Introduction and Question

[sketterman]

Hello everyone, I just registered here and wanted to give a little introduction before I start asking questions. I'm a 27 year old drummer from San Diego, been playing since 4th grade, and listen to a variety of music, with a passion for the heavier stuff. I've recorded a handful of studio demos over the years (unfortunately with minimal hands-on experience), but now I am getting into home recording. A friend and I have been jamming for a few weeks now, and are trying to get a band together.

Okay, so the last part of my intro leads into my question. We have written a bunch of riffs and whatnot but we want to record all of our ideas down so we can go back to them and make something out of them. We dont want anything expensive, but since I'm the drummer, I'd like the drums to sound somewhat decent, so I'd like to be able to use 3-4 mics for the kit. The problem with that, is you need to spend hundreds to get a multitracker that allows you to record more than 2 tracks at a time, meaning I have ONE track to lay some drums on. SO, my question is, if we have a Fostex Porta Studio (2 tracks simultaneous recording), could we buy a mixer with 6-8 inputs, run the drum mics through the mixer, and send that mix to a single channel on the recorder, and then use the other track to record a guitar track? Hopefully I explained that in a way that makes sense. I realize this answer may be in a thread already, but damn...this is a big, big forum :-)

[jmorris]

Yes you can .You would be sending a submix of the drums to the single channel.It would be mono of course but it will work.Just get the mix the way you want it before recording as your stuck with it then.
Jim

[mjbphotos]

Yes, it'll work, but remember you're stuck with that drum mix once done.

[sketterman]

Originally Posted by mjbphotos

Yes, it'll work, but remember you're stuck with that drum mix once done.

Would it be okay to adjust the EQ on the mixer during recording, or would it be better to record as is and make EQ adjustments on the recorder?

[Rokket]

Originally Posted by sketterman

Would it be okay to adjust the EQ on the mixer during recording, or would it be better to record as is and make EQ adjustments on the recorder?

Get all your levels set and rehearse the track several times. Make your adjustments while you rehearse. Remember that what goes on 'tape' stays on 'tape'. The only way to fix it then is to retrack it. Get it right going in.

Ideally, I'd mix the drums down to a stereo track and use both tracks to record the drums. I realize you want to record drums and guitar at the same time, but the drums would sound better in stereo. A good headphone amp can be gotten cheaply, and you can have him in another room so that you can follow along.

Where in San Diego are you? I am at 32nd Street Naval Station...

[sketterman]

Originally Posted by Rokket

Get all your levels set and rehearse the track several times. Make your adjustments while you rehearse. Remember that what goes on 'tape' stays on 'tape'. The only way to fix it then is to retrack it. Get it right going in.

Ideally, I'd mix the drums down to a stereo track and use both tracks to record the drums. I realize you want to record drums and guitar at the same time, but the drums would sound better in stereo. A good headphone amp can be gotten cheaply, and you can have him in another room so that you can follow along.

Where in San Diego are you? I am at 32nd Street Naval Station...

Thanks for the info, we were actually thinking about doing it that way too. Recording them at the same time isnt that big a deal, but for me its easier to get it 'right' the first time if it feels more like Im jamming to a song rather than just playing some beats.

Right now I'm at North Island NAS, what do you do over at 32nd?

[mixsit]

Originally Posted by sketterman

... We have written a bunch of riffs and whatnot but we want to record all of our ideas down so we can go back to them and make something out of them.

.. could we buy a mixer with 6-8 inputs, run the drum mics through the mixer, and send that mix to a single channel on the recorder, and then use the other track to record a guitar track?

One thing to add is that I can see actually two directions going here.
If the main thing is to lay down song ideas I'd say get one decent mic (does not have to be very high class or anything) say just out front of the kit and get a nice beefy mono, kick/snare heavy 'natural premix' of the kit and be done with it.

You can go the other route as well, but that sets something else all together in motion; Now you've opened up the can of worms that is 'multi-mic', the concern and increased expectations over getting it to sound 'right, much more time with many trial and error attempts fixing that and learning recording -in other words redoing rather than song writing or what ever.
If you are going to do 'live to 2-track consider having the mixer and monitors in another room isolated enough so you can have someone actually set it up and mix it from the get go.

This all makes for very good learning experience if 'tracking etc is where you want to go. But the results -at the song level- between one well placed mic and a roughed-out recording with a half dozen mics ain't going to be a make or break thing.

BTW- Forgot to say hi! and welcome to our little mess hall here.

[sketterman]

Originally Posted by mixsit

One thing to add is that I can see actually two directions going here.
If the main thing is to lay down song ideas I'd say get one decent mic (does not have to be very high class or anything) say just out front of the kit and get a nice beefy mono, kick/snare heavy 'natural premix' of the kit and be done with it.

You can go the other route as well, but that sets something else all together in motion; Now you've opened up the can of worms that is 'multi-mic', the concern and increased expectations over getting it to sound 'right, much more time with many trial and error attempts fixing that and learning recording -in other words redoing rather than song writing or what ever.
If you are going to do 'live to 2-track consider having the mixer and monitors in another room isolated enough so you can have someone actually set it up and mix it from the get go.

This all makes for very good learning experience if 'tracking etc is where you want to go. But the results -at the song level- between one well placed mic and a roughed-out recording with a half dozen mics ain't going to be a make or break thing.

BTW- Forgot to say hi! and welcome to our little mess hall here.

Good information there, I'm thankful. Actually, the learning exp. would be great, kinda what I'm trying to do anyways, right??

[eternalpayn]

My band really wants to record drums and guitar at the same time, because those 2 players need to play off of each other. What I've been doing is isolating the guitar amp, and giving the drummer the headphone out of the amp. Then I'll record drums while they both play. Then I'll do the same thing, except mic the amp away from the drums. You may wanna give this a shot.