Best Computer Recording Setup

  • Thread starter Thread starter drenghdndvtm
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drenghdndvtm

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I am interested in recording every instrument directly. Would like to record with at least 8 drum mikes, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, vocals, etc. I have done a little research and I've come up with either getting a mixer to plug the mikes into, and then go to a soundcard/breakout bob like the Aardvark Direct Pro Q10. Or maybe just go directly to the Q10. I would probably have to buy two Q10's to be able to connect all of those instruments. Sonar 3 Producer Edition seems like a great program to use to accomplish recording and mixing tasks.

If anybody has any suggestions to improve this in cost or othewise, please feel free!
 
Are you recording a band all together, or doing drums first, then guitar etc?
 
I would like to record the band all at once. Is that not a good idea? I am fairly new to the recording scene.
 
it's fine if you can isolate all the instruments from one another. you'll have to have a preamp for all the mics, so the easiest route with that many will be to buy a nice, big mixer and use its pre's. that's much easier and more cost effective than using all seperate pre's. you can always buy nicer ones later if you want. make sure the mixer has channel direct outs or inserts. direct outs if you can get it, but an insert will serve the same purpose if you don't intend to use it to plug in effects.
 
The main reason I wanted to have enough inputs to record was because of the drums. I want to get a really good drum sound and be able to play with all the seperate drums in Sonar or a similiar program.
 
If your new to recording, you can make life a lot easier for yourself by not micing every damn drum in the kit.

You can get a perfectly fine drum sound using 4 mics - 2 dynamics on kick & snare and 2 condensor overheads. Even with 4 mics you'll need to ensure you don't have phase issues between the kick/snare and the overheads.

This would also get you going with just one 8-in soundcard - 4 drums, 2 guits, bass & vox
 
as mentioned before, if you want to record all of the intruments at once, isolation is very important. you said you wanted to edit each drum individually. Well if you record your whole band in one room, you are gong to have unwanted bleed though mics (i.e electric guitar getting into the bass mic etc..). I think that recording one instrument at a time is much more powerful in terms of being able to edit. It is hard to set up isolation booths for each performer and having them all in sync via headphones... (shudder) tht would be a lot of work.
 
Thanks for the help! You can really get some good drum sounds with just those mics? Guess I am new to this! Would that setup for drums be good enough for a fairly professional sounding demo? Also, what software would you suggest? I want some quality software, but I also don't want to pay for something I'm not going to use. I really like Cakewalk from what I've tooled around with so far.
 
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