A Little Help Needed

manius · 12 Oct 2023 at 12:43

Hi All,

I hope this is ok to post,
Need a little help from you my 14 year old has just started teaching himself guitar and recording music, he keeps doubting himself thinking his recordings aren't very good, would you all be able to just have a quick look on his YouTube to get his views up, also leave a comment if you like it, I don't want him to lose interest and stop playing, can anyone recommend a good microphone for music recording?? I'm going to get him one but I don't have a clue what I'm looking at.
YouTube Link
https://www.youtube.com/@owenross-ph9hk/videos

Many Thanks

wildman · 12 Oct 2023 at 13:31

FocusRite do a fairly decent start package with an audio interface and a pretty ok all purpose mic assuming he will be using some kind of DAW to lay the tracks. If he is going to get serious about recording then a decent set of monitors / cans would be where to make the bulk of the investment.

Dup · 12 Oct 2023 at 13:45

Might be best asking here: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/the-official-guitar-thread.18665777/

However, as wildman says, I'd recommend a used Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3 and a used AT2020 mic (XLR version!) to go with it. You'll need an XLR cable to connect the two. It's a simple plug and play audio interface (I have one myself but not the mic). I assume he has some headphones already.

He could also plug in an electric guitar alongside this too if he liked. If he wanted to branch into vocals and acoustic guitar simulaneously you can pick up the Scarlett 2i2 (plus extra mic etc).

manius · 12 Oct 2023 at 13:46

wildman said:
FocusRite do a fairly decent start package with an audio interface and a pretty ok all purpose mic assuming he will be using some kind of DAW to lay the tracks. If he is going to get serious about recording then a decent set of monitors / cans would be where to make the bulk of the investment.

He using a Minilab MkII Midi Controller at the moment I got it cheap from marketplace, I don't mind spending a bit on getting him a better setup as he hasn't really shown this much interest in other hobbies before so I would like him to keep it up.

manius · 12 Oct 2023 at 13:51

Dup said:
Might be best asking here: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/the-official-guitar-thread.18665777/

However, wildman says, I'd recommend a used Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3 and a used AT2020 mic (XLR version!) to go with it. You'll need an XLR cable to connect the two. It's a simple plug and play audio interface (I have one myself but not the mic). I assume he has some headphones already.

He could also plug in an electric guitar alongside this too if he liked. If he wanted to branch into vocals and acoustic guitar simulaneously you can pick up the Scarlett 2i2 (plus extra mic etc).

I must have missed that thread, ill have a look on there, he's just using his gaming headset at the moment I'm going to have to do a bit more research into all this equipment lol
thanks for the reply.

Maximum Triceratops · 12 Oct 2023 at 15:49

Watched, liked and commented.

manius · 12 Oct 2023 at 20:17

Thanks for taking the time to look guys, much appreciated

manius · 21 Oct 2023 at 11:24

wildman said:
FocusRite do a fairly decent start package with an audio interface and a pretty ok all purpose mic assuming he will be using some kind of DAW to lay the tracks. If he is going to get serious about recording then a decent set of monitors / cans would be where to make the bulk of the investment.

Hi any idea for a pair of monitors/cans for a beginner
Cheers

wildman · 22 Oct 2023 at 19:01

manius said:
Hi any idea for a pair of monitors/cans for a beginner
Cheers

My Fist monitors were presonus Eris 3.5 active monitors. The general consenus was the woofer should be min 5". The Presonus are 3.5 but for entry they are decent. I tried KRK Rokkits and I didn't like them as they seemed to add way to much colour to the sounds which is exactly what you don't want for monitors. The monitors I have now are Yamaha HS7's, but to start with you don't need to drop hundreds on monitors.

Headphones I started off with semi open AKG K240MKII's. They are about middle of the road, resposne is decent and although people generally baulk at mixing in headphones rather than monitors they did a decent enough job for me over the years. A lot of people rate the Beyerdynamic headphones very highly, but they come with a substantial price tag. The AKG's are around 70 quid new but you can find lots of pre-owend AKG headphones 2nd hand even if they are a lsightly older model for a lot less and they will still do a decent job

manius · 25 Oct 2023 at 21:03

Cheers, I'll have a look around see what I can pick up for him