cheapo recording

Well done, Matt. Nice, clean and steady playing, plus a good recorded sound, esp for money. The stereo echos fill out the spatial dimension really well.

Even though I have a small digital multi-track, I've settled on CEP 2.0 and my laptop for virtually all my recording. It's a great tool.

Again, nice job -- Greg

Real sweet. Great sound for a Mr. Microphone. The pans sound great through the headphones, reminds me of the 60's.

Thanks for the kind words :)

Yeah, I'd like to get a good soundcard, but thats all I need I think. CEP is quite a good program. The one I have just won't support direct guitar signals, I'd like to get some quality demos down.

couple ?s:
1.)They say that dynamic mikes are better for recording a miked guitar amp, but every time I see an amp miked live its with what I think is a condenser or instrumental mike. Are these different things? For the record I have an SM 58, is this good enough to get a decent electric guitar sound?

2.) My friend has a keyboard with all sorts of stuff on it, including drums. Can I used this to programs drum tracks into CEP, or do I need a seperate drum machine?

Finally, I've done some digging already, but if anyone knows any good A-Z books or sites on modern Pc recording, that would be great.

Thanks again for the responses. :) I'm sure I'll have more ?s as I get into it!

Matt

I'm rusty on my recording right now, but when I was deep in it, I remember http://www.computermusic.co.uk being a good resource for this kind of thing. Also, if you have a program that supports vst plug-ins, you could take a look at http://www.kvr-vst.com

Let me tackle Question(s) #1:
Amps are usually mic'ed with an instrument mic or dynamic mic, SM57 is the classic. SM58's and SM57's aren't that different and can be used for either instruments or voice (i've used both for either). I don't know why 57's are favored for amps (except the extra metal guard comes in handy when you kick them). The frequency responses are slightly different, I think the 58 has a slightly stronger upper-mid presence and less bass (maybe that's why, so you should listen for bass rolloff).
Many condenser mic's can't take the sound pressure an inch or three from an amp speaker. It can be nice to mic an amp with a dynamic right in front, then a condenser in the opposite corner of the room. Put the signals together in the mix and you reconstitute some of the room dynamics and capture some of the "air". We often use a similar technique with accoustic/electrics, putting a dynamic in front of the amp and a condenser in front of the sound hole, It's like having twice as many guitar players.

Thanks for the reply :D
Anyone else have tips for the last two?

Yes you can: plug a cable from the keybord line-out/headphone-out into the line-in of your soundcard. Set your windows recording device to 'line-in' instead of 'mic-in'. Now set your drum-stuff on the keybord ready. Press record in CEP and start using the keybord. Whatever sound would be normally heared now goes straight into CEP.

By using the line-in instead of mic-in you can also record direct guitar signals (electric or EA guitars, for example). Make sure you use the line-out/headphone-out of your amp (or modeling device or whatever).

NEVER use speaker-out of your amp as this will totally destroy your soundcard.

And I found this book; I don't know if it's any good.

If the keyboard has a midi interface, you can connect that up to your sound card's midi connector.

Here are a couple of resources :

http://www.homerecordingconnection.com/
http://www.modrec.com/

m-audio.com offers a plu-and play soundcard that let's you record at fairly high sample rates, so that would help you out. But the microphone is the most important part of your system right now. I wouldn't suggest anything pro or even prosumer yet, but you might need an entry or mid-level mic rather than a $5 pc mic if you want to really make tracks. I saw quite cheap instrument stage mics at a Long and McQuade sellout a while ago, but any music liquidationc entre should have one.

Now for my own question to you knowledgeable folks out there. What is a midi? If I had to guess it's playing the melody/pitch in a set instrumental tone provided by your computer in, one octave?

Thanks for the addtional responses. MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. From what I gather, you create a midi file by using a special application and essentially notate the sounds you want, which is then played back through your PC or keyboard device. I've never used it, and don't know much about it either.

Arjen, is programming drum sounds with a keyboard difficult? You have had good results. I've never done it, and am just trying to gather info. Its not like you're playing the keyboard "live" is it? I imagine its different with every editing program, but can you explain the basic process to me? (Pardon my ignorance) :D

Matt