Only 2 stereo inputs??

[jrsmith]

Our band currently owns a delta 44 soundcard and I would like to record a decent quality demo. The problem we have come across is that since there are only 2 strereo inputs we can only record 2 tracks at a time, we have a 12 channel mixer and were thinking about using it for the drums but we are a little concerned about how to set the eq on the mixer and how much panning (if any) we should use on the toms and overheads.. The mixer is a peavey rq2314 which has mid-sweep if that helps...
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[bennychico11]

experiment...that's the only sure way to get it right

 

[Rokket]

I would set the eq's all at 12 o'clock. As far as panning, the overheads should probably be hard left and right. The toms, just go for what sounds good in the mix. I think that is dependent on the song. But flat line the eq so that it is neither adding or taking away, then start tweeking it up until you get the sound that you are looking for.

 

[Adam P]

If you feed mono signals into the Delta's inputs, you should be able to do 4 tracks at a time. Set one track to record from Input 1 Left and another to record Input 1 Right, etc, and send them different signals.

 

[jrsmith]

The software automatically binds inputs 1/2 and inputs 3/4 unless there's some other way to use them as seperate mono inputs.. as far as I know there's not.... I appreciate the replies, I planned on experimenting but just figured I'd ask to give me a place to start.

 

[Rokket]

The software automatically binds inputs 1/2 and inputs 3/4 unless there's some other way to use them as seperate mono inputs.. as far as I know there's not.... I appreciate the replies, I planned on experimenting but just figured I'd ask to give me a place to start.

Good luck! And think of it as experimenting and have fun with it. Don't let it make you go bald!!!!

 

[Farview]

I have never seen software that doesn't let you record mono tracks. Look in the manual, you will find it.

 

[Rokket]

The software automatically binds inputs 1/2 and inputs 3/4 unless there's some other way to use them as seperate mono inputs.. as far as I know there's not.... I appreciate the replies, I planned on experimenting but just figured I'd ask to give me a place to start.

You might want to look in the settings and see if it does that by default and if it can be changed. I use Vegas, and it has that option under recording; you can select mono or stereo. Most software will let you change that. You might look as it will open up quite a few options to you.

 

[gordone]

What SW do you have? In N-track it's very easy to arm all 4 inputs and have them go to seperate mono tracks. I would not do ANY panning or EQ when tracking. Save it for mixing.

 

[scrubs]

The software automatically binds inputs 1/2 and inputs 3/4 unless there's some other way to use them as seperate mono inputs.. as far as I know there's not.... I appreciate the replies, I planned on experimenting but just figured I'd ask to give me a place to start.

What the others have said: You need to make sure your tracks in whichever software you are using are set up as MONO tracks, not stereo. Then, you should be able to select a single input for each track, rather than 1/2 or 3/4. Since you only have 4 inputs, I would recommend a 4-mic technique for drum recording: 2 overheads (pan L & R at mixdown), 1 snare, 1 kick. If you have decent overheads, these will capture all the toms and cymbals in a nice stereo field -- i.e. you don't need to mic everything. It also avoids the need for submixing during tracking, which you will be unable to change later.

 

[Chibi Nappa]

As far as panning drums...

I would not simply pan the overheads hard left/right...unless you are doing a tight x/y configuration. Have the drummer play and start with the panning hard left/right. Slowly pan them in towards the center and listen (on monitors in a different room or isolation headphones or whatever). There will be a point where the center of the stereo image snaps into place. Set the panning there.

As for panning the rest of the kit...just listen to your stereo overhead image. Match the position of the rack tom mic so it overlaps the position of the rack tom in you stereo overhead image. Do the same with the rest of the drums. Naturally, you will want to place your overhead mics so the kick and snare are in the middle of the overhead stereo image.

 

[jrsmith]

I am using Cooledit Pro 2.0, I've never really looked around at trying to record just mono, the software that I'm talking about that binds 1/2 and 3/4 is the m-audio utility that comes with the driver, when I go to cooledit and select which input I want it only has 1/2, 3/4, the wave mapper and my normal computer soundcard. I'm thinking that maybe it could be possible to record sending seperate signals to each input and then splitting the stereo tracks into mono (if that's possible)

 

[Farview]

If you set up a mono track, when you assign an input to it it will only give you an option for 1,2,3,or 4. It will only do this when you are recording to mono tracks.

 

[mshilarious]

The RQ2314 has two prefader aux sends (Mon1 and Mon2), use those for kick & snare, and record the overheads on the stereo L-R mains.