band looking to record on a p.c....help

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plasmapunk

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Hello all,
firstly thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully offering me some educated assistance.
Here goes....
The band i play in recorded or last album in a studio costing £250 a day.
Our reckoning is for about the cost of a days recording we could buy a recording set up for a dual core laptop i own.
Having done a bit of research i am thinking of buying a mbox mini 2 which is compatable with my vista 32bit then getting the drums done in the studio loading them onto Protools LE as wav then recording bass ,guitars, vocals and keys before saving the project as wav and returning to the studio for mixing therefore saving at least a week of recording.
My quandary is with regards to the mbox? Is this capable bringing about a high quality recording or should i be looking elsewhere and maybe spending a bit more money?
I dont really mind which software i use, i've used cakewalk and cubase a few years ago and i feel ok about using Protools which comes bundled with the Mbox as i wont be using many ( if Any) effects or plug ins. Or should i be looking to buy seperate interface and different software? THANKS.
 
I think the mbox mini 2 is discontinued, although you can still find them. Question is - do you want to only record your drums with 2 microphones? The mbox mini 2 only has 2 inputs and outputs.
 
Can we assume you know how to record bass ,guitars, vocals and keys, and have appropriate microphones and a decent room to record them in, as well as monitors? The box you plug stuff into isn't going to make much difference if you don't have the rest sorted...
 
Well, £250 is going to buy 1 reasonably good microphone.

I hear this discussion all the time, To buy a set up that can record a band:

Interface that can record at least 8 inputs at once to 8 tracks, prefer 16 tracks.
A complete set of drum mics, kick, snare toms overheads, (some of the mics can double as guitar cab mics unless you want to record it at the same time).
A decent vocal mic
DI
enough mic cables to plug it all in
At least enough good headphones for the whole band, I.E. 4 sets.
Headphone distribution amp.
Good monitors
Someone in the band that knows how it all works and how to pull the sounds you want
And the most important, a place to record / mix with good acoustics.


I get several bands a year into my studio that have gone out and bought stuff to do it themselves only to give up and come into the studio and let me worry about getting the recording done and they only worry about the playing.

Alan
 
Even harder than the purchase of hardware--and the poster who said that $250 buys one decent mic was right--is the years of experience in using the hardware. If you're willing to spend to time and effort because you enjoy it, that's great. However, if you're a musician who wants to make music and ignore the technicalities, then really think about your plan.

The other option between $250 per hour for a professional studio and spending the money and time on doing it yourself is looking around to see if you can find a home hobbyist willing to help for fun--or at least a little money and expenses. The results might not be as predictable as going professional but, on the other hand, you may find somebody willing to spend the hours that you can't afford in a studio.

(No, I'm not volunteering--and I live in Australia anyhow. But, just to put your $250 into perspective, ignoring the computer I run it all on, I estimate that I have well in excess of $25,000 in mixer, software, mics, stands, cables, headphones and amps, monitors etc. etc. in my home studio--and I'm a long was from a pro studio setup.)

Bob
 
Bobbsy said:
Even harder than the purchase of hardware--and the poster who said that $250 buys one decent mic was right--is the years of experience in using the hardware.
Click to expand...

This ^^^

What the OP is asking is a bit like saying "scalpels are cheap. Why should I pay huge hospital bills when I could take out an appendix myself?"

There's nothing wrong with what the OP is trying to do. But, I hope the OP realises what they're in for,
 
By the way, he said 250 POUNDS (English money, guys), so that's about $400, but the principle still applies.
 
Great forum, cheers for the replies,
to expand on my original post. My intentions are to record the drums in a professional studio then take the wav files home to record the other parts seperatly. I have a Sm58/7 and a Rode Nta1 to record the guitars/vocals and was thinking of DIing the keys. I also believe it is possible to hire top quality mics if these do not produce the pro sound i wish to achive so any tips would be mucho appreciated. I would record these parts into the p.c using the Mbox mini 2 and pro tools then return with the wav files to the professional studio and let the engineer work upon the project adding effects and e.q.
I have a pair of Mackie mr5 monitors and a pair of AKG K 240 mk2 headphones.
As for mic placement and acoustic treatment of rooms i will read what i can on here and can find on youtube.
Thanks again guys.........
 
gecko zzed said:
What the OP is asking is a bit like saying "scalpels are cheap. Why should I pay huge hospital bills when I could take out an appendix myself?"

There's nothing wrong with what the OP is trying to do. But, I hope the OP realises what they're in for,
Click to expand...
I saw a documentary a couple of years back about 3 guys that wanted their balls removed. Two of them had the op but the third's doctor wouldn't put him forward for the op. So he went on the internet and studied how to remove his balls. The last thing you see on the documentary was this guy in a highly agitated state declaring that he was going to do it himself.
I couldn't watch the follow up.
 
So perhaps worth a try with hiring some decent mics plasma... you'll learn something at any rate..

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that any studio with a 250 pounds a day rate is not going to have either the equipment or the experience to get you a "pro" sound anyway... but I could be wrong...
 
mjbphotos said:
By the way, he said 250 POUNDS (English money, guys), so that's about $400, but the principle still applies.
Click to expand...

Yes £, .......Bobbsy, you press (hold) the option key and press # to get a £ symbol on an Oz or US keyboard. But even $400 or £250 still only buys 1 decent microphone.

I was going to suggest that you could track everything at a studio then take the files home and add some more things yourself, I have a lot of home studio guys drop into the studio for a day and track drums, bass and rhythm sections then take it home and do the vocals etc, them mix it endlessly until they get it how they want it. Or they come back in later coz they can't get it how they want it and let me do it.

Alan.
 
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