need some recommendations for recording demos

  • Thread starter Thread starter thrashermaniac
  • Start date Start date
miroslav said:
Back in the day before computer recording and all the fancy new gadgets we now have...
...for band demos, we would set up in our rehearsal space, throw up a couple of mics and record directly to a cassette deck.

Cheap, easy...and with a little trial-n-error it's not hard to find a decent balance of levels and positions for all band members. It helps if you can set up like you would on a typical stage, and then play out toward an imaginary audience...and that's where you put your two mics...out in the audience.
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Yeah thats exactly what i want to make the demos, only put all like a rehearsal and record the song we play an check if we play it good or something like that. I like that style like old days but, in something recent so how can we do in that way?:confused:
 
There are many basic, inexpensive 2-track digital recording devices...Zoom, Sony, TASCAM, Korg...etc all make them...just type "hand recorder" in the Google search box.

Most come with a pair of mics built-in and set up for 2-track stereo recording...but there are ones that allow you to use your own external mics.
Some can be threaded on a typical mic stand...you stick it out in front of your band and hit RECORD. Since it's digital, it's easy to dump the digital audio into a computer and burn to a CD.

DONE.

It's basic shit...but it sounds like you need basic shit at the moment. :)
 
alright, sounds easy, so i only put the recorder in front of my amp and when i start playing the recorder would be recording(obviously) all what i play and then in the PC I edit and other things right??
 
thrashermaniac said:
Other question about the multi-tracks recorders is, how they works??
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The answer is RTM: Read The Manual.

Depending on how you wish to record, you can either place one or two mics in the room to capture the entire band's live sound. If you are well rehearsed and use an acoustically treated studio then this might work. It takes a good band and a good engineer or an unusually good dose of luck for this to work well.

Many would use the multitrack ability of portastudios and record a guide track which would act as a guide and be deleted later, then the drums, bass, guitars and other instruments and vocals, one at a time, so that you can re-record or overdub problem tracks or apply EQ compression and delay and other effects as you see fit to each instrument.

Mic placement, instrument placement (or speaker placement for electric instruments) and whether to record the live sound or record direct to the recorder (eg. plugging a bass direct in, bypassing the bass amp completely) are all part art, part science. Lots of practice will help.

If you are one of the musicians it might be more useful if the band can add a new member: a sound engineer who doesn't play but listens, measures, move mics and speakers and gobos and records.
 
My best advice to you is.....before you spend ANY money. Get a better, basic understanding of what multi-track recording is, how it works and what it is you're trying to accomplish with it. I'm getting the impression that you haven't really done that yet.

Equipment can range from relatively inexpensive, meaning less than $100, to very expensive...easily into the thousands.

You wouldn't want to be producing demo CD's on a $100 field recorder but by the same token, you don't need to spend $1000 to do a basic recording of your band.

Do some more reading before you buy anything. My $.02!
 
thrashermaniac said:
alright, sounds easy, so i only put the recorder in front of my amp and when i start playing the recorder would be recording(obviously) all what i play and then in the PC I edit and other things right??
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No, i don't think that's what miroslav meant.

If it's a stereo recorder, you are trying to capture the whole band, so putting the recorder in front of your amp would be no good.

Put it somewhere in the room where you'll get a good balance of the whole band. Some where that the audience would be.


Basically, stereo recorder = 1 shot. Play it right once, and that's it done.

Multitrack = money and time and skill. This gives the option to record things separately and edit things afterwards.
 
Right...I wasn't talking about using a hand recorder for recording individual tracks.

thrashermaniac...you wanted to record the whole band as it played during rehersal...for that, a 2-track hand recorder will be the simplest/easiest way. If you want to mic up individual instruments...now you're looking at a multi-track SOP which is way more involved and in your case, way over your head and your budget.

Decide how you want to approach this...and then read up on that and buy the gear needed.
 
For your experience and budget level, I actually think the Zoom H2 could yield some pretty good results. It records excellent quality audio in stereo, so what you'd be getting would be more like a "live" recording of your band. But if your demo is being used for getting gigs, that might actually be a bonus. The H2 only costs about $150. And pretty much all you have to do is put it on a mic stand or tripod (or tape it to a pole like I did once:)), and hit the "record" button. You'll probably want to experiment with putting the mic in different places so it will pick up all the instruments and sound balanced, but I think it's an excellent way to do what you need to do within the constraints you have.

Good luck!

Ken
 
Capriccio said:
The answer is RTFM
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Fixed that for you.

Those little zoom stereo recorders should work for you if you just want to get a whole room recording. Just to some testing and adjust your amps and stuff accordingly. Otherwise you are going to need multi-tracking and get into recording each instrument per track etc. which sounds like more than you want to do ATM.

but if you want to know about multi-track recording there is a great thread about it here.
 
miroslav said:
Right...I wasn't talking about using a hand recorder for recording individual tracks.

thrashermaniac...you wanted to record the whole band as it played during rehersal...for that, a 2-track hand recorder will be the simplest/easiest way. If you want to mic up individual instruments...now you're looking at a multi-track SOP which is way more involved and in your case, way over your head and your budget.

