want to start a free anonymous record label

[smegmabreath]

im saving up to buy a laptop, van, and mic... i want to record street musicians and give them one copy of thier cd. iv met too many good musicians i fear will never really be heard. i truly believe music is one of the best ways to spread new ideas. what programs would i use? what type of lap top should i look into? does anyone want to help? does anyone want to be recorded? can anyone sell or donate any of this shit to me?

 

[Grace]

Get a MacBook or an iBook or a Powerbook, if they still make them. Get a Mac dude. You won't regret it, and they have the most incredible programs for recording, doctoring, and burning music. Garageband is one of those programs, another is called Soundtrack, and everything is exported as an mp3 to iTunes, which we all know of.

Other than that you might want to (and by might I mean DEFINITELY) look into getting a Digital recorder. MAudio makes a good one but its like 300 dollars, so I would try looking on ebay. Seriously, thats the best thing you could possibly buy. That and a laptop with iTunes on it, because the files are saved automatically as mp3s and with the right burning equipment your dream can become a reality.

Good luck. I too am trying to help talented musicians make it in this harsh market.

 

[Poking Victim]

You could do that, but the sound quality most likely won't be that great. Why don't you coordinate between people with makeshift recording booths and street musicians? There's plenty of opportunities already out there, if these people want to record they can. Maybe they'd rather just busk and get drunk?

 

[Grace]

As much fun as spanging is, isn't the point of all this to be able to make a living doing something that you are talented at, in a market which does not support the underdog or genuine music? I mean...isn't the point to spread messages on a wider scale than, say, 48th street between 6th and 7th? To say "just busk and get drunk" kind of makes it seem like one shouldn't even try to be successful.

 

[Poking Victim]

I'm not advocating just busking and getting drunk. What I'm saying is even street musicians can get in a recording booth of some kind for free already.

 

[spaz1972]

were u located. im much interested in recording and have a little expierence in it.

mac book will work just fine.
garage band works ok, but i stuck with audacity cause i use PC and its free to download and has great features on it.
maybe a 12 channel mixer??
and decent mics. nady makes decent mics for cheap. so let me know. hit me an email at madman2009999@yahoo.com

peace, and anarchy.

 

[macks]

this sounds like a really fun project. a mixer would be really nice to seperate the channels but if it's a street musician you could get by doing 2 channels probably. dont know about computer recording stuff, i've messed around recording myself on garage band on a friend's computer and it's pretty easy to do but you definately should get a few mics like said above. hopefully we'll cross paths and i could try to play a few songs, would be fun.

 

[spaz1972]

yeah a two channel mixer would work fine but..... theres not only street musicians interested in cheap recording. many punk bands out there are gunna want in this.. so u gotta think big... like a 12 channel mixer!!(still not as big, but big enough) but if you specify so you only are going to be doing street muscians, then id go like said a two.. maybe a four. just in case.

let me know asap what ur plans r.

 

[Immortal dirty Squirrel]

thats a fun idea..
I like that alot.
You can record me if you ever find me on the street.
Ha!, good luck.

 

[ben-david]

a digital recorder and a nice microphone would do you best, you can get DATs cheap I think, just make sure its lossless, if you are serious about this you DON'T wanna be releasing anything close to an MP3.

 

[Dillinger]

Don't use Audacity.

 

[MeatyMax]

Hey man look at roland VS-880's on ebay! They are out of date now so they're pretty cheap. The preamps kinda suck but they are pretty portable. They use laptop hardrives so any working hardrive you find will work(at least it did for me). Theres only four inputs at a time but 8 channels in all. They say it has up to 64 virtual tracks but i dont know how to use it that much. If you have any questions about it i'd be happy to answer. For the price i would say at least make it an option.

 

[freepizzaforlife]

get a four track recorder, simple, cheap, you can keep it in your pack, decent sound quality. fuck cds man, tapes are where its at.

 

[bote]

If you are still looking, or for anybody interested in high quality field recording/portability check this out

Samson - Zoom - H4

I have one of these, the sound quality is great and unlike most digital recorders, it also functions as an interface between 1/4 inch jacks and a computer (necessary if you are editing on a computer and want to record from analogue equipment directly)

I read up on all sorts of digital recorders before getting this one, it is relatively cheap (new is between 200-300$. check ebay), the sound quality is really good, and it's easy to use.

 

[wildboy860]

don't know too much about recording but in my opinion this is a genius idea. I like it alot.

 

[Immy]

if you have a mac and are down on money for a usb mic you can use a rockband mic. they are like 11 bucks and or free if you steal it. and you can hook up multiple mics depending on how many usb ports you have. it's not pro studio quality but it's cheap and makes good enough demos. i use em to make demos and they pick up acoustic guitar and vocals really well. Banjos are a bit tougher to get but it's a cheap way to get started if you already have a laptop.