Free E-Book , Free Reocrding School, Free Muisc, What More Can You Ask For?

The E-book has had over 400 plus reads, I am perplexed it has not gone viral. How to market your music for pennies on the dollar, many, many must read ideas, tips, stats, a small read, and may have the answers you need and spark your interest in the subject. Taken from my several hundred page Manuel I used, that I wrote when I had my own studio and Production Co, near Seattle, WA. All the things in it are tried and proven.
How to break into the film for movie market, how to get a name brand  with non profit .org free uses, how to make real money doing what you love. If you like, post it any where, pass it on, trying to rebuild my teaching blog.
If it does not take off fast and soon, I a done, I offer a free no catch recording school, many free resources, I would have given my right arm for the stuff I offer, back when I was learning, so why wait.

I have a second edition, same book, better cover LOL. and almost done with
The Poor Mans Guide To Making Pro Recordings At Home-For Pennies On The Dollar
Last free e-book out very soon.
FREE SCHOOL< FREE BOOKS, FREE MUSIC.....FREE CONSULTATION, FREE MENTORING, so far, not one person, man I have no idea what to say, your lose.
Dan Abaldo

I have brand new, free music, I record every day, new CD half done, listen, get it free at.
http://www.soundclick.com/d'abaldo

CD A Vow Of NO Silence, also if contemporary, very contemporary at that Christian is not your bag, on the site have many, many styles, my audio portfolio, one of many, all free downloads. See what I did with a PC and for pennies on the dollar.

Free E-Book Link
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46901405/Poor-Mans-Guide-to-Marketing-Your-Music-For-Pennies-on-the-Dollar
Contact info
dmabaldo@yahoo.com
Ph 760-254-7078
Yermo CA
P.O. Box 523
Dan Abaldo
Have a question, need help, anything, contact me today

Digital Goatee Productions and Urgent Mission Records site a must see.
 http://digitalgoateeproductions.weebly.com/

So You Want A Record Contract Or Get Signed, Read These Facts, The Most Important Post To Date, Urgent Read

This is mixing 101. In this article I am using as an example a screen shoot from my Samplitude pro 7 mixer, it is set to 8 Channel strips and one auxiliary. The AUX 1 is a routing situation that allows you to route several channel strips to that aux. The reason is, say you have mic'ed drums and want all the drums to be on one channel to process and mix. You can have almost limited aux, busses, routes etc with software mixers that cannot be done on many outboard mixers. The software mixer is a great flexible mixer.

You can control the mixer by way of automation, meaning you can do an automated mix as you record as you would on any mixer, it’s called ridding the faders. This is done in recording and in live sound use. The mixer is one of the most important items you use, but not the most important, the effects, pre amps, mics, proper mic placement, etc. are of greater importance, the mixer second, it is where you bring it all together.

At first the mixer with many, many channel strips can look scary, this is what you do to understand the massive mixer, it is just a group of channels and each one is the same, so forget about the many mixer channels and look at the one individual channel of your mixer, as it is the same all the ay across the monster.

This lesson will focus on the EQ and the fader.

This mixer has a great four band EQ many mixers have three, that is OK, but four is better. Some have on EQ that is called the Q, this is important as it allows you to really control certain frequencies you could not. On many lap top recorders and some cheaper outboard mixers you will see only two EQ’s, this is not good, just a low and a Hi. You need at minimum 3 EQ’s, and four if at all possible, or as said three, with one being the Q filter.

EQ is just like what you have on a home stereo, the bass and treble, or bass, mid and treble. On a mixer like this, you can as you see adjust the exact frequency you want to assign to the EQ, not doable in most outboard mixers, pro ones yes, but most No.

It is an electronic filter. Basic electronics, very basic will be covered later and dB formulas, a Hertz chart. Knowledge of what instruments lay within a given hertz is very important. A pre mix, rough mix can be quickly done when you know what instruments are on what channel and basic EQ adjustments made. In a pro studio, the second or JR engineer will do the rough mix, and set up the mics.

