How/ When should I pan these mics???

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kidkage

kidkage

Bored of Canada
I'm recording drums with 3 mics: 2 overheads (recorderman method), and 1 on the kick. theyre running into a mixer with a Left output and a Right output into a Tascam console (where I can pan as well). I'm panning the overheads hard left and hard right with the kick mic in the middle. Should I pan the mics in the mixer then leave the two tracks on the Tascam centered, should I leave them centered on the mixer then hard pan on the tascam, or should I hard pan on the mixer and the tascam for best results?
 
Curious why you are using two mixers? Or, what are you referring to by 'Tascam console'? If one of them is an interface and it is necessary to hard pan to get them on separate tracks in your DAW, then definitely pan them.
 
Curious why you are using two mixers? Or, what are you referring to by 'Tascam console'? If one of them is an interface and it is necessary to hard pan to get them on separate tracks in your DAW, then definitely pan them.

It's a Tascam DP008. I can only record 2 tracks at once on it. Since I have 3 mics I have to run them into the mixer then out of the two outputs on there into the two inputs on the Tascam
 
Ah, makes sense now. Only record two tracks at a time is a bummer. Yeah, hard panning of OH's on mixer and using to taste on the Tascam makes sense. Though it would also be very helpful to have the kick on a separate track. Then you would have to lose your stereo image thing. Between a rock and a hard place. :(
 
Ah, makes sense now. Only record two tracks at a time is a bummer. Yeah, hard panning of OH's on mixer and using to taste on the Tascam makes sense. Though it would also be very helpful to have the kick on a separate track. Then you would have to lose your stereo image thing. Between a rock and a hard place. :(

yeah it really sucks :(
I might ask for one of these for graduation Tascam 2488neo 24-Track Workstation at zZounds
24 tracks? 8 track simultaneous recording? that sounds like a dream
 
Man, for that price I would go for a PC based DAW and an interface so you can have unlimited tracks and control. Hell you could do that for half the price as long as your computer isn't a dinosaur. :)
 
Man, for that price I would go for a PC based DAW and an interface so you can have unlimited tracks and control. Hell you could do that for half the price as long as your computer isn't a dinosaur. :)

I'm thinking about going that route too. It's weird though. I like the hardware feel...and whats even weirder is that I'm 17 and can play video games all day, hack into things through a blu ray player, go to school for game software development, hit level 70 in world of warcraft and beat diablo II in one day (like a nerd right :p)... but I cant work on software for anything. I've tried cubase and audacity and I mess up the levels and placement, and cant even begin to understand how to eq... I dont understand why I cant use software, it doesnt make sense.

I'm open to any recommendations if you have some that you think I could work with though.
 
Well Reaper is highly recommended and free to try. Cubase can be pretty confusing at first but gets easy after a year or so. lol. I don't know, maybe there is a free eq plugin that just has Bass-Mids-Treble knobs? Spend a 'Nerd Night' messing with stuff and see what you come up with. I can give ya some pointers if you get lost. :)
 
It's a Tascam DP008. I can only record 2 tracks at once on it. Since I have 3 mics I have to run them into the mixer then out of the two outputs on there into the two inputs on the Tascam
I'm in a similar situation. When I'm tracking guitar/drums or bass/drums, my DAW {an AKAI DPS12i} is able to handle 6 inputs (well, 8 actually but then we're talking optical complications !) and I'll record drums in a variety of ways. One way is that one of them will go on the guitar or bass, 5 will go on the drums. I use one for the snare and one for the kick and the third as a room mic or for the hi hat. I use a mixer and through that I'll close mic the three toms {or any other toms that I might be using} and put my overheads through them. What that means is that I have to listen while the drummer plays and mix that lot together to my satisfaction then pan hard left and right and send them via the outputs to two tracks on the DAW.
It's not the only way I'll do drums, sometimes I'll just use 3 mics, sometimes 4, sometimes 5.
 
I'm thinking about going that route too. It's weird though. I like the hardware feel...and whats even weirder is that I'm 17 and can play video games all day, hack into things through a blu ray player, go to school for game software development, hit level 70 in world of warcraft and beat diablo II in one day (like a nerd right :p)... but I cant work on software for anything. I've tried cubase and audacity and I mess up the levels and placement, and cant even begin to understand how to eq... I dont understand why I cant use software, it doesnt make sense.

I'm open to any recommendations if you have some that you think I could work with though.

I have a TASCAM 2488. I use it to lay down my tracks, and then I bring all of my tracks into REAPER to mix.

For the longest time, I had the same mind-set as you. I thought "I just don;t want to mix with a mouse...yuk!". So I did everything in the 2488. But one day, I realized to myself that when I mix, it's not as if I'm constantly moving faders and changing effects, etc... I pretty much set my levels and from there, there might be small changes to make as the song goes on. So, I tried REAPER and haven't looked back since. Mixing in the PC isn't really that much different than mixing on a stand-alone, aside from the zillions of plug-ins you have access to and all the options you don't have on a stand-alone.

So, my 2488 is my interface, in a manner of speaking. It's just not a real-time inter-face. I track and then transfer. If I were to start all over again, I'd get an inter-face and foget about a stand-alone altogether.

Having said all hat, if you still decide to go with a stand-alone, you can't go wrong with the TASCAM 2488.
 
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