Help Out A Newbie

[RSCALE]

Okay. I'm a drummer first, but want to start doing some home recording of myself and some other bands. I'm planning on buying a Mackie 1604 VLZ PRO mixing board. I use a lot of mics to mic my kit ( all 5 toms have mics) so I'm pretty sure I need this 16 channel mixer. I've got a Mac G4 that I plan to use with some sort of audio software (not sure yet). My main question concerns what time of audio interface I'll need and how I route my mixer with it and the computer. I was looking at the Delta 1010, but I'm not sure if it's what I need. Basically I want to have control over all of my drum tracks. After I plug the mics into the mixer, what's my next step? Does each channel (drum track) get an individual line to the audio interface? The Delta 1010 only has 8 ins, so could I only have 8 channels going at once? Sorry If I sound dumb about this stuff, but this is really my first time doing this. If anyone could explain how the signal flows and what options I have, it would be great. Thank you so much for your time!

 

[Track Rat]

As far as inputs to the computer, you need as many inputs on whatever card you use as you need SIMULTAINIOUSLY recorded tracks. If you want 12 tracks AT A TIME, you need 12 inputs on the card, etc. The 1010 has 8 analog inputs but it also has a S/PDIF digital input which along with an external A/D converter with S/PDIF outputs would give you 2 more ins for a total of 10.
The Mackie is a decent choice for what you want to do as far as mic preamps and the ability to send discret tracks to a recorder. It has 4 busses, 8 direct outputs on the first 8 channels and inserts on all the preamps that can be utilized as direct outputs in a pinch.

 

[Turnip]

If you're already running a Mac, I'd check out the Digi-002; it's only got 8 inputs built in, but using the above method will work here, too.

The nice thing about the Digidesign units is that you get the hardware, and you get Pro Tools (LE) - not to mention a shit-ton of plugs.