Mixers, need help

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cwr89

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Ok, I am trying to do some small promo or demo disk recording for my band.
before you kill some of the things I say, remeber I am 15 and poor.

I want this mixer:
Yahama MG10/2

I know it is a 10 channel mixer with 4 mic inputs and preamps.
I want to mic 4 drums, and have 3 line inputes from both guitars and bass.
once I get it though, I know I need 4 drum mics cables for guitars and mics and everything, but I am wondering.

Right now I record with my guitar through a 1/4 mono to 1/8 mono plug. I just plug it strait into my mic input on my PC from my pedal board. (I had to turn mic boost off)

but, I know that mixers are stereo.
1) Do mixers produce a line signal?
2) since a mixer is stereo, can I run a 1/4 stereo to 1/8 stereo plug out of it and into my PC?

also could you recomend some good (but not expencive) drum mics and cables?

thanks alot
~Casey
 
Isn't a line input on a sound card the same as a mic input if you turn off the mic boost?
 
answering a question with a question? mixers can produce a line signal...as for question two....i dont know if they make a stereo 1/4 cable that goes to a 1/8 jack.....however i do know you can get the 1/4 to 1/8 connectors and turn them to a 2 1/8 female split to a 1/8 male connector. this is how i split the signal from my sound card to the headphone amp and my monitors
 
as for drum mics, i am also 15, and was able to afford a shure sm-57 for the snare, a pair of mxl 603s for the overheads, and a studio projects b1 for the toms. Right now im working of a bass drum mic.

by the way, dont record your guitar direct, get a sm-57 and mic your amp. it sound much better
 
on the right track

well you have the idea kind of.

One thing first: the mic output on your computer has a voltage on it to support the small consender mikes on things like headsets. just be aware of that, so you dont put voltage somewhere you dont want it. It looks like a stereo plug, but one of the contacts has a voltage on it.

as for the mixer, yes is puts out a stere LINE level signal. They have one of the output jacks: a pair of 1/4 outs, a pair of rca outs, or a pair of xlr outs.

i haven't seen the exact cord you are talking about, but is use the l/r rca out to a 1/8" mini plug.

but be sure you go to the LINE input, not the mike (note the voltage thing)

as for the cords and stuff, watch the specials at www.musiciansfriend.com
i caught xlr mike cords for like $3.00. they usually have good deals on cords if you dig in their menu far enough.

they also have some great deals on mikes (you do have to dig sometimes). i picked up 3 for like $18.00 then all you would need to add is the bass mike.

then again, there is also E-bay. just be kind of careful there.

you're on the right track so keep looking

good luck

radiorickm
 
Ok, great.

so bassicall the mixer has 2 (computer) ouputs one for left 1 for right.
2 rca outs and 2 xlr outs.

first of... I am a nood with this, so what do
rca and xlr mean? are they just speakers and monitors?

so sould I get a sound card that has a left and right line input jack?

here is what I think I need.

Cables to connect mics to mixer
and guitar to mixer
Cables to connect mixer to computer
some kind of power supply for the mixer
Monitors
Sound card with L and R stereo line inputs
Mixer
Speakers
4 Mics

Is that all?

thanks
Casey
 
some definitions

mixer have lots of holes in them, which we plug things into. the female side is a (JACK) and the male side is a (PLUG).

there are many different kinds of jack and plugs that we use.

the one you are probably familiar with the the 1/8" stereo "PHONE" jack/plug. this is the cord on headphones, and plug into the cd player/computer or what ever.

PHONE plugs also come in a sub-mini size, 3/32", and a large size, called a 1/4 plug. (Mono and stereo versions) The 1/4" size is very common in audio, and probably most of the inputs and outputs of the mixer have a 1/4 plug with them somwhere. Guitar cords are 1/4 phone connectors

RCA plugs, are like the ones on your VCR, the red, white and yellow kind. They useally carry line level signals.

XLR plugs are the round connectors, with 3 pins in the middle. Any PRO mike has an XLR connector on the bottom of it to plug a microphone cable into.

THe mixer usually has at least the RCA outs, and the 1/4 outs. MOST of them also have XLR outs. This is just simply the plug/jack combination to get the signal out of the mixer. they give you all 3 to make your job easier, matching the mixer output to the sourse input TYPES.

Most generic sound card have just a 1/8" phone jack input. So, you could use an adapter that changed TWO, 1/4" mono plugs to one 1/8" stereo plug. You could also come from the two RCA's into the 1/8" plug.

The XLR's are mostly pro stuff. They use an electical trick to carry a "BALANCED" signal. They go between the mike and the mixer, and sometimes between the mixer and the PA Amp (and what ever else is in that chain).


YOu pretty much have the idea after that.

good luck
 
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just don't ever record via the MIC IN of your soundcard

its absolute junk


in my part, connect all your mics and instruments to your mixer,
and record in stereo to your LINE in

and yes, those cables exist...and if you can't find them, then you can easily make "em. i got the schematics laying around somewhere, if i got the time i might upload it somewhere,,,,, if you think you'll be soldering yer own cables.

second...

what about multitracking dude ?

you let the band play with a metronome, and you record all in one time,
just a cheap recording but RIGHT ON THE MONEY

and then the real work starts, you start recording the drums seperate,
the guts, throats, bass, all seperate,

is easy, there's shedloads of software apps out there that let you do it.
and its easy, IF IF IF IF the band can play with a metronome !


i recorded demo cds that way, with junk ass cheap mics,
a BEHRINGER mixer with 2 mix ins !!!! and two lines


yeah...you can always plug the bass gut into yer mixer line in,
but not the gut


if you can find those effect boards and stuff, then its a nice idea to look for "compressor" presets, load them, plug a mic, and record (bass, kick, tomms, snare, vocals,,,,,all need compression)


mhhh....
short explanation...but see, there's TONS of possibilities,
you don't even need to spend lots of money,
nice mixer y'er talking off...but there's cheaper out there,
i don't think a newbie like you needs such a neat yamaha...
but thats my opinion of course

hope it helps...
cheers
 
WOW thanks for all this help, and the explainations.

for the recording, I was thinking of doing it 2 track. instroments (with drums) playing then plug in the studio headphones and record vocals while listening to the band playing.

for vocals, I just want to use one of the drum mics but put wind gate and noise gaurd things it.

for the mics I see that www.musiciansfriend.com is running a thing for 1 mic 1 20' cable and an adjustable stand for $30

I think I might just get 4 of those and they are xlr

again thanks
~Casey
 
I attached a picture is that the cable you guys are talking about?

~Casey
 
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