Band Recording

[Jehan]

Hi There,

I'm in a band, and we want to start professionally recording our music. There are two guitarists (one of them me), a bassist, a singer and a drummer. We want to be able to record our music directly to some software on my Mac such as GarageBand or Audacity so we can further edit bits after the music is recorded. I've heard I need an audio interface and a mixer? We want to be able to use our currently guitar and bass amplifiers, as well as effects pedals.

So what we want is:

Guitar 1 ---------> Amplifier + Effects -----------> Computer
Guitar 2 ---------> Amplifier + Effects -----------> Computer
Bass Guitar ------> Amplifier + Effects -----------> Computer
Drum Kit ---------> Microphones -----------------> Computer
Vocals -----------> Microphone ------------------> Computer

Understand? Please give me the cheapest possible solution to do all this. Please note we want to be able to record everything at once, rather than recording each instrument and then putting it all together. Thanks!

 

[cusebassman]

This is no short order... what's your budget, and what kinds of mics do you already have?

At the very least you'll need an interface that can handle 8-10 inputs, like the Presonus Firepod. I don't use a computer interface, so I can't speak much to the hardware, but a firepod is 500 bucks, plus whatever you need to buy in microphones.

Of course, this is if you in fact want to record everything as single channels... Im sure there are ways to get around buying this expensive an interface if some other options are explored, but I'll let others get into that.

 

[Jehan]

I have about £500 to spend.

 

[andyhix]

Generally (not always) you would want to mic your amp cabinets, so plan on mics there, as well. Plus all the cables. Plus, if you are going to record all at once, you need to plan on some isolation, so you don't have excessive bleed from, for instance your guitar amp into your drum mics, or vice versa. I'd plan on doing vocals seperately. It's going to be hard to get a clean vocal track with the band wailing away at the same time, unless you have a soundproof booth.

So, plan on an interface - I have the firepod and really like it. There's certainly other options too.
2 or 3 condesor mics (for vocals, maybe drum overheads, etc.)
4 or so dynamic mics (for guitar amps, snare or other drums)
Maybe a proper kick drum mic.
About 10-20 nice long XLR Cables
Get some decent monitors to listen on and mix on (don't forget to turn them off when you are tracking - DAMHIKT)
Build lots of Gobos, or plan on putting the amps in seperate rooms far away from the drums.
Bass can go direct in. Guitars can too, but generally will sound much better if you mic the amps.

Start with a free or cheap audio program like Kristal or Audacity. Generally they can do everything you need and if you find it's lacking something after a while you can upgrade then. The software really doesn't effect the audio quality, so start cheap and easy. And plan on reading as much as you can here, and learn to use the search function. Do all that, and you will be able to get some decent recordings. Professional? I guess it depends on your definition of "professional."

 

[tnjazz]

For $1000 US (your approx budget) I'd buy:

8 x SM57/58

A Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 I/O (or Presonus Firepod or Motu 8Pre)

and a bunch of cables.

(to start off with, at least)

 

[cusebassman]

Hmm... perhaps something a little more robust than all SM57s...

You might also want to consider reamping... recording the guitars direct, and then running the DI'd guitar track back out of the interface, into your amp. Then mic the cab on a different input channel, and hit record. It works well when set up properly, but it is a little tricky at first.

Would cut down, however, on the need for double the mics just for two separate guitars, and then you could also record the cab with an SM57 (or some other dynamic), and a condenser a foot or two off the cab as well, to get a nice full sound. But again, this all adds to the recording time, and you are looking for a basic setup to start out with.

I'd also recommend tracking vocals separately though - its a bitch to get when you are playing with the full band.

 

[Jehan]

Guys, I'm a newbie and I'm confused about some of this terminology.

Could you one of you quickly draw out a quick sketch of how everything connects together etc?

Gobos?
Tracking?
Cab?
Monitors?

 

[tnjazz]

Guys, I'm a newbie and I'm confused about some of this terminology.

Could you one of you quickly draw out a quick sketch of how everything connects together etc?

Gobos?
Tracking?
Cab?
Monitors?

This is why I suggested what I did.

Just buy yourself 8 "all around" mics (SM57 and SM58 are decent on just about anything), and an 8 channel preamp/interface like what I have listed above. The 8 mics go into the 8 preamps and the interface connects to the computer (most likely via Firewire).

Will it sound professional? I don't know. Great records have been made with less gear than that. It's certainly the easiest setup for someone who is new to recording though.

If you want a professional sounding recording on a budget, your best bet is to hire a professional to come out and record you.

 

[Jehan]

what's the next interface down from the firepod?

 

[ermghoti]

You will not get a professional recording with a 500GBP budget with guys that don't know a gobo from a gobi. Period, end of story, too bad.

If you want to learn recording, go nuts, enjoy. If you want a professional recording, go to a professional studio, and let the professionals make the recording. You should be able to do a decent two-three song demo, mixed and mastered, for your budget. If you do it yourself, you will be able to produce a somewhat comparable recording after about five or six years of experimenting and another 5-10kGBP in equipment.

The above is not a flame. Essentially, you have asked "I want a Mini Cooper. How can I build one for 5kGBP? What's a spanner?"

 

[Jehan]

I just want to be able to record my band playing from home on my laptop as apposed to going to a professional recording studio. I want to learn a lot about recording during the process.

 

[cusebassman]

Unfortunately he's soooort of right. SM57s will sound decent on most sources, and hookin em up to a Firepod, into the firewire port on your machine, and then setting those tracks to record in Cubase (or whatever software you wind up with), will sound all right. However, then you get into effects, EQ, compression, making different sources sit well with each other, changing your mic'ing technique when you realize certain things don't sound as they should... the list goes on.

I say, more power to anyone who wants to venture into this recording void, but you will not be able to produce something that sounds professionally put together out of the box (at least that's the overwhelming concensus). I've spent a couple years and what? Hmm... 5-10 thousand dollars between my guitars, amps, other instruments, and recording gear, and Im still not happy with the sound of my acoustic guitar, and my vocal parts are decent, but they could always be better, hehe

If you are just looking for a cost effective way to record a decent set of songs, then go the studio route... I'd say more often than not, home recording 'engineers' do it because they love the gear and the process as much as they love to play... usually they find out quickly that it isn't going to be a quick, cheap n' easy path to pro studio sound.

And wouldn't ya know, after all that time and money spent, I've only now come to find that my space is shit for recording (an apartment? Not surprising, I know...). This hobby is really a never ending struggle with our surroundings and the means we have available to us, and it will never let us forget that!

So, to sum up (because this rambling post has gotten that far), if you don't have a great desire to learn the ins and outs of recording (no pun intended), go to a studio. If you and your band want to spend lots of time researching and working hard over a lengthy period of time? Go the home studio route.

 

[Jehan]

Thanks. Have you got any good resources on how to learn home recording? It's something that really interests me.

 

[cusebassman]

Well, it'll be an interesting journey. I'd start by searching for interface info on this website, and look into the computer recording area - there are lots of posts from people who are looking for a first interface, and you'll find specific posts on just about every different type of need (i.e. first interface with __ inputs, etc). Good luck!

 

[Nick98338]

Learn Recording = www.tweakheadz.com Good luck.