recording band practice

[Waysid]

Hi, if anyone can help me out with the following, I would really appreciate it.

Ok..what I am trying to do is record our band practices - nothing too serious, I just want to make some MP3s for the guys.

I am using a small Mackie board, 2 SM-58 mics, and a mini-disc recorder. I could also get access to a couple more SM-58 mics.

The room is a small 40 by 20 foot room with carpet and some foam on the walls.

Basically our band sets up like we were on stage. Drums in the center, 2 guitar amps set up on each side of the drums, bass amp also one side. The PA we use for the vocals is facing the band.

What I have been doing is placing the 2 mics on stands (about 5 feet up) and pointing them at the band. The mic stands are placed beside the PA speakers which are also facing the band. We are getting ok recordings but basically my question is:

Is there anything we can do to improve this setup. As I mentioned before I can get more mics but they are 58's. Is there a better way to mic the room? Right now I am just panning each mic hard left and right on the Mackie board and running it into the minidisc recorder. Any advice would be appreciated. If anyone needs more info let me know.

Thanks again,
Chris

[Fangar]

If that is what you have to work with, you would be suprised at some of the sounds you could get. Fiddle with Mic placement a bit. If you can, maybe hang one of the mics above the drums as an overhead, and then move the others (The more the merrier) around the room. Once you find something that works, then mark the placement for future use. There is no reason that you can't get a good reference recording that way. Good Luck. P.S. let us hear something too.

Fangar

[eternalmuzik]

well first off buy a couple more mics, mic the drums by hanging a mic above them and put a few mics about 2 feet from the amps and just put a few mics around the whole room, that should pick up sum good sound. then control the sound with the mixer as usual
..::Bye::..

[Waysid]

Thanks for the tips...I will try them out tomorrow.