I need help with a home studio for Rap

R

Ronahan

New member
Hey, I'm trying to build up a home studio for recording and producing rap music...thing is i don't know where to start.

I dont know which keyboard i should use (korg, yamaha motif, etc.) ?

What mixers? What equipment do i need to make good quality sounding tracks?

Thanks to anyone that can help me..
 
pretty broad question there.. seems like you're a total newbie.

you know what, i spent almost a year trying to build my studio to where it's at, and it's not even finished yet. takes more time than just a sudden urge to get it up and running.

so you want to make rap music. this is what FP veterans answer to questions like that: You have know what you want from your studio.

so, you should ask yourself these questions:

1) What kind of music do you want from it? your answer: rap
2) How much are you willing to invest? (you do know that you can spend close to $3000 for a PC recording studio right?)
3) What instruments do you play? or what instruments are you willing to learn?
4) do you have any experience at all in recording and music?
5) do you already have equipment? if so, what are the requirements?
6) would you rather have a computer based setup or do you want to use outboard equipment?

so many questions you can ask. bottom line is, you have to know what you want before you get it. every little detail.

for #2, those keyboards you mentioned cost at least $2000. would you rather get that instead of a good computer with music software? but a bit of advice: don't go overboard on spending.

for #3 nd #5, if you know how to use a particular instrument, i guess you should have an idea of what equipment you're supposed to get, right? i mean, if you know how to play piano, you know what a good piano sounds like. same with other instruments.

for #4, again, if you have any experience at all, use it to your advantage. don't believe in what works for other people, because its purely subjective. also, this can determine whether you can use newbie equipment or the more sophisticated pro ones.

if i were you, i'd do some research first. buy some recording mags, at least picture what you want. planning is very very difficult. i can tell you to get a couple of things, but if that's not what you want, then don't go for it.

but here's some good advice... start from the bottom. get the easiest to understand things, the things that fit your budget. if you're still in your teens, get something like fruityloops, for your computer, and maybe get a cheap ass mic. and decent enough speakers. then if you feel that you're PC or soundcard's not doing the trick, then upgrade. if you think you're being held back by fruity, get cubase Logic and Nuendo. it's just natural to
take baby steps first.

don't go and start off too big, because those things have a learning curve steep enough for those who use it for a living.
 
if you dont know where you wanna start first figure out if you wanna use a computer or alot of different physical equipment. if you have a computer thats relatively good you already have a starting point. you can have a basic studio in your house without spending on anything except a mic. it sounds like you havent produced or recorded anything. do you rap? explain our situation better, like your budget and expeience and people will give you a better answer. if you want to do it the pc way you can get all your software for free and learn more about what you need to do your thing. build your **** as you build your knowledge.
 
Hey,

I'm not actually a total newbie. I have a large portfolio of rap music, recorded on a crappy mic and a laptop. Sure i don't know the names of mixers or what brand is better than what - but i know how to use them.

The keyboards are something i need. I'm working out a deal with an independant label and i'd like to work on my own production with something other than fruity or other basic windows programs.

I need a drum machine, mixer, decent microphone, speakers, keyboard, new PC,

My budget is around 10 - 15 thousand.


That's my info.
Peace.
 
Look into Neuman Mic's
And Pro Tool stuff if you got 15 G's lucky b-----
 
Get either a PC DAW with a lot of RAM, or a Mac G5.
Nuendo, Cubase, Sonar, or Pro Tools, maybe a control surface.
Mixer, for analog you'll want 4-8 busses, so look at Behringer, Mackie, and Soundcraft.
Digital, wait for someone elses comments on this.
You're want a good preamp and compressor setup..start looking at Focusrite.
Nueman, Rode, Shure, AKG, BLUE etc. are some Microphone types to look at.
You'll want a good soundcard, enough in/outs to match the amount of busses your mixer has. Check M-Audio, Aardvark, MOTU, etc.
Studio Monitors, you'll atleast want a good pair of near-field. BX5, BX8, B2031, TR8, whatever else, but don't skimp on these.
Keyboards/Workstations..depends on if you want a sequencer and sampling..if yes..look at Triton Studio, Motif ES, Fantom-S, etc.
You might want a DAT, check out a sony PCMR300.
Or screw most of this and just get a multi-track recorder. *shrug*

Hope I helped.
 
