Recording drums on a 4 track. Best option?

[Druw]

I'm going to be getting a Tascam Porta One.
For recording drums, to reduce the hassle of bouncing tracks, will it be good to buy a mixer to have the drums going straight to one track?
Or,
Record the drums seperately then mix on computer.

The problem with option 2 is I'm not sure how I would transfer it to the computer.
Thanks for any help.

[ocnor]

Using a Tascam Porta One would be redundant and it would add noise and distortion. If you are going to buy a mixer anyway then just run the mixers L+R outs into the computer and record the drums in stereo. IMO that is the best way if you don't have a soundcard with multiple inputs.

[omtayslick]

ocnor's right. Grab yourself a small mixer and an inexpensive recording soundcard from M-Audio, (Audiophile 24/96, or Delta 44, or Delta 1010lt) and you'll be good to go. And get better results.

[Druw]

The problem is, where the drums will be is nowhere near the computer, and moving it is not an option.
So the Tascam is useless for drums?

[F_cksia]

Originally Posted by Druw

I'm going to be getting a Tascam Porta One.
For recording drums, to reduce the hassle of bouncing tracks, will it be good to buy a mixer to have the drums going straight to one track?
Or,
Record the drums seperately then mix on computer.

The problem with option 2 is I'm not sure how I would transfer it to the computer.
Thanks for any help.

Depens on how many mic's you're using on the drums. If it's just bass/kick and two overheads, which can work pretty well, just record the four tracks, and transfer it 2 by 2 to the computer using the recording outputs to the minijack line-in of your soundcard. Syncing the tracks up might be a problem because of tape slip etc., but I'm sure it will do fine.

[Druw]

Thanks F_cksia. I will probably be using 3 to 4 mics. I might mic the snare. I suppose the advantages of doing it this way is having it in stereo, correct?

[andyhix]

I'm not familiar specifically with the portaone, but can't you just route the 4 inputs to your destination track, i.e. use the porta as your mixer, recording 4 channels to only to one or two tracks? That is definately possible on the 424 series.

[junplugged]

you could try mono drums, it's been done before so i've heard.

[drumzealot]

I love recording drums to my cassette 4-track. Yes the sound is sorta low-fi, but if done well, the results are surprisingly good. Plus you get that tape sound.
Try various 3-mic techniques. The toughest part is making sure the mics are set just right so that they are all in phase with each other.