The frequency chart, or Hertz chart can be printed out and posted on your wall until you get to know them, it will not take long.

EQ is essential in the mixing of instruments, due to what is called the masking effect. Say you have a rhythm Guitar, a vocal, some pad sounds, these may all be in the 2 to 3 KHz range, and so it will mask each other, you use the EQ and sometimes reverb to make a sound farther back in the mix, more on that in another article. You would for example take the lead vocal track that is taking up the same hertz spectrum and attenuate, raise the EQ level a tad in the mid to mid high range this will pull out the vocal and make it so you can hear it. When you add EQ adjustment, you will have to make volume adjustments as EQ makes the sound louder.

An EQ is an electronic circuit called a filter as I said; it has resistors and capacitors, more later on that.

EQ is another post, as there are many, many different types of EQ’s and they do different things, this is 101 mixing stuff, with your ear and hands on practice you will learn how to do a good mix, mixing takes a while to master, but a basic good mix is essential. Panning, I will just mention, you want to pan sounds as well to avoid sound masking, and to set sounds in the proper stereo spectrum, this takes time and good ears. Panning can do wonders with EQ and Effects, as you will read later.

The Volume sliders are just that for volume. Most mixers are designed with a sweet spot. The pitcher above you will see the upper top portion of the slider, fader has a white-grey area, this is the desired optimal setting, and outboard mixers may use red, grey, blue, white, etc. markings to let you know that is where the faders are engineered to be used at for max loudness, and the sweet spot. Go above this, yes, be careful, as your sound will distort, you can not fix a recorded distorted vocal, can not be done, it is a must you redo the take, as nothing can help distorted sound, nothing.

This is where dynamics come in, compressors, limiters, gates etc, and again dynamic effects another teaching and a complex one at that.

Try and keep trying, do not be afraid of a lot of channel strips on a mixer as said, they are just the same one channel strip, multiplied many times. We will look next time at one channel strip and master that, once that is done, channels 2 to 64 LOL are all the same. I hope this simple primer helped. Have a great and creative day. Practice makes perfect, so write on, sing on, play on and mix on. You are now in the mix.

