I don’t need to get a better microphone ’cause I already have one. In fact, I already have two professional sounding mics. I have the Shure SM58 and I also have the Shure SM86. I can’t use the Shure SM86 ’cause this mic requires Phantom Power. I just found that out. I bought these two mics years ago. Even though, I’ve never used the SM86, I still kept it ’cause that mic costed at least $180.00. SM86,, the Phantom Powered mic. I would like to use it but I would need to hook it up to something that has phantom power.

So, what I would need to use this microphone is that I would need an M-Audio interface that has Phantom Power. I think I have found the one. I would need the M-Audio Fast Track Pro.  I’m dying to use this microphone the SM86 ’cause it’s a condenser microphone which helps make the sound studio perfect. The condenser helps eliminate unwanted noises like hissing sounds and other background noises.

Other than buying better DAW software, I think I should buy a better MAudio interface down the road too. If I use the SM86 microphone, then my recorded demos would sound so much better. I almost forgot that I had two Shure microphones. When I first bought the Shure SM86 mic, and tried to use it… no sound was coming out of it. I was at first like, “Did I just buy a microphone that didn’t work?”. I almost was going to send it back to the company but I realized that it’s a special microphone that needed something and that’s why I kept it ’cause I figure it might be a really good mic. I’ve had this mic for several years and never used it, the SM86. I didn’t know much about the mic and now I’m realizing that the mic was worth the purchase.

I think I should focus on getting M-Audio Fast Track Pro first. Can’t afford it now but it’s something I’m going to start saving for sometime in the future.

Kev

Edit to add: Well to hell with the M-Audio Fast Track Pro. If I feel that is way too pricey, I could find other brands that has phantom power and other USB units that would be much cheaper. I just gotta do a little more googling.

Edit to add #2: I think I just found what I needed, and it’s very cheap! What I would need to use the SM86 mic is this thing called, the Icicle. You can plug that thing into any Audio interface and you have phantom power! If I get that, I won’t need to buy any audio interface at all, I’ll just keep the M-Audio that I have now. I’ll have to order that Icicle plug since it’s only $40.00. I’m probably gonna end up ordering it next week. Bookmark it for now.

The truth is, I don’t know yet. Not sure if I will add guitar solos to these upcoming new songs. Admittedly, I’m still not the best at lead guitar and I’m still trying to improve myself on that too. I feel that I’m way better at rhythm guitar than lead. I think I know how to stay in the pocket with the metronome well-enough.

I’m still trying to teach myself lead guitar a lot, though. Maybe I will try to put guitar solos on these new songs ’cause it’ll be good practice for me. I do know a few scales and know some music theory. I’m no virtuoso at lead guitar yet but I certainly would love to get there someday! Maybe people will like my lead guitar solos, never know, ya know? Again, I can be my own worst critic. Can never tell if I’m good or not. I just let the people do the judging of my tunes.

Learning lead guitar is a lot of fun. I’m just trying my best to improve my improvisation and ear training so soloing over my own songs would be good practice. Maybe I will give the solos a go. I’m also trying to improve my techniques like vibrato, hammer on/pull offs, string bending, slides, etc. I’m also trying my best with the phrasing so I can sound musical and not sound like I’m playing random notes.

I refuse to have someone else to play guitar solos for my songs ’cause I want the songs to be mine, ya know? I’ve always felt that if you wanna be a guitar player you gotta be good at both rhythm and lead. I think guitar solos are my favorite part of music to begin with. That’s why I love Led Zep, Hendrix, Satriani, etc. Any musician or band who plays a lot of guitar solos, I would probably end up liking.

I would like to get better at lead guitar so I can one day make a badass guitar driven rock album on my own. Lead guitar is pretty much the only reason I picked up the guitar. Wanted to be like Jimmy Page who is a guitar solo master! I’ve been trying to figure out how to become a great lead guitarist ever since I picked it up 18 years ago and still not the best at it. It’s a lot of learning and memorizing. Pretty tough!

Kev

After that one comment, inspired me to write in this blog post about home recording setup. Like I said, I don’t have much of a setup or a rig like they call it. I just have a cheap M-Audio Fast Track interface that was about $100, a couple of small piece of shit speakers, headphones, I have a Shure SM58 microphone, and of course, a few guitars.

I would like to improve my home recording setup down the road whenever I can afford it. Whenever I get a job and start working again, maybe I’ll start saving for more recording gear. However though, when you want to become a home recording musician, you don’t need to get all of these fancy and expensive equipment. You can still make a studio quality demo at home for $500 worth of home recording gear. That’s all you need for a home recording studio. You can still sound like a PRO recording on the cheap.

Sometime down the road, I would like to get better monitors (or speakers). I would like to get a MIDI keyboard so I can learn how to put band back up behind my music and all that stuff. I would like to get a better Audio interface too. My guitar sounds perfectly clean in recording but I would like to make the vocals sound better ’cause there’s a little bit of hissing noises in the background. Maybe if I get better software and a better interface, it’ll help make the vocals sound cleaner.

I used to use Pro Tools Academic to record on but it’s really old and outdated so for now I just use Cakewalk Music Creator 5. I bought Music Creator 5 cheap ’cause I needed something to record on. I was planning to use that until I find a better ProTools software to use. I will buy a new ProTools software down the road too.

You see, you don’t need to waste a lot of money at a local studio to record your albums when you can record your music on the cheap at home. It’s worth it, trust me. Cheap recording equipment is great for recording acoustic demos. You can even record a full band at home if you wanted to. I’m always trying to find ways to improve my home recording setup.

Before ProTools and computer software came around, I was just recording my music on a piece of shit Tascam 4-track machine, remember those, yeah?

I’ve been recording my songs at home for many years. I may have recorded a demo in a professional local studio once in 2006 and that’ll be the only time I’ll do that, I think. As long as you can make a decent sounding demo at home, there’s no need to record in a professional studio. I don’t really enjoy someone else recording my music when I prefer to do it on my own. Have the training, learn the software, and you’re good to go.

There’s a lot of famous bands that recorded their own music and they didn’t really have a producer. Led Zeppelin recorded all of their own albums and Jimmy Page produced all of them. It’s good to record your own music and not have someone else do it for you. Your own vision, your own sound, and your own creativity.

Kev