Need More Inputs for Recording - What Should I Do?

[o0Charlie0o]

Heh... $1 won't even start to help me buy another interface I still need it for the inputs at the moment! I have a improv band coming in today as a matter of fact and they will take 16 inputs.

Charlie

 

[Confusitron]

*David turns his head to avoid watching as the drummer commits suicide.... *

If you have a mixer lying around, you could premix the toms down to a single stereo track with a mixer, and drop the hat mic, then adjust your overhead positioning to get more hat.

Yeah, I think "the recording the toms on a separate take" idea has been thrown out... But, again, it was an innovative suggestion!

Well, I'd definitely prefer to have the toms on separate channels. Plus, I don't have a mixer with any stereo channels anyway. As it is, the hi-hats seems to come through well in the mixes I've produced so far, but I'd like to be able to tweak them individually.

Thank you for the assistance anyway! Or, if you'd like, try to convince me to do it your way. Whatever you wish to do.

What is the deal with all of this "ADA8000 not working with the Firepod"? Some of you say it works and has worked and others are saying it will not because of the lack of the ADAT. The Firepod has S/PDIF in and out. Does it work or not?

How did the AT2020 sound on the bass drum?

It was many, many months ago that I recorded with it... It probably did not sound not as good as it could have sounded. It wasn't very punchy, it wasn't very full sounding... The positioning probably was not very good.

If anyone would want to check out the recordings I've done so far, take a look at this thread.

I'm short on time these days and did not reply as I wished to, but I'll get to all of you in some way. Thank you for your responeses so far.

Rock and roll into the future!

 

[Confusitron]

Bump for today.

 

[BJW]

The ADA8000 will "work" with the firepod, but it won't give you any extra inputs. It has no spdif outs, only ADAT and analogue outs - so all you would be able to do is run from the individual channels on the ADA8000 to the individual line-ins on the firepod.

Hope that cleared it up a bit. If you want to use the digital ins on the firepod, look for a pre-amp (1 or 2 channel) with an spdif out - that's where channels 9 and 10 are on the FirePod.

As far as my response to this question - I'd be either in the "use less mic's and experiment with proper placement" camp, or the "get another firepod and daiy-chain them" camp. If you do another firepod, you could get your 10 channels of drums, plus record the rest of your band at the same time, which is always cool.

Led Zeppelin recorded drums with as little as 3 mic's . . . You've just gotta have decent mic's and experiment with placement.

 

[Confusitron]

The ADA8000 will "work" with the firepod, but it won't give you any extra inputs. It has no spdif outs, only ADAT and analogue outs - so all you would be able to do is run from the individual channels on the ADA8000 to the individual line-ins on the firepod.

Hope that cleared it up a bit. If you want to use the digital ins on the firepod, look for a pre-amp (1 or 2 channel) with an spdif out - that's where channels 9 and 10 are on the FirePod.

As far as my response to this question - I'd be either in the "use less mic's and experiment with proper placement" camp, or the "get another firepod and daiy-chain them" camp. If you do another firepod, you could get your 10 channels of drums, plus record the rest of your band at the same time, which is always cool.

Led Zeppelin recorded drums with as little as 3 mic's . . . You've just gotta have decent mic's and experiment with placement.

Yes, that did clear it up a bit. Thank you.

I intend to be in both the "use less mic's and experiment with proper placement" camp and the "get another Firepod and daisy-chain them" camp. With more inputs, I can utilize them for more microphones. This way, I can use the recordings from all the mics if I want to - "get another Firepod", or narrow it down for the sound I want for the "use less mic's" method. However, a Firepod is too costly. I don't intend to spend more than $300.00, which I probably should have mentioned in the initial post.

I was actually thinking about the Bonham recordings when I began to deal with this issue... There is a lot that can be learned from those sessions.

I will get to the rest of your posts sometime!

 

[Confusitron]

Here is some progress in responses...

Seppuku with a drumstick.

The FIREBOX isn't a standalone S/PDIF mic pre, BTW. According to the Presonus FAQ, you can't just plug mics into it and have it output S/PDIF. That probably precludes its use for adding extra inputs to a FIREPOD. From a quick Google search, some devices that would work (I think) include:

Presonus DigiTube
Aphex 230, 207D
DBX Pro
ART Digital MPA
ART DPX

Thanks! I will check these out!

Why not just buy another firepod and daisy chain them...voila 16 inputs (20 if using spdif)...If you dont want to spend the cash try to find someone selling one on here or on ebay.

This would work completely fine, and it would be great to have. However, as I just stated in the above post (as I did not say it in my intial post), I'd like to spend no more than $300.00, and I don't think buying another Firepod at that price is going to happen.

Hi there:

I think that's the situation I'm facing at this moment too.

Someone will say 4 mics is enough, and you have no need to use 2 mics for the same amp. But is that what you want? I guess not.

You like to tweak the EQ of each mics particularly, since every mics have it's nature and it doesn't sound like the best sound if u don't eq it, when u did the eq, it's a personal setting and it represents your taste. However, ordinary mixer will provide little eq options if it's a 3 band. (much better if it's a 3 band with "sweepable" mid where u can set the start off point of the mid freq)

You will get the best result with a mixer that provide multiple out with multiple subgroup which allows u to record the sound of each mics individually for further processing. (That's what u'd like to do, right?) Also you will get a better result if the eq is more precise, so u should think about parametric eq, which let you to set the Q and the gain in terms of +/- 12 or 15dB usually. (Sometimes 17 on the quality ones)

I'm thinking about the possibility of wheter the digital mixer will do that for you.

I've posted a question up there few days ago with poor grammar, if u have the time, take a look at it.

if u like to read further about thos stuff I talked about in that post, go wo www.soundonsound.com and use it's search function to find those reviews. You can even go to those professional shops to ask those guys for help.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm a novice learner.

Kenoir

If a digital mixer is not too costly, then maybe I could use that. Thank you for the suggestion.

I come across a similar situation a few weeks ago. We just mic'd the drums without the bass mic, then went back and did a clean bass drum x2 take. Turned out decent, and gave some extra play when EQ'n the bass drum. As long as you have a willing and able drummer, that is.

That seems more feasible than recording toms separately. Maybe this could be tried. Thanks.

btw, 10 mics is too much i think. you are going to have terrible phasing problems.

if you use some (better) mics, you might get different results.

990's for toms?

i have 57's all around, and on snare.
d112 for kick, c430's for overhead.

no condensors except the overheads in my setup for drums. i tried using a single MK319 as additional overhead and i hated the sound.

How are phasing problems dealt with in major studios and so forth?

I had MXL MXL990s for the toms because they were the best mics I had available to use. I wish I had some SM57s, which I intend to purchase, but I'm not sure how many I'll have. I'll probably just have to stay with the condensors I have.

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For anyone wondering why I did not respond to their input or question, it's probably because that option or suggestion has been eliminated as a choice.

I am however still wondering how the ADA8000 has worked with the Firepod for some people. Even with BJW's clarification, I don't see how it has worked for people in the past.

And to reiterate it once again, I'm willing to spend no more than $300.00.

Thank you for all of your input! I hope you are able to understand my semi-disorganized responses.