First time recording our band, the first day....how Im going to do it. Your thoughts?

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Stubby03

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We have a ZED 14 mixer with 5 mics going to it from the drums, into a HP with mixcraft 6, via usb. Our drummer wants the guitar to play along with him to help with where he is at in the song. Im going to run the guitar into the board, and send the signal of guitar to our drummer, via headphones. Im just going to be recording the drums to the first track. We don't have a interface yet. Then lay down the bass, etc. Does this sound ok? Our drummer has to have someone playing with him. We are going to use a click track. Any suggestions?
 
Get a new drummer? Im not trying to be a smartass when I say that. I play drums myself. A competent drummer should know the songs well enough that he can lay down the tracks with a clicktrack. I guess if he needs to have someone play along with him you will have to accommodate hime, but this makes it harder. Wont you have to think about the guitarist having to play in a different room so the drum tracks arent getting contaminated? Can the guitarist play the tunes without the drummer? If so, maybe you could lay down the guitar, play it back and have the drummer record to that, but that is back asswards, the drummer IS the time keeper. Maybe Im not understanding your enquiry completely, and again Im not trying to be a jerk about it.
 
I agree about the drummer. I am plugging the guitar straight into the mixer so not to bleed into the drums.
 
Yeah, that's the way to do it. Make sure the guitarist is not too near the mikes so that the string-hitting is not picked up. Guitarist needs to hear the clicktrack, too, of course.
 
Ok, that can work. Can the drummer play the songs to a metronome or clicktrack? If so there are several ways to skin the cat. Put a metronome in his ear and have the two of them play, while recording the drum tracks. But I wasnt quite sure of your capabilities hardwar3e wise to record and playback tracks as you said no interface yet?
 
Yeah, we already recorded some of our originals(as a band) we are going to do, and record and playback worked good thru the mixer. Just getting some other input is always good.
 
Just want to get an interface to have more control of the drums. Like to be able to eq kick, snare, etc. separately.
 
Problem with the drummer following the guitars is that the tempo will suffer. It always does. The guitarists listen to the drummer who is the time keeper. But if the drummer is trying to match the timing of the guitar players, who are trying to match the timing of the drummer, then all hell breaks loose, and your tempo is shot. If you choose to do it the way you propose, you need to make sure you are playing from only the click, and not hearing the drummer who is trying to follow you.

Get your drummer to PRACTICE playing with a metronome so that he/she gets accustomed to the click. Drummers who think they've got chops but can't manage a 4/4 rock beat in steady tempo are a dime a dozen. He needs to want to be part of the solution...not the problem.
 
Im new at recording on a computer. We had a fostex 4 track. We have moved in to 21st century. lol I have been reading tons on eq, parametric eq, mixing, mastering. I am eating it up. The guitar player and I (bass guitar) have played together since we were 15, we are now 43. We have tons of originals we want to put down and make the very best sounding cd we can.
 
Since I am not a real musician like some of these other guys, I can understand the drummer wanting the guitar player to ride along so he gets the changes, etc. I think the point of everyone is, the drummer needs to set the beat, the guitar player is just there for mood. Like reverb for a singer.
 
Our drummer is not the best, but he holds the beat good when playing together. He fits our mold. All married, kids, we are all firemen, so our schedules mesh. We all love the same vein of music.
 
If you ain't having fun or you're not making money, then there is no point in it.
 
If he was horrible, I would not be wasting my time with him on this project. We have played out in bars, parties, he does good.
 
That's it, we have a blast together. All about fun for me. I played out in bars with better musicians, was no always fun.
 
I wouldn't be in too much of a rush to buy an interface.
I have
"Windows 7: At present, Windows 7 treats the USB audio device as a microphone source instead if a line input, so
set the device volume level much lower, we found setting to 3 is ideal".

the ZED10 which is not as good as the 14 and the USB side is more than good enough for live band recording (where you will be lucky to get a -50dBFS noise floor!). Do however look at page 22 of the manual>>>

THAT! Totally screwed up hope you can work it out.

Dave.
 
mdainsd said:
Get a new drummer? Im not trying to be a smartass when I say that. I play drums myself. A competent drummer should know the songs well enough that he can lay down the tracks with a clicktrack. I guess if he needs to have someone play along with him you will have to accommodate hime, but this makes it harder. Wont you have to think about the guitarist having to play in a different room so the drum tracks arent getting contaminated? Can the guitarist play the tunes without the drummer? If so, maybe you could lay down the guitar, play it back and have the drummer record to that, but that is back asswards, the drummer IS the time keeper. Maybe Im not understanding your enquiry completely, and again Im not trying to be a jerk about it.
Click to expand...

A bit harsh, I often record bands with the guitar plugged in via a DI so the drummer can follow the arrangement, saves time later when you find that verse missing that he forgot about. Can I suggest that you record the drums with the guitar and bass in his phones as this will make sure the feel of the song locks with the bass. Don't forget to include a count for some bars if the guitar starts the song.

Alan.
 
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