Recording From Mixer! How to get good sound Quality?

H

harleycummins

New member
Hi guys i'm new to the form. I have watched many threads tho but thought it was time to ask a question.. At the moment i'm using a Yamaha mg166c mixer and i have each channel insert sent to my 8 channel interface.

I want to know how to get a good sound out of a drum kit before using any vst plug-ins. I have Shure sm57's on the 3 toms and 1 on the snare.. A beta 52 on the bass drum and two overhead PGDMK6.
Can you give me advice?, Like would good cables make a difference? Eq on the mixer or not?. If i should use a noise gate and compressor?
Thanks guys
 
Unless your cables are so bad as to cause some form of interference (crackling, hum, that sort of thing) changing to more expensive ones won't change a thing.

Similarly, I'd avoid the EQ on the Yamaha mixer. It's pretty course--more like a sledge hammer than a scalpel.

The two best things you can do at the tracking stage are to experiment with the mic positions and make sure your gain settings give you proper levels--probably peaking around -12dBFS on your DAW--and certainly nothing above about -6dBFS. You'll be amazed at how much difference the position and aiming of the mics can make on drum recordings. Even a few inches or a slightly different angle can make a huge improvement (or problem).

Everything else (from EQ to gating to compression to whatever you want) should be done during the mix.
 
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