Help!!! Recording a band

[theolollos97]

Heyyyy,
I am a newbie in home recording and i need some advice about gear and software. First of all, i have a small home recording studio with some gear and i am trying to slowly expand my studio to something better.All i have, it's a behringer xenyx2442 usb, two behringer loudspeakers,a computer,one Shure sm58 and lots of guitars. But the reason i am posting this thread is because i want to record my band.The band has a vocalist who is playing also guitar,me as a lead guitarist,a bass player,a piano player and a drummer. So, i am planning on buying an audio interface and a daw software. Which is better for me? And also do i have to record separately the band or can i record us all together? I am thinking of buying presonus audiobox 1818vsl because it comes with free presonus studiolive artist software so i will not give extra many for software.Is it a good choice? Thank's

 

[Steenamaroo]

Heyyyy,And also do i have to record separately the band or can i record us all together?

You can record either way.

Live means you'll need more simultaneous inputs than if you recorded separately.

It also means you'll be tracking a bunch of stuff in close proximity to other stuff.
If you're in a small untreated space this could very easily suck.

Then you'll need headphones and cables for everyone at the same time too...It can get messy.

Separate tracking means you need fewer inputs since you're doing one thing at a time.
The kit is really your benchmark then. 4 mics on the kit? 4 channel interface.

Each member of the band needs to know their stuff inside out and be able to play without relying on hearing the others.
Sure, you can set up monitor mixes and jam along and what not, but being well rehearsed is still key for tracking separately.

 

[mjbphotos]

Do a lot of reading before you buy anything more. If you are using a Behr mixer right now as your audio interface, hopefully you know the basics. For a DAW, consider Reaper - it'll be the best $60 you can spend (and you can try it out for free first.

 

[TimOBrien]

Get Reaper (the demo is free to try - fully functional with only a nag screen) and spend the money you save on other stuff....

 

[JG96]

The presonus seems nice. If you only have one mic you will have to buy a bunch more in order to track live. You could probably get two LDC's and a kick mic. Track the drums live. Use the 58 on amps and either a 58 or LDC on vocals. That would mean you would only need a 4 channel interface. I used studio1 and liked it. Reaper is cheap and cubase is free with a lot of interfaces. The tascam US-1800 could be a good option for you or the US-800 if you can find it for cheap.