Recording band EP, 5 inputs

[Fencefry]

Okay, so my band has 3 guitars (2 electric, one acoustic-electric), an electric bass, drums (We plan on using a drum machine for recording, drum mics are too expensive), and one singer. Currently I have one lead-to-USB cord, a lead-to-stereo mini (male), and 2 stereo mini-to-lead (male), along with a bunch of regular lead cords, and 5 amps. I have one $10 mic that I definitely want to replace. Last practice we tried recording one at a time with Guitar to amp to USB with Audacity, but it was very difficult and didn't sound too great.

So main points:
- Need mic recommendations under $75 (under $50 preferably)
- Fairly easy to use recording software (I may have access to Garageband if that makes it easier)
- Maybe a recordings system other then computer?
- Recording multiple intruments efficiently and with good quality.

Price isn't an object on the software side, but I would like to stay under $150 total for hardware.

EDIT: Yah, budget is now A couple hundred higher if needed (Maybe I'll have to postpone that P-bass I'm savings for D

 

[TimOBrien]

Under $150..... no. You'll need a multiple-input soundcard at the very least, plus preamps and mics.

First, start reading:

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My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad:

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)

 

[mattdee1]

So main points:
- Need mic recommendations under $75 (under $50 preferably)
- Fairly easy to use recording software (I may have access to Garageband if that makes it easier)
- Maybe a recordings system other then computer?
- Recording multiple intruments efficiently and with good quality.

I’d say that if you must achieve the requirement highlighted above, you’re going to need a lot more money because you will need a multi-input audio interface, pre-amps for each input, and a collection of decent mics.

On the other hand, if you just don’t have the funds, you can try the following if you have one decent mic, one preamp, a stock PC sound card, and some cheap-o (free?) recording software:

- program drums and get a drum track into your recording software
- lay down bass track while monitoring drums through headphones
- lay down guitars while monitoring drums/bass through headphones
- lay down vocals while monitoring full band through headphones
- lay down any desired overdubs, harmonies, etc.
- mix to taste
- export .WAV

This method assumes that your bass player and guitar players know the songs cold and can play them from start to finish without vocal cues for the changes, etc. If that becomes a problem, you can always do a scratch track for reference, play along to that for the cues, then discard it.

You should set realistic expectations for what you can achieve with this budget method but I used to do this with my band and some of the results were actually pretty decent considering the limitations. I can definitely say that it is better and more fun to attempt this than to just throw your hands up in the air and say that if you can’t afford expensive gear then there is no point in trying anything at all. At least that was our attitude about being broke.

 

[tojo]

cheapest you'll be able to do.

cheap mixer: used behringer mixer $50 *that's how much i paid for mine
mic(s): sm 57 - all around workhorse, guitar vocals snare drums guitar amps - $100.
Cables (xlr, rca cables to go from aux out of behringer unit to line in on garageband)

and your done.

with mine you can't record audio to seperate tracks (i.e. with a firewire audio interface) you can two tracks at a time on seperate tracks on garageband and that's about it.