New to Recording

[bpandorf]

I am brand new to home recording, and have become interested in recording my drums. I am completely new to this, so I really don't know where to start. I can't record directly to a computer, but I would like to be able to take my recordings and put them on my computer for mixing. I would like to know what mics I should get and what other equipment I would need to record without going directly to my computer. Thanks in advance

 

[Erockrazor]

Something important to mention when asking questions like these is, what is your budget? 100, 300, 1000? This will change answers drastically.

I will try and keep the budget low but here is a potential route for recording drums away from the computer than putting them on.


+MultiTrack digital recorder.Will serve as a mixer/recorder/and computer transfer.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...ital-Recorder-with-40GB-Hard-Drive?sku=240341

+Mic's are also very sensitive to budget.The Fostex recorder can record 4 tracks at one time. So really you wouldn't need more than 4 mics yet. 2 overheads,1 snare, and one kick mic would be ideal. But this is extremely subjective. Browse around at different mic's and figure in your budget.

After that you should be able to do what you say yourself. Good luck!

 

[tddrummer]

why cant you record directly...what are you recording with...what mics..etc..

 

[mikeh]

Fostex, Zoom & Boss all make relatively low cost table top multi track machines (with built in effects) which can serve as a mixing console, a multi-track recorder and even burn a stereo CD.

Depending on how many channels of drums you want - these units may have up to 4 input channels. However, you can always purchase a low cost "sub-mixer to accomodate more channels of drums and then send mono or stereo to the multi-track machine.

How many mics do you need to record drums? It depends on many things - but but it is very possible to get a decent sound with nothing more than 2 overhead mics. I personally think 4 mics (kick resonant, snare batter and 2 overheads) is the most practical on a budget. The overheads (or "room mics") capture the overall sound of the kick and the "close mics" on the kick and snare allow you to dial in a little more of those key drums if needed.

Normally, the overheads are condenser mics and the sane & kick are dynamic mics - so you need a mixer with "phantom power" for the condenser mics.

CAD, Shure, AKG - almost all the mic manufacturers have "drum mic packs" - but you can also purchase individual mics. There are too many decent, low cost mics to even try to recommend one over the other (spend some time in the drum and/or mic forums on this site).

 

[TimOBrien]

My obligatory standard reply that I keep in Wordpad:

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info:
http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books:
http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)

Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)

Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/

Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/
(It's $40 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($20) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they're giving away SamplitudeV9SE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)