[darreldo]

I have a Zoom R8 recorder and a rodes nt1a condenser mic. my studio is 6ft x 4ft wide and i want to know what else i need to make decent recordings, im not expecting john leckie, abbey road style recordings but know i can do ok for myself.
does anybody have any advice on what else i need to make my studio? im going all in with £500 budget. its not alot but can get me by while im still learning. i play an epiphone riviera and use a vox ac30vr. i want to record in a beatles, la's, jangly style. thanks darrel

[tone]

Personally, I'm of the opinion that it's not what gear you have, it's how you use it that counts. But I would say that if you can somehow put together a computer-based recording system you will really see the benefits when it comes to editing & mixing.

The rest is just capturing a good performance with a quiet, solid signal.

[Boydie]

I completely agree with TONE here

Make sure you get your actual recording setup sorted as one of your priorities

I also think a computer based solution is best for your needs

In such a small space you even want to consider a laptop based setup like me

This means you can take it bigger spaces if you need to record live drums, a band etc.

I make no secret thst I am a huge fan of Cakewalk Sonar x2 as you get a lot of "bang for buck" with ht eproducer edition in the way of plugins etc. but I would also recommend checking out Cubase, logic, pro tools etc. depending on your setup (and budget!)

With a pc based multitrack daw and a decent mic you should be able to achieve what you want

The hard bit is learning how to achieve it when yiu have the kit!!!

[Saeed AlSuri]

Zoom R8 comes with Cubase 4 or 5 .. I use cubase 4 for vocal mix down .. instrumental .. mix on the Zoom R8 .. the machine is very good for your purpose .. you can post picture of the room to get better advice for what you need the problem with the DAW is the plugins they are really really expansive .. there are free ones on the internet but the good ones you have to buy , and you seems to be in England which is expansive .. but the Zoom R8 is really good for the price .. here is my latest song recorded in my bedroom .. mix in the computer because the vocal needs doubling cutting the noise from the vocal track by muting the spaces between the singing ..

MP3 Link : https://soundcloud.com/saeed-alsuri/no-more-love