Softare:cubase sx 2.0 and a mixer or pro tools 002.
keyboard:yamaha motif.
drum machine:mpc 4000
condencer mic
cd burner
turntable and vinyl.(for sampling)
monitors.
 
ok my answer to this would be u already have a computer i take it or u wouldn't be on this board.
me right now i'm using hardware base recording. a basic lil setup yamaha rm1x for the sequencer prs-550 for controller and motif rack going into a zoom 10 track harddisk recorder with samson co1 and co3 condenser mics and event tr5 monitors+2 pairs akg headphones. but what i'm basically trying to say is that u can use both but just think if you are outta town can u take u computer with you? my advice would be use hardware for pre-production and computer for post-production........if that makes any since
 
ok, i just skimmed most of the other replies, they all looked good to me.

I produce and record rap music in my own home as well, and let me tell you, my budget was waaaaaay less than 15 g's. you have more than you need cus.. trust me. ill break it down like this, and i get great results with much less a budget so it should be pretty decent.

GOOD CPU is crutial, top of the line, even though i hate them i would suggest a mac, cause most studios have them

get a digi002 w/ pro-tools..LEARN THAT CHIT LIKE THE BACK OF YOUR HAND

512 mb ram, 120gb hard drive.

get an mpc4000 and a MOTIF MOTIF MOTIF!!!best sounds out right now.
as far as drums go, depends on if your making commercial rap(mainstream) or more underground oriented, in that case youll have to dig a little for your drums...other wise most sound modules come w/ decent drums...i still suggest you get some sample cd's off ebay and just look around, (you can never have enough drums)

(optional) if you want a good analouge piece i say get a virus...those are for the real grimmy square waves and leads that a lot of rap music uses nowadays (ala timbo/neptunes) and you can get some good bass and a nice sine-waves out of it.

get a good mic...neuman is a good choice w/ your budget w/ an avalon mic pre.

get some good monitors, MACKIE makes quality monitors from what i hear.

get some good headphones to monitor your mixes, just so you can have another sound source to switch to from the speakers.


...and walla! your done, not much else is needed when recording rap music...the main production tools will be the mpc and the motif...

hope this helped. good luck

peace
 
^oh, and i almost forgot...get WAVES!!! i cant stress this enough. waves plug-ins will give your music the finishing touch that you will need. its very expensive (ahem', irc, 'cough' 'cough'...) but if you have the dough, then this is a must!
 
^ok...this is the last one...i just read one persons reply about a mixer...listen unless you have several instruments and recording on several different mics. don t waste your money on a multi-track mixer...you dont need one. the digi002 has all the inputs/outpus you need.

alright, i believe i am done now
 
if that's my reply you talkin about then i gotta say it has 2 line ins and 2 mic pres so u can only record 2 tracks at once. it's a hard disk itself so with usb i can transfer it over to the computer for final processing.
 
Ronahan said:
Hey,

I'm not actually a total newbie. I have a large portfolio of rap music, recorded on a crappy mic and a laptop. Sure i don't know the names of mixers or what brand is better than what - but i know how to use them.

The keyboards are something i need. I'm working out a deal with an independant label and i'd like to work on my own production with something other than fruity or other basic windows programs.

I need a drum machine, mixer, decent microphone, speakers, keyboard, new PC,

My budget is around 10 - 15 thousand.


That's my info.
Peace.
Click to expand...

now that's a SWEET budget. i fit mine in $3,500.00 sorry didn't get that you were into it already... will you also be playing live? if you are, that will determine whether you should use outboard gear.

I can tell you to get a Sherman Filterbank, its a filter/distortion processor. its kind of an expensive extra. its not yet a big name, they only have that and a couple of other products, but when they started they only custom made 50 of those. not a lot of rap producers use it yet i think, but you can hear it in electronics-heavy music. but then i'd like to hear that in more records these days. it's like a synth but without the oscillators.

for your PC, gotta tell you that you should spend loads for memory. get the best one your pc can handle. i only have 512, but im telling you, if you can afford more, go for it.

and i agree that you should get headphones too, maybe the sennheiser HD280 pro for a hundred bucks. so if you don't have an isolation room and you want to record on a mic, you don't have to contend with noises from your monitors, just put on your phones.
 
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