Announcement, New Recording School 100% FREE Other Free Resources

http://digitalgoateeproductions.weebly.com/

It is not my intention in this post to kill or steal, even quench your dream, dream on, but I must tell you the facts about what is involved in getting a Record Contract, or Getting Signed, I know from personal experience, so listen up.
I have stated before and so I state again, you MUST have a current issue of the songwriters handbook, this book is your bible in the music biz. What I tell you know can be read in the first few chapters in the book. The book always has several chapters on this stuff and than all the listings of Record Labels, Publishers, Agents, you name it. If your a songwriter and do not want to record your own music, you send your music, in the most simplistic recording you can, the publisher wants to hear if your song is a hit, a great song, or a CD filler that is only an OK song with many production tricks and fills. A great song is a great song with one voice and one instrument. That is all a publisher really wants many times.
A publisher works with X amount of writers a year, they will accept your song many times, if it is good to put in their song catalog. A publishers song catalog is their bread and butter. You can only submit to one at a time, NEVER more than one. That's a rule spoken and unspoken. Know this before you make a move. A publisher is the one that shops your song to artists, they are good, bad and ugly, many contacts in the Songwriters Market book change every year and so you MUST have the current edition. A&R Exec's change every year, record labels come and go, publishers come and go, every year. Take note of how long they have been in business and be careful with one who is brand new.
A publisher may only sit on your song and not shop it at all why? The new publishers esp. are looking to say I have 200 songs in my catalog, and so they are building their catalog not you. Also understand, when you get a contract from a publisher and you are an unknown artist, writer they always ask and its the norm, to get 100% of the song rights, it works the same with a record label. With a publisher try and say I will give you 80% of the rights, if you get that, you have done very good. A publisher will sit on your song, unless it is a hit, and they will have in their contract, they are sole owner of the rights for a year, or more, never go with that, never, say 6 months max why?
You will have your song doing nothing, unable to submit it to anyone else, after 6 months if nothing happens, get it back and submit it to another publisher, if not, your song will be in a pile for a year or more. NOT GOOD. Never do what is called blind submissions never, what this is , shows your not at a pro level, you must do the work, how? use your handbook, see what artist they have published, type of songs and make sure you submit only after looking into and researching the publishers activity and what they do, would you send a rock song to a rap publisher? no, read the handbook, do the work, or all is in vain.
The record Label. You contact the A&r Exec. and no one else, this who you also see when you shop your music in Nashville, L.A. Boston, Atlanta, N.Y. Seattle,WA, these are the music hubs and each work with different styles of music as you will read. Most good Record Labels will not even accept any unsolicited music and there is a lot to the submission to a record co. Many will not give you the time of day without an agent submitting your music. The new record Co will take a listen, make many promises, be warned many are song sharks, they have a P.O. Box in Hollywood and live in Maine, I kid you not.
One note about lyric writers, listen up, NEVER,EVER, EVER, fall for the adds in the tabloid magazines that say Nashville record label, we will set your lyrics or poem to music, an original composition, and it cost you a arm and a leg, you never pay anyone, ever to put music to your lyrics, I can not tell you how many I have warned about these song sharks, and so few heed, so be it. You will have a CD mailed to you with what you think is an original composition, a vocalist and the music, set to your words, wow. When you write all the lyrics 100% and another composes the music, it becomes a 50-50% deal, you never pay, never, that is the in your face truth of what these false prophets in the music biz do. This is how most do it. It can be a husband and wife team, or a person with a friend who has an OK voice that is available. They use a program called Band in A Box, the new version is stunning and a must if you gig out as a solo or duet, you can have a complete back up band and it sound 100% pro. The software has 1000's of pre- made templates in many styles of music, in fact all. They choose a template, spark it up, and have someone sing a crappy vocal and you get your CD and false hopes, avoid these and save time, money and a heart break.
If you submit a radio ready song and are looking to get signed read this RED ALERT.
You must have a full CD, pro recorded and a local following, press releases and all, or forget it. You must build up a local following and have media coverage, and good sales to show, 300,000 units minimum before they will even consider you. Start local, and use the internet, but you must have a large local following. When you shop your music, say in L.A. you have to move there , or make a tight schedule of several places that gave you an appointment to see the man or women in charge.
If you have never sat in an office of an A&R Exec, get ready for the shock of your life, are you ready? they will pop your CD in a player and listen to 15 to 20 seconds of each song, so cut out that amazing 30 second blazing lead guitar intro, make your intro a few seconds, It is wild to sit as I have in an office and watch the person listen to 20seconds of your song, if after 1 or 3 songs your done, they say I like what I hear, but not what were looking for at this time, but keep in touch, or OMG! sign on the dotted line, dream on, this never happens, never.
A few years ago, before shows like American Idol and many others now, have done one thing guess what? The 1000's of CD submissions that these folks used to get have now turned into 10's of thousands of boxes of CD recordings that will never even get a 20 second listen. Fact, I have talked to some old friends that listen to music for a living.
Lets say, you have a great local following have sold 300,000 plus CD's or mp3 downloads. One night, in the audience is a man or women, scouting talent, you, they heard of your local success and came to see how the crowd responds, they look for that beyond even what your music sounds like, what response does the crowd show? this means sales.
You get signed and you are thrilled, the next step is, if your CD is a polished CD and a pro product, they will do nothing, but run off a few thousand copies and send it out to their distributors. Next a press release, and a little tour to promote your music, act, CD. Guess what? these are actual statistic I will now give, fact, not fiction. Less than .5 % of all bands that get signed ever make more than one recording and are never heard of again, the record label puts all the promotion dollars in their proven track record sales of their talent, they do almost nothing for you. It is the same if your a writer and get a contract, a publisher to publish your book. As an author I know this as well. They send out a few books to the main outlets, your book stays on the shelf one month, maybe two, but one month. unless it sales, it is up to the author to go on book signing tours in book stores and do radio interviews etc. and the author pays for all of it, the writer, band must self promote and that's that, on to the next book, CD whatever.
Lastly, a good co will give you a cash advance, not a big one, but guess what? you have to pay that money back via your sales so it is a loan, many, many authors, bands, end up owing the little money they made to the one who gave the advance. Fact, not Fiction. You end up with owing the co. and not being able to pay them back, also you end up with a plate of rice and beans. This is a sad story, but it's the way it works. I could say much more, but for now, go out get a Songwriters hand book, NOW, a current one, or one at the library, they are mostly way outdated, but look at it anyway, and verify what I told you, the first few chapters are the same, most of the time, but all I told you is in every issue, I did not get my scares and pain from the handbook, but going out and living the life of a starving artist and sitting in a office watching many people listen to 15 seconds of my great CD, that I put my heart and soul, blood, sweat and tears into.
I hope this did not steal your dream, truth is shock resistant, and this is all the truth. Never give up, go and keep knocking on doors, make submissions, work your music, promote it. Go the Independent route and keep 100% of the rights, did you ever look on the back of a well known artists CD, look at the publishing CO. most big acts started their own publishing biz and they retain all the rights, all the big names do this, look at a CD and see, it, the publisher, production co, the logo, name is a business a savvy band, act did to not let the cash get into the hands of greedy record companies.
Did you know David Bowie and others are on the N.Y. stock exchange? they did it and it has made them millions. As a self published, self promoted Independent artist you are in the drivers seat, you will be even if you get a contact. I have learned it is better to do the independent route and control your own dream and path and not relay on the people in L.A. or any music city to do little to nothing for you and you end up losing all your publishing rights and royalties. If you are a local band, you play out, you sale you CD at your performances and if you go with say, disk makers, pay around 1.00 a CD and sell it for 7 or 10.00 you can make a very, very good living, do the math yourself and see. Truth is stranger tan fiction, and a fact is a fact, a calculator never lies, but song sharks do.
If you are a solo musician and do not play out, you put your MP3's for sale on I-tunes and other places, people are not buying now days, they can get all the music they want free. SOPA is a good and bad thing, many loop holes in the law, it is a law to censure the internet and freedom of the internet, censoring is happening as I write, I see it every day, have you seen You Tubes new lay out? The deal is to shut down internet freedoms, soon, very soon all sites like blog spot, word press, any social media site will be gone, the writing is on the wall. use the freedoms while they are still up, and forget making a living off MP3 sales if you do not play out. Fact, not Fiction.

