Help! I'm Looking For A Clue, puzzled over software/hardware needs Options

[tabor]

I have a brand spanking new mac mini and want to record some live performances to cd at near-studio quality sound for a "sample cd" of my work as a classical operatic singer. I know I'll need a good condenser microphone...

...any suggestions?
and a decent interface....any suggestions?

and some software that allows me to burn in at least 16 bit sound to a CD, keeping the possibility of CD duplication open...

...unless I can do this with Garageband 2 and itunes, which I doubt.

I'm doing live performances. One or maybe two tracks and very little editing if any, but I need it to have decent sound quality.

what should I be looking for?

(thanks in advance for any help)

Tabor

[kaboombahchuck]

Yes, Garageband 2 / iTunes will do cd 16 bit... this occors everytime You use iTunes to burn a CD...
I don't know how much money you have, so it is a bit difficult to answer your question with any acurasy.
However, The mac mini has a 5200 rpm hard drive. This will limit the amount of tracks you will be able to record, regardless of which interface you have connected to it. About the best you could hope for would be to connect the mini to the main out of the mixing board (I assume you have a Mixer). If you do not have a mixer Alesis, Mackie, and Berhinger all make affordable mixers. That would be the cheap way to go..
If you like tossing around money, I would get a 7200 rpm external firewire hard drive, and something like the MOTU 828 mk11 firewire audio interface.... that is if the mini has firewire.
If you are used to using Garageband, just go with that. It will do anything you will need, and I believe it supports 24 bit (could be wrong about that), and is capable of recording 8 tracks at a time.

[Jaysee]

Hi Tabor, just a quick hello from a fellow opera singer. prior to a stroke back in '99 forcing me into premature retirement I sang many of the basso cantante roles in the rep at ENO the ROH etc etc. I'm afraid I'm not very clued up technically recording wise, despite a year or more fiddling around with my mac. It's hard isn't it!
re interfaces I have an MAudio delta44 internal card thing wich has a 'breakout box' 1/4" jack sockets 4in 4out. I'm not sure about the audio spec on a mac mini but I doubt if there's room to fit an internal audio card. There are lots of fairly inexpensive external audio interfaces out there nowadays with a much higher spec than mine.
You don't say if your recording plans are of yourself in a live operatic performance or just piano and voice as in lieder recitals. If its opera be warned, professional orchestras don't take kindly to people doing unauthorised recodings...even an old sony walkman I had hanging from my belt during a sitzprobe 20 years ago caused a row, even when I assured them the tape was a Herbie Hancock album I'd been listening to before the rehearsal! Anyway making an acceptable recording of a live opera is beyond the technical expertise of most people, even with the right gear.
For piano/voice, I'd say choice and the positioning of mics is the crucial thing. The sound is going to be different for every pair of ears in an audience depending on where they're sitting in the auditorium. One of the reasons the pianist Glen Gould gave up performing live was the realisation that there is probably only one optimum seat position in an auditorium where the 'mix' is just right acoustically. The question arises...is the conductor even in the proper place to balance an orchestra, or should he be out in the stalls where a mixing desk would be in a rock concert for example?? Likewise with the latest piano samples, many include elements of extra 'noises' like pedals clunking, keys clattering etc which I suppose is an accurate representation of the sound of a piano at close quarters if you are sitting playing it, but hopefully these are barely audible out in the auditorium where it's meant to be heard.
Recital halls tend to have 'flattering' reverberant acoustics, which is fine if you are actually there, but can sound very boomy if not mic'd up properly. Also once the reverb is there you can't get rid of it. It's a bloody minefield. which reminds me, a popular mic for that sort of recording is the 'soundfield' which allows one to almost zoom around the hall in 3 dimensions to different listening positions, after the event.(that's probably not an accurate description but I was mighty impressed when a friend demo'd one a few years back..pretty expensive though!) The good news is that really good pro quality microphones have never been less expensive.
Like I said take most of the above with a pinch of salt, I don't have much of a clue. I'm sure you'll get much better informed and experienced advice from others on the macmusic forums. I've lost count of the times I've turned of the computer and stared uncomprehending at a black screen thinking I'll never understand this stuff.
All the best, John Connell.

[tabor]

thanks for the advice..

I should have been more specific. I plan on recording myself and my wife with piano and maybe organ. We have the use of a small church which has good acoustical properties-not too live or dead, a decent piano and a truly wonderful small organ. We could easily record with or without an audience due to all of the special events at the church and many people have been asking us to make a CD.

Since it is primarily family, friends, church members and the like doing the asking, I'd been thinking about doing it as inexpensively as possible and perhaps using a duplication service to make 100 or maybe 200 cds. Still, I want the master CD to sound good, balanced and the like. I've been unsure about using the mini for recording or purchasing a standalone digital multitrack recorder/burner.

[Jaysee]

If you have the use of the church you'll be able to experiment to your hearts content, it should be an interesting learning curve. Trial and error in a recording venue is a real luxury. Hope it goes well!!
regards, John.

[wroyj]

what i'm thiinking about doing is getting a Behringer mixer,
a dynamic mike, (maybe a Shure P58 for it's nice vocal qualities - ie not a lot of leakage from the room), and
a one of those new Presonus stereo AD converters for $199
and then using the firewire into the mac and either into
Amadeus or GB - I find Amadeus has less latency when
recording , then i use GB to further process the track
and finally dump the whole product into Itunes and burn the
disk - *wroy (the warlock)

[coldharbour]

software that allows me to burn in at least 16 bit sound to a CD

CD audio is always 16-bit 44.1 kHz.