Korg Forums

[Mr53rg10]

Hallo!

I want to start making music

I have a Roland Quad Capture, a Audix Fireball V Mic (which I bought because I have fun with Harmonica and Beatboxing).
I would like to record some sample of, for example some percussions I have at home, or some objects (I like to find objects which make an interesting sound and put it in the music). Which Mic can be good? First of all, dynamic or condenser? Which?
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Don't worry, you will make mistakes anyway, but if you worry they will be more.

[X-Trade]

If you're looking to capture the delicate nuances of a sound and can work in a relatively quiet environment, then a condensor is a must!
Dynamics are traditionally less sensitive and are good to be used in loud and hostile situations like in front of a guitar amp or inside a kick drum.

Of course, a good condensor needs phantom power and a decent preamp to match and they can be much more expensive!
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Current Gear: Kronos 61, RADIAS-R, Volca Bass, ESX-1, microKorg, MS2000B, R3, Kaossilator Pro +, MiniKP, AX3000B, nanoKontrol, nanoPad MK II,
Other Mfgrs: Moog Sub37, Roland Boutique JX03, Novation MiniNova, Akai APC40, MOTU MIDI TimePiece 2, ART Pro VLA, Focusrite Saffire Pro 40.
Past Gear: Korg Karma, TR61, Poly800, EA-1, ER-1, ES-1, Kawai K1, Novation ReMote37SL, Boss GT-6B
Software: NI Komplete 10 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, Ableton Live 9. Apple OSX El Capitan on 15" MacBook Pro

[Mr53rg10]

Ok, so, for example, to record outdoor, people talking, sounds of nature, sounds of city, or anything else, a good reasonable solution in quality price terms can be one of these handy digital recorders like the zoom one?
DO you know where I can learn something more about these kind of devices? I saw that there are a LOT and it is like a jungle, I would never be able to understand which one to buy.
I would anyway like to buy one with good mic, and with multitrack capability so that I can do some demo while I am walking (I often have ideas while I walk).
While at home the ideal would be to buy a condenser mic. I have a Roland Quad Capture audio interface which is said to be quite good as for preamps.
Never used it yet.
The problem is, can I use for example a Rode NT1a (which I saw cheap in internet) bot for voice and for recording some other thing (like some objects which make an interesting sound)?
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Don't worry, you will make mistakes anyway, but if you worry they will be more.

[xmlguy]

The Zoom H4N is a very good multitrack field recorder. It also works as a USB audio interface for your computer. It has 2 built in condenser mics. Check out all of the examples on Youtube of bands using it to record their gigs with amazing quality.

[Mr53rg10]

Yes, a friend of mine told me about it.
But I saw there are LOOOOOOT of similar products by many bramds, including roland, alesis, and many more. ANd I have no idea how to choose one.
SOme suggestions? Or you say that with that one I just can go sure and I do not need to look further?
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Don't worry, you will make mistakes anyway, but if you worry they will be more.

[xmlguy]

I've looked at the Roland Boss recorders and several other, but most of them are older tech and don't have the features of the Zoom stuff. I would own the H4N myself, except that I already have the MRS-8 that I got for a hell of a deal on clearance for around $200. 8 track recording with effects, battery powered and with sd card was too much for me to resist at the time. The newer R8, R16, R24 are pretty amazing values too, since they serve 3 roles, multitrack hardware field recording/playback, audio i/o interface, and DAW control surface. The H4N is more focused on excellent field recording.

I'm not saying to don't look at other gear. Research it all. Just compare the features that are most important to you.

[Mr53rg10]

Oh, I'm looking for the R8. Nice. I want to do live performances with loops. I need to be able to record infinite layers/overdubbing on each track, a undo redo function for I do a mistake, or eventually a merge function so that I can at first record something in the new track than merge it with the other. And the possibility to stop and start track individually.
DO you think that these products can do that?
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Don't worry, you will make mistakes anyway, but if you worry they will be more.

[xmlguy]

Unfortunately, none of the multitrack recorders that I've tried are good for live looping. They can do some limited looping, but you have to go into an edit mode to set the loop points, which is just too clumsy and slow to do live. Even some gear that have live looping features have annoying problems that prevent a clean loop, like the SP404,555,606. But I haven't tried looping with all of the multitrack recorders currently available. I tried a lot in the past that I wasn't happy with, until I got the KP3 and Kaossilator Pro (and even they have some things that require some extra work).

Live looping needs a very smooth workflow. For example, the KP3 automatically starts looping after sampling, and it can continue playing loops while sampling/resampling/overdubbing other loops. Most multitrack recorders can't do this. Live looping of guitar and other instruments is more convenient to control with a foot pedal or stomp box to control the looping handsfree, but not all loopers are designed to do this. So you really need to think about how you need to do looping and then check to see if the looper has a workflow that makes it easy to do, not harder.

[Mr53rg10]

oki.
So, dreams of glory over. Nah, joke. I mean, I thought I had found a new perfect solution.
I will have to go again on the expensive boss rc-300 or electro harmonix 2880.
No chance.
The KP3 looping functions are not enough for me either.
But I will write to Zoom to see what they tell me.

Thanks a lot!
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Don't worry, you will make mistakes anyway, but if you worry they will be more.