Tom Poore © 2018. All rights reserved. Classical guitar lessons in Avon, Beachwood, Solon, South Euclid. Contact me at augustineregal@yahoo.com
My first sortie into digital recording was the Korg D-4. Into this I ran two Shure Beta 4.0 microphones. The Korg was a beast to learn, but gave decent results. Eventually I tired of its labyrinthine geekiness and decided to find something simpler. Although neither of these products are made anymore, I still use the Shure mics for amplifying my guitar at gigs—they’re good and rugged little buggers. From the beginning, I’ve used Audacity as my digital audio workstation (DAW). It’s free, easy to learn, works well, and does all that I need.
After the Korg, I moved on to the Roland R-05 digital recorder. It’s small, not too pricey, and easy to use. When recording, I set the device in front of me on a music stand. The distance is about the same as when I’m reading sheet music. I set the recorder input level so it doesn’t peak out—on the Roland, that’s a setting of about 30—and I use the built-in microphones. After recording, I load the file into Audacity and trim the file. (For a while, I added reverb through Audacity, using settings I arrived at through some experimenting.) After that, I save it as an MP3, and it’s ready to go on my website. The Roland is a nifty little thing. But its sound quality is limited, and I now use it only when portability and ease of use are the main issues.
Eventually I decided to try for better quality recordings. So I moved up to a pair of DPA 2011C microphones connected to my MacBook Pro via an Apogee Mini-Me interface. The XLR microphone cables are by Planet Waves. I’m still using Audacity for editing, but added the LiquidSonics Reverberate Core plug-in. All this lightened my wallet and makes recording a bigger hassle, but the audio upgrade is worth it.
