled with their product some recording software.

Building your own computer - based home recording studio (part 1).

Lately I have been getting a number of requests from people wanting to do their own home recording.
Over the next few weeks I'm going to venture into the recording side of things and explain in a non technical way how to create your own studio.

With the arrival of the digital age, and the personal computer, home recording has stepped out of the noisy scratchy tape and LP zone and has also become more affordable and easier to do than ever before.
You can now record, mix and edit an entire album without stepping into a commercial studio.
You can even do your own artwork and burn your masterpiece to CD and get professional results provided you take the time to learn some basic skills.

The heart of your studio - your computer.

Ok, so what gear do you actually need to launch your recording career?
Obviously at the heart of your system you are going to need a computer with a reasonable amount of processing power and ram.
This will determine how many tracks you can record and play back on each song you create (ie each instrument, bass, guitar, vocals, drums etc will occupy a track and layer together to form your complete song).Plus on top of this you'll probably be adding some effects.
All this will require your computer to to do multiple calculations in order to add and read information you are laying down on your hard drive.

Most computers available nowadays are able to cope with this although I would recommend getting more than the usual 256 megabytes of ram - 512 or more.
You also have 2 types of computer "platforms" or operating systems to choose from.
Windows or Macintosh(Apple)
I personally have used both for recording although my Old G4 Mac has proven itself to be far more reliable than any Windows machine I have used (yes I do own a Windows machine)so I'll blatantly blurt out get a Mac.
Most music / video/ graphic design people prefer Macs and I tend to agree based on several years of experience.

In my next post I'll talk about recording software and the related input devices you need (and what they do).