New Recording Setup - any suggestions?

  • Thread starter Thread starter AlexNC
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AlexNC

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I am setting up a home recording studio and would like to get a few tips from you guys. First let me describe the setup I have.

Equipment:
- Behringer MX802A Eurorack 8 Channel mixer
- (3) Shure SM57 microphones
- (1) borrowed kick drum microphone
- Roland MA-8BK monitor speakers

Setup:
- Room#1 :drumer: 2 overhangs (Shure SM57) plus a kick drum mic.
- Room#2 :guitarist: 1 Shure SM57 6" from amp.
- 1 set of earphones is running from mixer to the drummer. The second set of earphones is running from the Monitor speakers to the guitarist. The guitarist is in the same room as the monitor speakers. When I plug the earphones in the monitors, it cuts the sound coming out of them and directs it to the earphones. This will eliminate any sound bleed into the guitar microphone.


Possible Combinations:
first Im going to start by recording a generic metronome using my electronic drum machine.
Should I...................
#1 - record the drummer and guitarist at the same time.
#2 - record the guitarist first, then the drummer after.
#3 - record the drummer first, then the guitarist after.
Or is this just a preference call; what ever the drummer is comfortable with?


There is going to be noone minitoring the levels (I am the guitarist). I am going to do a sound test first, get all my levels peaked as high as possible without distortion, then record. I am limited to this equipment, so please dont suggest any outragous 'needed' additions. I am willing to spend extra for necessities, but not luxuries. Thanks for the help!
 
Recording into my PC, 1 track at a time.

I am using Vegas 4.
 
I've found its almost always preferable to record the drums and guitar at the same time. You will almost always get a better feel. You don't need to necessarily put the guitarist on tape (although you'll proably get some bleed unless you have a way to send the guitar direct to the drummer's headphones) so that would allow you to get at least a solid stereo drum track recorded and then overdub the rest. I'd hate to have to premix the guitar and drums. I'm assuming you have a sound blaster card or similar with stereo inputs. The next best option, if you can't live with the bleed, would be to track the drums first if your drummer has a good memory. Unless you have a click track and a drummer that can play to one, trying to track drums over a guitar part is a nightmare even for a good drummer. I've done this before, but its not much fun.
 
Yeah, I have a nice MidiMan soundcard with RCA inputs/outputs.

What i am thinking will work best for me is to record the drums and guitar at the same time, like you said. My main concern with doing this was bleeding into unwanted mics. To eliminate some bleed, I was planning on putting my guitar amp in another room and close the door. But I assume there will still be some.

I was just wandering what the experienced majority in here does? I was also thinking of recording the guitar/drums together once. Then re-record the guitar and drums seperately afterwards. Then delete the original guitar/drums track.

Also, the metronome factor. Do you guys use a metronome, or do you just rely on the musicians to keep good time? As a guitarist I wouldny have any problem using a metronome track, but can imagine a drummer may not like it. More than likely I will just not use a metronome track.
 
Yeah, why not just play through the song once and record it as a scratch track to get the structure/tempo. Then use that as a 'click' track to redo the drums and guitars so you can have isolation.

Some drummers can play to a click and some can't - you'll just have to try and see. Depending on the song however, a click track can make things a little sterile. Sometimes slight tempo changes can give a song more energy and a more natural feel.
 
What Ebeam said.

Also, An SM57 makes a crap overhead drum mike. Use it on the snare, maybe on the bass drum and buy/rent some condensors for the drum overheads.
 
Well, I got everything set up this weekend and did a test run. I ended up using a 'click' track to record my guitar part first. Then I recorded the drummer using my guitar track and the click track to keep his tempo. It was tough for him at first, but after a few takes, he got the hang of it.

The drummer gave me a few good drum-recording tips. I duct taped a napkin on the top and bottom of each tom to absorb the echos. This really halped a lot. The toms were way to loud before. Over all my dual SM57 overhang worked great. I used a crap-ass radio shack mic for the kick, and it too did a surprisingly good job. I would like to credit myself for getting the good mix though ;)

It feels so good to have all this set up now. It is no longer a tiring task to record now. All I have to do is flip a few switches and Im recording.

The only thing I need now is to find a cable that has dual 1/4" malles that 'Y' into a single 1/8" male. This is for my Control Room out to my monitor speakers. Anyone have a link to a cable like this? Ive looked everywhere.

Also, does anyone make a cheap 'punch-in' mic that I can use in at my PC to talk to the drummer (in a seperate room). He is wearing earphones, and has to take them off everytime to talk to me. I'de like to have a mic that I can add to the mixer loop where I could press a button to talk to him.
 
What you record at one time is your preference AS LONG AS EACH IS ON A SEPERATE CHANNEL AND SEPERATE TRACK.

You might as well do them together to save time then. But you MUST be able to listen to each one independant of eachother for doing proper sound adjustments and making sure the take was perfect.
 
If you can't do both at the same time but on different tracks in your vegas prog then you should absolutely do each seperately.

1. Have the drummer and guitarist play together but record only the drums - just let the guitarist play with no record.

2. then have the guitar play over top the drums on a different track.

That is how it is done

Also - for one track at a time the order of recording is almost always as follows

Drums
Bass
Rythm Guitar
Lead Guitar
Vocals
 
"Also - for one track at a time the order of recording is almost always as follows

Drums
Bass
Rythm Guitar
Lead Guitar
Vocals
"


Thanks. That was the info I was looking for. I was curious to know what order most engineers preferred to record in.
 
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