I have been a part time home studio recording engineer for many years. I've recorded and mastered many cassettes and CDs over the last 18 or so years (including my own). I started out recording to DBX noise-reduced metal cassette, graduated to 15IPS reel to reel, then to digital on VHS tapes, then to DAT. I used to have a setup that included studio grade mics, two DAT recorders, a mixer and various processing parephenalia. But with the advent of hard disk recording, the functionality of the two DAT recorders has been replaced by my PC and a copy of Wavelab. Note that I do not generally do multi track recording. I much prefer the feel and sound of direct to two track recordings where everyone plays all at the same time in the same room without headphones or other barriers between the musicians and the music.

I have several kinds of good mics but my favorites for overall smooth sound and the ability to capture the instrument and the room are my AKG-414s (large diaphragm condenser).

Note however.... while I love playing music and I love engineering, I HATE doing both at the same time. When I have played on someone else's project, I have always done it as an added track so as not to have to split my brain any more than necessary.

A word to the wise if you are thinking of recording cello music in a home studio.... make sure your room is quiet! Cello music includes lots of silence, and in those silences there is nothing to cover up household noises, traffic noise, airplanes, lawn mowers, kids, dogs, birds, cicadas, etc.... I used to record in my home in Evanston IL (just north of Chicago) and we would regularly have to take an "airplane break". And a Christmas band I played in recorded a cassette in late august and had to dodge a stubborn cicada outside the living room window.... we called it the Christmas Cicada!

Paul Goelz
Rochester Hills, MI USA
paul at pgoelz dot com
www.pgoelz.com

You should have eaten the cicada! I hear they're a delicacy!

Are there any special requirements for mics used with PCs?

No special requirements that are driven by the fact that you are recording to hard drive / PC. For one thing, you aren't really recording "to the PC". You are probably recording to an external analog to digital converter, and that is what the mic has to work with. But things are pretty standardized.... in the professional world everyone uses three conductor "XLR" connectors and for condenser mics, the studio models are "phantom powered". If your A/D converter has XLR inputs and provides 48V phantom power you should be all set as far as the electrical interface goes.

But the main consideration is still acoustical. There are many many mics out there and you can go nuts trying to optimise your mic choice for a particular task. I tend to concentrate on good low noise mics that are as transparent as I can find / afford. The good old Shure SM-81 is an excellent all around mic.... very quiet and clean and not terribly expensive.... especially used on Ebay. But I still like my AKG-414s the best.

Paul

Paul Goelz
Rochester Hills, MI USA
paul at pgoelz dot com
www.pgoelz.com