Newbie with basic recording questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rayne
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Rayne

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Hello everyone. I am new to the forum. I have played guitar and bass for many years, just at home for a hobby. Now I have found out that Father Christmas is bringing me two wonderful new early Christmas presents to play with. The first is a Tascam DP 008 EX portastudio. The other is a Millenium HD – 100 E-drum set. I have never played drums before so I am excited that I will be learning. I did have a portastudio thirty years ago, a Fostex X 15, back in the days when they used cassette tapes. But I’m afraid my knowledge is very rusty.

I have a million questions but I will stick to two at a time. What I want to know firstly is, can I take a line out of the brain of the drum kit and plug it straight into my portastudio? I don’t want to blow anything up by connecting something too powerful.

Secondly, when I record myself singing via the built in condenser mic, how close should I be to the recorder and how close should I place it to my small guitar and bass amps when I record them? Or should I use the ‘record out’ socket at the back of the amps?

Thanks to anyone who can help.
 
Yes, you can plug the drum audio output (not MIDI output) directly into the Tascam.
I have experience with that recorder, but generally the mics built into these units tend to also pickup sound from the casing itself. You'll have to experiment with placement, but I woudl recommend getting an external mic.
 
Yep, internal mics are handy for sketching ideas or field work but get a decent mic & plug it in.
 
With recording to the in built condenser getting a good level will be the main thing to affect placement of sound source. Too close and you'll clip the input and I imagine there probably isn't a trim pot or function to turn down the level going into your DAW of choice.

Also the further away the more room noise, ambiance and less bass response you will get so as someone has already said you will need to experiment to find a compromise between all these factors that suits your taste.

Hope that helps
 
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