The War Machine T'Shirt Logo, looked great on a black T'shirt

 It's A 2 Thing, had over 400,000 plays on the net, and 2 top 5 songs on sound click years ago,with out any paid promotion, that's a big deal out of over 250,000 other songs. did great, great pop-alt rock CD, I have over 2,000 songs in my catalog, will co-lab, or produce you via the net , contact me, as I said give a listen and think on these great free resources, no one else offers, and consider a small donation is all I ask, if you have it, if not, feel free to use my services any way, I was a starving artist many years, I understand.I would have given my right arm for what I am offering free, nothing like it , never was.I am not into the cash, but promoting true Independent artist and teaching free the newbie to pro, how to take their talent to the next level.

 Russ Dean is on my Indy Record Label This is a CD cover we did for Him , you can get this quality for 25.00 a pop, come on man LOL. Hear His music on sound click
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=478630

 My Daughter Colene Rose When I was Producing her, her CD cover what a good looking women, and great, great talent

I Have recorded over the many years under different stage names, as a solo my names were, David Louis, Daniel Louis, Louis,D'Abaldo etc.Bands, Mind Theater, Mantle, Living Sacrifice, Providence, Many others.


My burden is to teach others what I have learned, pass it forward.And to offer many things to help the newbie esp, with help, songs, mastering audio the A to Z and almost all 90% of all I do is Free, so let your journey begin today, and let me and my resources help you, fair enough?


