newbie recording help please

T

tannerridgeway

New member
im in a band with 1 guitar 1 vocalist and a drummer. we have an ok desktop equipped with audacity and we have pretty much learned how to record with audacity. we recorded a couple songs with a 1/8 mini jack input straight into the computer's mic input. we recorded 2 tracks: first the guitar and drums
(i know this sound really dumb, but we tried seperate tracks but we couldn't get the timing right) and then 2nd the vocals. i know we need an interface but im not really sure about what to look for...the same with mic pre-amps.
i have a phonic powerpod 620 powered mixer and i think it works as a pre-amp but again im not sure. im new with recording and im 17.
if you see how all this turned out go myspace.com/abrahamabraham and listen
tell me what you think...and what we should work on please.
i very much appreciate any help im given. thanks
 
Tan,

First of all, recording isn't as simple as you think :) plugging a microphone in and putting it near the instrument your wanting to record isn't going to get top quality sound unfortunately.

First off, you need to think of your way of recording your band..You have (will be) a small set up so you will be doing the tracks seperate most likely, so a good start would be drums, preferbally with headphones for the drummer with it routed through to the guitarist so he can play along without it being recorded. Then guitar, bass, and vox. That's usually my preferred way with a 4 piece band like that.

Second, the sound card.. search on this board for people who have asked exactly that.. you'll be amazed by the results you'll find. I'll start you off with suggesting searching for M Audio Audiophile 2496 and M Audio Delta 44 (or 66). These will give you a much better sound than your in built computer sound card.

What microphones are you using?

Lastly, practice practice practice :)

Good luck
 
And don't forget the mixer!

You could have, say, an 8 to 2, which means you can plug 8 mikes in and get a stereo output (or twin channel output, drums on one, guitars on the other, say).

Or an 8-4-2, which means you can have 4 outputs as well as the main master, which allows you to segregate things a bit more.

If you get an M Audio Delta 66 (or 44) you can have your four channels in from the subgroup.
 
First off, use a better subject for your post title. Newbie Recording Help Please is like a warning not to read the question. Something like "Newbie - First interface question" or the like.

Anyway, you are in good shape. You have a mixer that will allow you to amplify your mics (or act as a preamp) and as long as it has as many inputs as you have mics you are in good shape.

What you are missing is an audio interface.

Think about how many tracks you want to record at once. Minimum should be 2, so you can get stereo sounds. What this would mean is that everything goes through the board and you mix it in head phones then record two tracks (left and right) to the computer. With your phonic, you will actually be making MAINS your left and MONITOR your right or something, but you will be able to get stereo.

This could be a stereo drum kit mix, or it could be kit, bass and guitar...

I would suggest that you mic the kit and get some nice levels then feed the Monitor out to one interface channel and Main out to the other and just record the drummer playing alone. (maybe he is listening to a click track or even an ipod with your whole band playing the song in a practice.)

Once this is done, you have two tracks in audacity... left and right drums.

From there you just start overdubbing.

One card that would work well for this and is cheap is the EMU 1212m. I have it and like it alot.

Now, if this sounds like a lot of monkey business to you, then buy something like an RME Fireface, Presonus FirePod, or Aardvark Q10 which let you record 8 mics to 8 tracks all at the same time. I have used all three and can confirm that they all work well for that.

Hope this helps. Do not get down. You do not need to buy $1000's of gear to make good recordings and have fun!
 
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