The following information can be used as a guide to assist you in selecting the most appropriate computer audio interface for your particular recording needs.

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ART Tube MP Preamp

We are now stocking computer recording accessories/interfaces and computer software titles from both Steinberg and PG Music. Steinberg’s Cubase is probably the most popular digital audio recording software available on the market today. Not only can it be seen in many professional recording studio’s across the globe, there are countless home studio’s using this software as well. Cubase is renown for it’s ease of use and world-class tonal quality. It is available in several versions starting from $199 for Cubase Essential.

Another very popular software title is PG Music’s Band in a Box. This program allows you to create instant accompaniment tracks in any style you choose, all with-in a matter of seconds. Forget fiddling around with programmed MIDI tracks and wasting precious time, use BIAB to speed up your backing track production process. Included are over 1500 styles covering Pop, Rock, Latin, Country, Classical, World, Blues, Bluegrass, New Age and Techno genres. Band in a Box is also priced at the incredibly low price of $199!

Check out our range of home recording options

Yamaha Pocketrak CX Portable Recorder

Portable audio recording in the past could often be a difficult and awkward process. If you had the right microphone plugged into a particular recorder and if all the planet’s were in total planetary alignment you might have been able to actually record something! Those days are a thing of the past thanks to an incredible range of portable recorders released by respected manufacturers Yamaha, Roland/Boss and Zoom. The only problem of having so many choices available, is trying to decide on which one is best suited for your recording purposes. Listed below are some quick overviews of a few popular recorders, use this as a guide to help you narrow down your purchase options.
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ART MP Project Series USB

The output voltage on most microphones is typically very low, this is where a microphone preamp can help boost the output signal to a sufficient level. It doesn’t matter if it is a “live” or “studio” situation, mic pre’s are an absolute necessity! The circuitry inside of a mic pre effects the over-all tone of the microphone, so a low quality circuit will yield poor audio results. This is why it is recommended you buy the best mic pre’s that you can afford.
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Novation Nio

The popularity of home recording has boomed over the past years mostly due to the advances in computer technology. Capturing professional quality audio recordings is now with-in reach using a standard personal computer and a suitable audio interface. One such product is the award winning Nio 2/4 from Novation.
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Band in a Box

We are now officially stocking many popular computer software titles from both Steinberg and PG Music. Steinberg’s Cubase is probably the most popular digital audio recording software available on the market today. Not only can it be seen in many professional recording studio’s across the globe, there are countless home studio’s using this software as well. Cubase is renown for it’s ease of use and world-class tonal quality. It is available in several versions starting from $199 for Cubase Essential.

Another very popular software title is PG Music’s Band in a Box. This program allows you to create instant accompaniment tracks in any style you choose, all with-in a matter of seconds. Forget fiddling around with programmed MIDI tracks and wasting precious time, use BIAB to speed up your backing track production process. Included are over 1500 styles covering Pop, Rock, Latin, Country, Classical, World, Blues, Bluegrass, New Age and Techno genres.  Band in a Box is also priced at the incredibly low price of $199!

D.I.Y. Recording Workshop Part Two

We’re pleased to announce Part Two in our series of D.I.Y. Recording Workshops, scheduled for 7pm on the 22nd September 2008 at our Springfield store. We expect a great deal of interest in this next event following the success of our debut recording workshop last month. This next workshop will delve a lot deeper into the recording and mixing fundamentals and to allow everyone the opportunity to get “hands-on” with the equipment and software we have limited the number of attendees to a maximum of eight. Some of the topics covered will include equalization (EQ), effects and compression, mixing and basic mastering. This intensive mini-course is sure to “fast-track” your recording and mixing skills all for the low-cost of just $50 per person!

Because of the limited places we recommend that you call or email ASAP to secure your spot and avoid any disappointment. All bookings must be paid for in full and in advance. We look forward to seeing you there!

Microphones

Choosing the right microphone for your needs has become increasingly difficult with the splurge of options available today. You must first consider the main purpose you’ll be using the microphone for eg. live performance and/or studio recording.

The two most common types of microphones are:
Dynamic Mics:

• Cheapest option.
• Don’t require a power source.
• Will produce better results in a noisy recording space because they aren’t as sensitive as the condensor type.
• Work well on louder signals such as drum kits, guitar speaker cabinets & vocals (especially for live vocals). The Shure SM57 and SM58 are two very popular options and there are many generic versions of these microphones available on the market today.

Condensor Mics:

• They require power from either an onboard battery or phantom power from your soundcard or mixer
• They record from greater distances
• Capture higher frequencies
• Work well on stringed instruments, vocals, acoustic guitars & drum overheads

If you are planning to use the microphone for live performances only, then you should seriously consider the dynamic type. Condensor microphones are best suited for studio recording but they also require a very quiet recording space as they are extremely sensitive.

Condensor microphone polar patterns:

• Cardioid
• Figure-8
• Omni-directional

Condensor microphones come in a variety of polar patterns. The most common pattern is the cardioid type which captures sound mostly from the front of the microphone. The “figure-8″ pattern captures sound from the front and back and is useful for certain types of recording situations. Omni-directional microphones pick up sound from all directions and are ideal for capturing the full room sound. Some microphones have one fixed polar pattern while more expensive microphones have the ability to switch to two or more different polar patterns.

Check out our range of microphones for both studio and live purposes

D.I.Y. Recording Workshop - August 2008

We’d like to thank everyone who took time-out to participate in our D.I.Y. Recording Workshop. This was just the first recording workshop in a series we have planned which are aimed at educating keen home recording enthusiast’s of all levels. In this workshop we focused on the basics of home recording including computer and music equipment recommendations and basic audio tracking.

A big thanks to Lee from Innovative Music for his informative segment on microphones and the awesome Novation Nio sound-interface.  Thanks also to Hamish from Music Link who demonstrated the incredible versatility of the Line 6 Variax guitars.

Please feel free to contact us with any suitable suggestions you may have for our future recording workshops. We will keep all email subscribers posted on these up-coming events.