Have a creative day and get a hold of me if you want in on any of the free resources mentioned.
Dan Abaldo
Producer, A&R Exec, Urgent Mission Records, Digital Goatee Productions, owner. Audio teacher, film music composer, artist development, Indy artist promoter, Manager, Mastering and Recording Engineer.

Round Up Of Best Monitor Speakers

Monitor speakers; There are many different kinds, ranging from 50.00 to 5,000.00 , But what does the home studio need, one that is on a tight budget? In this post I will give you the advice and look at some monitors that are great for the price, and what they are for.
The main monitor speakers are your ears, LOL, the next ones are called near field monitors, near field monitors are the ones you will use most and are the work horse of all monitors. They are called Near Field, because you have them place as you would your normal PC speakers, only at a 45 degree angle, and near you, one on each side of your PC monitor. You can get USB near fields, Passive, meaning you will need a separate Amplifier, and The other is power d, non passive, these have their own power supply, these are the best and most common for home studio monitoring. 
I will show a few pitches and give my recommendations on which ones are the best value for your money

These are 100.00 for both, they are powered, and they are USB, very simple set up and has a great sound. Alesis M1 speakers have been around a long time, the pic is the newest one they offer, I tell you, for 100.00 these can not be beat.

I will say for 100.00 bucks these monitors are a close second, if not a tie for the number one monitors I recommend for the price range. 50 watts strong, crisp, clear, perfect, and also self powered. M-Audio products are outstanding, all most everything they put out is great. These monitors for the price are mind blowing and a must have, OK I guess I would make these my number one pick hands down. It is nice to have the headphone inserts on the monitors, for late night recording, but you must have a good pair of headphones, headphones are also monitors, very near field LOL. in your head.
A very good pair of headphones will cost around 50.00 there are some great ones in this price range, the best for a pro sound run around 100-150.00. There are many kinds of headphones, open back, DJ style, Closed back, Sound Isolation, extreme Isolation. Sony MDR series are the best in a cheap range, a great cheap pair is 30.00 aprox MDR-v150, I use a pair of them every day for general use. AKG has a real good pair many home studios use and they are around 40.00. You can pay 2,000.00 for top level headphones, PLEASE, forget these ones, dear lord, come on man were talking a home studio, that will give pro results for pennies on the dollar here. Have 1,500 bucks for headphones? below is a pic of such a pair, yes they are mind blowing, but also a WMD on your wallet. Go to Guitar centers web site, these are the top ones in the price range, and take a look at the specks, nuff said.

Note: headphones should NEVER be used for a final mix down and never, ever used at the mastering of your audio, never . Headphones, good ones, can be used to make music, not mixing audio recording, but extreme isolation headphones are for live sound mixer use in a noise y place, I also use extreme Isolation headphones when recording , so no one in the house is bothered and I can hear only the music and not the local dogs barking. I live in the desert, in the middle of nowhere and it is quiet a small town of 900. I just moved to a smaller place, tanks to no work and a bad economy , I live in SO, Cal, so all in CA know how bad it is , I moved just recent, the small neighborhood is as loud as N.Y. City sometimes, the military base uses the main street we live right off of, trucks, and many, many trains, so out in the middle of the Mojave desert, outside of Barstow, CA little Yermo is a very, very noisy place, so I need extreme Isolation headphones, also darn dogs all over the place and of late they have destroyed my vocal tracks, my videos I do, etc, I hate dogs LOL.
The next step up, in price, and the best bang for your buck is double the price 200.00 you do get what you pay for in audio, but there are products like the ones I have blogged on that can make pro recordings at home for cheap. My first pic for the next level is without a doubt.

