My Home Studio.

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Lepricoin

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I have been slowly piecing together my first home studio. It is (as you would expect) in my bedroom...My DAW is Cubase LE which came with my Presonus Inspire 1394. I bought a second Inspire on eBay (they can be daisy chained for a total of 8 simultaneous inputs four XLR and four RCA) as well as a Yamaha 10 channel mixer.

Digital Reference Instrument and Drum Mics(yeah i know they're cheap but so am I :))

When all is said and done I have 8 quality preamplified inputs (the others being line inputs).

I am planning on making an EP within the next month and was hoping for some suggestions for someone who has never recorded more than two instruments.

We are a 3 piece and because of latency issues, I plan on recording "live" as opposed to tracking each instrument. I have a demo of a track that I put together in an hour but I feel like the guitar is too loud/dominent and the drums are a lil faint...

WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR...

is any and all suggestions as to things that are common sense to you now but would help someone like me. My biggest concern is everytime I hear some one say "you can just take care of that durring mixdown" and I'm like "WTF is mixdown?"....i realize the ideas and principles behind it but have no clue what to do or what to look for.

Is there a way for me to post the track that I have put together on this site? It's short and took about an hour so it really isn't anything impressive...only an example of where I am at right now.

THANK YOU!
 
Lepricoin said:
I have been slowly piecing together my first home studio. It is (as you would expect) in my bedroom...My DAW is Cubase LE which came with my Presonus Inspire 1394. I bought a second Inspire on eBay (they can be daisy chained for a total of 8 simultaneous inputs four XLR and four RCA) as well as a Yamaha 10 channel mixer.

Digital Reference Instrument and Drum Mics(yeah i know they're cheap but so am I :))

When all is said and done I have 8 quality preamplified inputs (the others being line inputs).

I am planning on making an EP within the next month and was hoping for some suggestions for someone who has never recorded more than two instruments.

We are a 3 piece and because of latency issues, I plan on recording "live" as opposed to tracking each instrument. I have a demo of a track that I put together in an hour but I feel like the guitar is too loud/dominent and the drums are a lil faint...

WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR...

is any and all suggestions as to things that are common sense to you now but would help someone like me. My biggest concern is everytime I hear some one say "you can just take care of that durring mixdown" and I'm like "WTF is mixdown?"....i realize the ideas and principles behind it but have no clue what to do or what to look for.

Is there a way for me to post the track that I have put together on this site? It's short and took about an hour so it really isn't anything impressive...only an example of where I am at right now.

THANK YOU!
Click to expand...
To post the track, you need to put it somewhere else and link to it.

Common sense things:
  • Spend time getting the right sound when tracking instead of thinking, I'll fix that later.
  • mic placement is important, so experiment, and get the sound you want in tracking.
  • If you make a mistake, stop and try again...
  • Use a click track
 
Here is a link to the audio file...

I had some latency problems at first so it seems to start out of time....

Please suggest anything that comes to mind!!:)
 
There's no link in that post! This guy's a phoney!!!
 
Btw, with you're latency issues, it may help to bring down the buffer size when tracking. I know how annoying latency can be. I've struggled with it in the past.
 
something i noticed was the kick drum sounded like it was clipping big time..


whatch your levels when you're recording and mixing.. they should NEVER go into the red.
 
Lepricoin said:
SORRY!!

purevolume.com/neutralmachine
Click to expand...
Kick sounds very loud, and as though it's peaking, esp at 47secs. Snare could be a lot louder.

The quality you're getting sounds decent(on my shitty speakers). No hissing, pops or clicks or anything(that's something i struggled with at first).

I think if you get the latency issues sorted, and some experience with recording, then it'll sound decent.

I'd suggest recording individually if you can get the latency sorted.
 
eeb said:
something i noticed was the kick drum sounded like it was clipping big time..


whatch your levels when you're recording and mixing.. they should NEVER go into the red.
Click to expand...
It's ok with analogue gear(preamps, etc) for drums to clip the red every-so-often, or so i'm told, but definitely not digital.
 
eeb said:
something i noticed was the kick drum sounded like it was clipping big time..


whatch your levels when you're recording and mixing.. they should NEVER go into the red.
Click to expand...

I completely agree...I was playing around with the placement/gain of the kick drum and I believe the way it went is that the time before the recording you are hearing it was very faint so i overcompensated to say the least...if i didnt have an exam the next day to study for i would have gone back....but you are right.

As far as kick mic placement goes..I realize most of it is preference but is is better to put the mic inside the drum and turn the gain down on that channel (i seem to pick up some reverberations from the heads as they are un-muted) or to place the mic a little away from the port hole and turn the gain up??
 
Yea, the bass drum sounds like its clipping - crank the snare up, maybe try and tame the high-end coming of the cymbals.

As for the guitar, was that recorded direct?

Are you planning on mic'ing amps when your band records, or recording the guitars direct then as well?
 
Actually the guitar was recorded direct because as of right now I dont have a very good instrument mic and the one that is decent is being used for the snare...

I played the guitar direct into the interface

and then overdubbed myself on the drums...

Ive been told that direct recording isnt the way to go i just have to sack up and get a nice mic.

The other thing is that the bassist only has a 10 or 15watt crate SS amp which is cool for practice but i dont know if that is the sound we want on our EP...so he may have to be directly inputed into the interface...

