Please...some suggestions!

F

Foo1

New member
Hello,

I play instrumental guitar in the fusion style...I know nothing about recording. I don't want to play in a band but want to be able to record my music at home. Right now I am leaning towards more conventional 4-track recording. My music consists of guitar (two tracks), bass, and drums, with occasional keybaord. I own only my guitars and amp. I can play bass and some keyboard.

OK my initial question is this...

For bass and drums...do I get a stand alone drum machine, and play a live bass (which means I would have to buy one), or are there things (synths) that do BOTH bass and drums (and possibly even keyboard) with the SAME type of diversity and options as a stand alone drum machine?

In other words, with a 4-track what is the most efficient and effective way to record my drums, bass, and occasional keyboard with say a budget of around a $1,000.

Thanks!

Raouf
 
It sort of depends on what you're thinking of...

If you're not thinking of using a sequencer and "playing" your parts right into the recorder - this can be done with one keyboard...

However, in my opinion, certain keyboards do certain things very well... Some sound good with drums, while others have great pianos, etc... It depends on how in depth you want to go and what kind of sound you're looking for... There are ones out there that can do a good job - (You'll have to look)...

If you're going to use a sequencer (Which it sounds like you don't want to do) - Then you may be getting a bit more complicated than what you're shooting for...

If I were a guitar player? (Which I'm not so forgive me)... As much as I like promoting keyboards, I'd have to say find a good used keyboard that works well with drums and other sounds you may be interested in and purchase your bass...

The only drawback to this, though is that a dedicated "box" (not rack style) drum machine can store and play patterns... So instead of having to play the ENTIRE drum part for the entire length of the song, patterns could be chained together to create the percussion then this can be "played" into the recorder...

Here's what I think:

A used "Alesis" keyboard, ie: Quadrasynth+ or a used QS series board (QS6?, QS7?(?) These seem to have a good range of sounds - OR - one of the older Roland boards like the JV90 or something - These could be had for around 500 bucks, conventional tape 4 tracks can be had for well under 500.00... If you have any left over? Go for the bass anyway!

Does this help?
Hope so!
 
Roland

So far,the best drum sounds from a drum machine I've heard are some of the older Roland units like the R-8 and R-70.Matter of fact,I just bought a used R-70 2 weeks ago.It has Bass sounds in it and since it has 17 padsinstead of the usual 12,it's possible(albeit tedious) to program simple bass parts as well as the drums.Plus,they have a pair of RCA jacks on the back that are used to print an FSK code on a tape track so your drums play in sync with whatever you put on the tape.This is what you'd do if you were using a 4 track cassette machine.If you get a digital recorder,you can sync the drums with MIDI w/o giving up a track.The Boss BR-8 has simple drum patterns in it's memory,and it also has a "Bass Simulator" where you play a normal electric and it makes it sound like a bass.Cheers!
 
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