Alesis wins again, and at 200.00, these baby's will as I say, blow your mind, these are big, big step up from the 100.00 near fields, they are also  Powered and LOUD. If your on a real tight budget, these can be used in the final mix and mastering and can serve as your only pair of speakers needed, aside from a sub woofer, a sub woofer is a must, esp. depending on your style of music, sub-woofers are not cheap, they run 500.00 plus for good ones, there are some very good sub-woofers in a 50.00 PC speaker system I have used, and I even mastered with this 50.00 set, the two small monitors have pristine sound, plug into your sound card and can shake the windows. I had an individual woofer, bass monitor I bought used and it was the best, I paid 60.00 off Greg's list in Seattle, so look around, go used and save 50 to 75%. why not?
Next we move on to what are called studio reference monitors, these have a very specific use, in a pro studio and at home, it gives extreme exactness of sound, are used to set up a pristine mix and give the real sound of any given instrument or vocal, they are also used in room acoustics and studio design, as reference to the sound of the room, and thus can be used to tune a room.
For the pro home studio, these are what I have always used for my final mix and master, never had any of the big bad boy monitors I used while working in a pro studio. The home studio does not need the super bad boys, and why? only someone with equal speakers would hear the great sound these give off, post production work, music for film, yes you need such speakers and quality surround speakers for film post production, and a 100% pro mastering studio, were talking home people, play these big top dollar speakers, you better have your studio set up, designed to perfection or they would be of no use. Room acoustics are everything no matter what, at home baffles, and foam reflectors you mount on the walls is all that is needed. 

1,100.00, these are the very best pro monitors you should have if you do your won mastering, these I used and were my main go to guys, the older model, If you master your own audio, and you should, why ? you are making pro recordings at home, it used to be called the black or dark art science of the audio recording stage, why? so few had any idea what so ever how to master audio. All you need is T-Racks, a Tube emulator mastering plug in or Nomad blue tubes mastering plug ins and use the presets and your now a master, It is almost that simple, in time, over time you will learn how to fine tune T-Racks and other tube emulator VST plug ins, but the presets of these plug-in are a great start point, and less complicated than my Waves plug in bundle that cost over 4K.
Most pro sequencers and even cheap ones like Mixcraft 5, 69.00 the best of the best and would be all in one package you would need to make 100%  pro recordings at home. Stay in the analog realm as long as you can, use analog out gear, or analog emulation plug ins, all the way to the mastering stage, many table top 8 tracks, 4 tracks, pro sequencer software like Sonar, are all digital and they sound it, use analog and digital, but stay with analog emulators like the final stage in mastering using T-Tracks and you will have a pro sounding product, with practice. The best equipment in the world will not make you a great home recordist, just as a lot of effects do not make a great song, a great song is a great song without any fancy audio work and pad sounds, it should sound like a great song when played on one guitar or one piano, a great song, is a great song, a great recording is a great recording, and can be done at home for pennies on the dollar.

Next post I will have a video with a tutorial on using Crystal sound engine, the best free audio recorder on the planet, so keep your ears fresh, take a break every 15 to 20 minuets, this is a must and you will have fresh ears to make your pro recording at home for pennies on the dollar.

Round Up Of Pro , But Cheap Mics and Mic Pre Amps

As said reader this post is all about the condenser mic and the mic, instrument pre amp. I can not over emphasize the absolute importance in a mic pre amp, it will make the difference between a consumer level recording, semi pro, or pro sound. I chose as the best pre amp 150.00 the DMP3, this is the best hands down, another for 40.00 that will blow minds do not over look this as a starter pre amp if your tight on money, like most of us are, this kicks and is excellent for electric instruments also, you can make a semi pro to pro recording with this 40.00 pre amp.

I mention at the near end of this post what I have read and heard many top recording engineers say, the mic pre amp, is the most important device in the pro mic recording chain, it is over looked and it should not be, a 100.00 mic can sound like a 1,000 mic with a great mic pre amp.

Mic preamps, there are many, all have different sounds, and as a engineer what we do is mix certain mics with certain pre amps to get a certain sound. The pre amp is one of you main purchases. I do not like USB mics at all, but the AT2020 has a great USB mic and no preamp needed, it is wild what one can do now days, its price is worth every penny if you want a great pro USB mic , the AT 2020 for the price, at any price is the best of the best for a USB mic.