I thought that with live recording that direct input will eliminate most of the cross talk between the drum mics and the other instrument mics when recording all at once...but as mentioned before it sounds like it is best to track it anyways...
 
well as far as mic placement on your kick drum... sorry i can't say much other than it depends what kind of drum sound you're looking for.. I've mic'd sets with the front skin on with no hole and got a great sound.. I've pushed the mic way in to get that more "clicky sound" and there are all points in between.

if you're going to record direct in make sure you use some sort of di box (it will help) The bleed or "cross talk" you get when recording everything live isn't always something to run away from.. some of the time it's one of the reasons an engineer will decided to record everyone off the floor. You get a great energy that you just can't get with tracking seperately when you do it this way.. the mic bleed sometimes only enhances this.. (when things are properly mic'd and assuming you have a decent room) you'll have to get a little creative with only 8 channels to work with... it can be done.

I once recorded a few tracks for a friend's band all off the floor (they were going into a large studio but wanted to track stuff to work out any issues first) I only had 8 channels so I used 5 on the kit (kick, snare, 2 toms, overheads) then I mic'd both guitar amps and used the direct out of the back of the bass players amp... it was only supposed to be a quick job but it was one of the more powerful recordings i've done... they were temped to just do all the recording with me instead :D
 
Lepricoin said:
Actually the guitar was recorded direct because as of right now I dont have a very good instrument mic and the one that is decent is being used for the snare...

I played the guitar direct into the interface

and then overdubbed myself on the drums...

Ive been told that direct recording isnt the way to go i just have to sack up and get a nice mic.

The other thing is that the bassist only has a 10 or 15watt crate SS amp which is cool for practice but i dont know if that is the sound we want on our EP...so he may have to be directly inputed into the interface...

I thought that with live recording that direct input will eliminate most of the cross talk between the drum mics and the other instrument mics when recording all at once...but as mentioned before it sounds like it is best to track it anyways...
Click to expand...
It's just personal preference where you place the mic. It also depends on the mic, and tuning. Certain mics sound better in different places.

I suggest recording drums first, then bass and guitar, then vox last. Otherwise, record the instruments, then vox. I noticed you don't have any vox on that track, and i think you certainly need some.

That track is very repetitive, and vocals could help a bunch. If you guys are an instrumental band, you gotta have more things going on.

Sorry, i know you asked for the sound quality to be criticised, but the most important part of a recording is the song, and then the sound quality. I think the song sounds very much like something i'd make, and that ain't always a good thing, haha. It'd work well with vocals though.

What mics do you have? Drums can get by with 3-4 mics, kick, snare, overhead(s). Then a mic on guitar amp, and DI the bass. This will yeld a decent result, imo.
 
No i completely agree with you on the lyrics and completeness of a song idea but i guess i didn't mention/fully express that this isn't my band...this is just a recording that I did to start getting used to recording...I literally did it in an hour and a half.

This music/track is is very privative as far as the amount of thought that has gone into it. The songs that I will be recording for my band are very complete and have lyrics and the like :)

I have these mics: http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Reference-DR-DRM4-Piece-Drum/dp/B000H2C1P8

and one of these:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...Instrument-Microphone?sku=270621&src=3SOSWXXA
 
As far as recording the string instruments, going DI with the bass usually works out well - I do it all the time, and it sounds good (to me anyway :))

As for guitar, you will definitely want to mic the guy's amp. If you want to get something used primarily for an amp, go with an SM57 or a Sennheiser e609.

Neither of those is going to be terribly functional for vocals though (the 609 much less so than even the 57).

Just a couple thoughts :)
 
Lepricoin said:
No i completely agree with you on the lyrics and completeness of a song idea but i guess i didn't mention/fully express that this isn't my band...this is just a recording that I did to start getting used to recording...I literally did it in an hour and a half.

This music/track is is very privative as far as the amount of thought that has gone into it. The songs that I will be recording for my band are very complete and have lyrics and the like :)

I have these mics: http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Reference-DR-DRM4-Piece-Drum/dp/B000H2C1P8

and one of these:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...Instrument-Microphone?sku=270621&src=3SOSWXXA
Click to expand...
Ahh good.

Right, if you wanna record together, you're gonna need another dynamic mic for guitar amp. Look above for a good suggestion. But you also gotta get a couple condenser mics, for overheads and vocals. Are you willing to spend any more money? and if so, how much?

I don't think you really need tom mics when you have overheads, so you could use the tom mics on guitar amp, bass amp, and snare bottom, or something. This will allow you to record everyone together, without using 7 inputs just for drums. If you want to use tom mics on the toms, then you could probably get away with just one overhead mic, leaving 2 channels for bass and guitar. I think you could get by with just two more mics: Shure sm57, and Studio Projects B1.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions on the mics panda.

I'm in kind of a small room which is why i worry (but dont really know) about using an overhead mic. Secondly, I hate to admit it but money is definitely an issue as I took out a guitar center credit card to get the majority of the gear i have: digital reference drum mics, digital reference dynamic mic, 10 ch yamaha mixer, m-audio monitors, and cables(but its one year no payments and no interest so i have been chipping away at that one and it should be $0 in 4 months)...not to mention the two inspires that I got for $85 each (which about the best deal for that kind of money i think)

The point: can i get lower end mics? can you suggest any?

The way I look at it is unless everything i have is high quality, I am wasting my time with just a few expensive pieces of equipment. ie: having really good mics without buying the $40 monster cables for each of them....

I would be willing to spend about $100 more dollars...i know thats pitiful but its tight right now...probubly used would be the way to go correct?
 
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