Help Many questions. Any answers would be of great help

[dman159951]

i am not completely new to the whole recording thing. I know i am probably a little outdated. But i know i have been doing things backwards in a way.
The band when recording...We right now use a 16 input mixer. (Old, Very old. it has seen better days.only about 12 inputs work) We record the drums bass and 2 guitars at once. vocals are done after. the output from the mixer is then put into a Audio interface and fed into the computer for recording. The sound is crap at best.

I have started to do some research and still have lots of questions.

We would like to do multi track recording. I understand the basic idea of having separate tracks for everything .I think. (each drum mic, each guitar, and the bass and then the vocals after). I would like to have the control later where i can edit the EQ, vol., and ad effects. etc. Any thing that can be done with a computer) of these separate parts of one song.

My questions are going to come now on what i would like.

What would be the best device to achieve this? (Audio interface, mixer with Audio interface built in??)
What kind of software do i need to achieve the best final product?
How to conect it all if multiple devices are needed.
Am i looking in the wrong direction??
I would like the ability to record 8,10 or 16 parts separately Where i can edit and refine each separately.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Chili]

Hopefully, you've spent some time rummaging through the Newbies section because this question gets asked all the time.

You'll need an interface with as many channels as you want to record at one time. if you're recording acoustic drums, then that usually dictates the max number of channels. A lot of people can record drums with 4 inputs using the recorderman method (search or google) and get great results.

You say you want 8, 10, or 16 parts, but probably you don't need to record them all at the same time. The mixer and soundcard will only giv you two channels. For a one-man band with virtual drums, that might be adequate, but probably not for what you want.

Start looking at this list. You probably need something from the $300 range and up.... :
FireWire Audio Interfaces | Sweetwater.com

Software: Most interfaces come with some form of a popular DAW program like Cubase, Sonar, etc.. so, be sure to look for that when shopping. Personally, I use Cubase.

have fun,

 

[JimmyS1969]

Your quest begins by learning as much as you can possibly absorb before you make a purchase. Then you will soon learn what you really want. It is hard to know what is right for you until you find out for yourself. There are many here that will help to give you direction, but you must make sure to learn all that you can on your own. You already have the concept down. Google, search, and ask a bunch of questions.

I can tell you exactly what works....for me. It may not be what you are after.

You decide....

 

[dman159951]

Would a device like the zoom r16 or r24 work for recording. It says it is a portable device and an audio interface. I was also looking at some mackie mixers but I do not know what the output via USB is. I don't know if it is stereo or more that that. I like the idea of having a mixer bulky in but I don't know what would work for that method

 

[Chili]

Typically, a USB connection yields 2 channels of streaming audio to your computer. The Zoom R16 does indeed stream 16 channels through a USB connection. It has a good repoire with some people here who have used it.

If you're looking to use a DAW program to record with, like Cubase, Sonar, Pro-Tools, etc, you don't need a mixer for mixing. All mixing will be done in software. If you start adjusting eq of a track before it's captured in the computer, the adjustments are permanent to the recording and may not work with the rest of the tracks. You can't undo any pre-recorded adjustments, you would have to retrack.

Best method is to record or capture your track raw to your computer then use eq's, processors and effects within your DAW to make your adjustments after all your tracks have been recorded.

A mixer does come in handy if you want a place to permanently hook up your instruments, mics, etc and not have to bother with plugging/unplugging everytime you want to record another instrument. But don't expect to use it for mixing with a computer based recording system.