Audio-Technica AT 2020 100.0 the best

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Audio-Technica-AT2020-Large-Diaphragm-Condenser-Microphone-103056305-i1126691.gc

Another , maybe the best mic for 100.00 is this one, note not sold on Guitar center, sweet water sound or others? this is top rated by a poll taken on Tweak heads  lab as the most votes and for good reason

AKG Perception 120 mic 100.00

http://www.guitarcenter.com/AKG-Perception-120-Condenser-Microphone-104855432-i1391479.gc

Sterling Audio ST51, the best 100.00

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Sterling-Audio-ST51-Large-Diaphragm-FET-Condenser-Microphone-104477104-i1323300.gc

Best small condenser mic, used to record acoustic instruments 100.00
Sterling Audio ST31

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Sterling-Audio-ST31-Small-Diaphragm-FET-Condenser-Mic-103641379-i1165166.gc

USB mic- AT 2020 best USB mic in my opinion for the money, also, there are not that many good or great USB mics out, this is the top one if your into USB set ups.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Audio-Technica-AT2020-USB-Condenser-Mic-104992326-i1391208.gc150.00

I have tried many USB mics, for music this is the best.

Mic Pre amps

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Audio-Technica-AT2020-USB-Condenser-Mic-104992326-i1391208.gc

Behringer TUBE ULTRAGAIN MIC100 Preamp 

Best cheapest pre amp hands down esp for electric guitar players and does a good job on mics 39.00 to 40.00 5 star rating.

One of the best pre amps for the money hands down, love the tube I have used it and holy cow a must on a budget for a pro sound

Behringer ULTRAGAIN PRO MIC2200  100.00  

My personal favorite for the money, aside from the DMP3 dual channle mic pre amp.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-ULTRAGAIN-PRO-MIC2200-101203354-i1125194.gc

Best 2 Channel mic pre amp M-Audio DMP3 150.00 on guitar center they only have the package deal, it will do the job, not a big fan of the mics, but for the money a pro sound can be made large and small diaphragm mic and as I said the best 150.00 mic preamp made this is the one to get.Look at the preamp esp

http://www.guitarcenter.com/M-Audio-DMP3---MXL-990-991-Package-485768-i1538431.gc

price 219.00 the pre amp alone is 150.00 so for 70.00 bucks two good mics, your call.

ART Pro Channel Tube Mic Preamp  319.0 , a great, step up if you have the cash

http://www.guitarcenter.com/ART-Pro-Channel-Tube-Mic-Preamp-104607684-i1125050.gc

Now see some top of the line pre amps, and if one can afford these, well as most recording engineers say, the most over looked and neglected unit in the recording chain is a solid mic pre amp, a pre amp, a good one makes the difference between a super pro recording and a pro recording that is good, Pre amps are the most important device to have, believe me, it may be number 1. You need the best pre amp you can afford, I mention the DMP3 dual channel 150.00 this kicks but, go with that, if your low on funds and do not over look the 40.00 buck one I mentioned a 5 star rating and gives great, great results.

D.W. Fearn VT-15 Vacuum Tube Recording Channel

http://www.guitarcenter.com/D-W--Fearn-VT-15-Vacuum-Tube-Recording-Channel-180293-i1428805.gc

Just under 5,000.00 bucks yes 5K, the great, great home studios have the big boys and for good reason, these give the same sound as any studio on earth and if you have cash and one day can afford it you will want a pre amp around this price, and above.

Grace Design M801 8-Channel Studio Preamp   4,270.00 this is a 8 channel pre amp, the best for the money in an 8 channel pre amp. This is the best 8 channel pre amp for a pro home studio, yes 8 full channels of sonic sweetness.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Grace-Design-M801-8-Channel-Studio-Preamp-103924460-i1124971.gc

Until next time happy recording and have creative day. March first,  start to make pro recordings today.