Decide how you want to approach this...and then read up on that and buy the gear needed.
Click to expand...
Well the 2 track hand recorder idea sounds better for me, and i think i would read more about recording.
 
Like I said...set up your band same as you would on stage. Heck, if you can find a club/stage where they will let you record when no one is there, even better...you just don't want to do this in a bare, cramped garage or basement, as the ambiance will ruin the recording.
A larger room, (preferably not some empty "hull" with tons of echo) that has some "stuff" (furniture, carpet, fixtures, etc) in it, as that will break up the ambience...and then just get a nice level balance, same as you would for doing a gig.
Have someone stand out front in the center of the "stage", a good 15-20 feet back so you get the full width of the "stage" and your band...and then have that person tell you who needs to turn up/down until you find a good level balance between all the members, including the singer and PA. You don't need to play real LOUD!!!
Then just stick the hand recorder in the same spot where your "audience" person was standing at his ear height, hit RECORD...and play away.

That is a simple as you can make it and still get a decent "live band" recording without any muss or fuss.
If you guys sound good and you got your levels balanced...it should be pretty usable, and it will have that nice live "lo-fi" quality that can actually work well for a Rock/Metal/Punk band sound.

Would like to hear how the recording comes out for you.... :)
 
miroslav said:
Like I said...set up your band same as you would on stage. Heck, if you can find a club/stage where they will let you record when no one is there, even better...you just don't want to do this in a bare, cramped garage or basement, as the ambiance will ruin the recording.
A larger room, (preferably not some empty "hull" with tons of echo) that has some "stuff" (furniture, carpet, fixtures, etc) in it, as that will break up the ambience...and then just get a nice level balance, same as you would for doing a gig.
Have someone stand out front in the center of the "stage", a good 15-20 feet back so you get the full width of the "stage" and your band...and then have that person tell you who needs to turn up/down until you find a good level balance between all the members, including the singer and PA. You don't need to play real LOUD!!!
Then just stick the hand recorder in the same spot where your "audience" person was standing at his ear height, hit RECORD...and play away.

That is a simple as you can make it and still get a decent "live band" recording without any muss or fuss.
If you guys sound good and you got your levels balanced...it should be pretty usable, and it will have that nice live "lo-fi" quality that can actually work well for a Rock/Metal/Punk band sound.

Would like to hear how the recording comes out for you.... :)
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That sounds good and i would try that method, i hope it works :)
 
Hi everyone
Well i was searching and i told to my bandmates what stuff we need to start recording the demos. One of them suggest us to buy this:
Behringer XENYX X2442USB USB Mixer with Effects: Shop Pro Audio & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend
And he told us that he knows how to use it, but this mixer it would really help us to record sutff??
Also told us to buy these speakers:
Behringer B212XL Passive Speaker Pair: Shop Pro Audio & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend
I dont really know what the speakers are for seriously, if anyone can explain to me i would it could help.

So these 2 things(speakers and mixer) worth to buy to record some of our songs??

Thanks In Advance
 
Well the speakers are more for live sound than for mix monitoring. And your going to need an amp for them as well!!
 
moresound said:
Well the speakers are more for live sound than for mix monitoring. And your going to need an amp for them as well!!
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So the mixer is ok? And what kind of speakers we can use?
And for amp you refer like for ones for guitar or bass or is a special one? (Sorry if the question sound a little dumb)
 
I suggest that you do some more homework on this before you start to spend money on equipment that you'll not need.
As for an amp for the speakers it would be a PA amp not an instrument amp.

Seems as though your money would be better spent at a studio ( not necessarily a major pro one ..... maybe someones home studio to save on the cost) rather than the big learning curve to do it your self.

There were a few people here that suggested an all in one recorder, that and a bunch of proper microphones just might do the trick. ;)
 
That mixer is for live sound - it's not a multi-track recorder. If you record with it you can only record the stereo mix. If you want to do serious recording where you can then mix the tracks you need an interface (as opposed to a mixer).
 
alright well i think we going to go for the multitrack recorder
 
Tascam 1800 is my new favorite for cost versus features. 16 tracks via USB 2, 8 preamps, < $300
 
Have you ever recorded? If not, you buy a simple interface (something that lets you put at least two microphones recording simultaneously into your computer)

Your put a mic inside the kick drum, one overhead the drum kit, and you play live until you get a good drum take.

Then you have the bass player record his parts over those tracks.

Then you put the guitars and keys over that.

Then you put the vocals on.

Most of the time you can get a basic recording that way with 8 tracks. Back in the day, we did it with a 4-track and bouncing which luckily is nothing you'll ever need to care about.

But the idea is you can go back and delete crappy takes, etc. Most of the inexpensive interfaces have software that is probably more than you'll use for 2-3 years. But it's powerful enough to do what you'll need.

This is the bare bones of multi-track recording. If the Xenyx comes with ProTools LE or some other software, you'll probably be able to record your entire band simultaneously if your computer can handle it. (I looked at one of those mixers a few months ago, some of them actually can do quite alot). Getting them set up can be hard, but...

Good luck. We were all there once.
 
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