raw recordings

james123

james123

Teenager from mars
hi guys i was hoping you could help me with recording my band,we play punk/rock punk/pop with 1 guitar,1 bass,drums and 1 vocals.i wanted to record us in a practice room/cabin(which i think has a few acoustic treatments?) i want it in the style of late 70' punk like balck falg ,sex pistols and so on, think raw and energetic . i also want it to be us playing live (not drums then bass and so on) at the moment i have no recording equipment and not much recoding experince.do you have any of ideas how i would be able to do this?equipment?
cheers

p.s i dont want to do it on computer because i dont have a laptop and setting up a computer at the room is just too much and please note we are only 15 so budget isnt that high
 
You didn't specify just how high/low your budget actually is, though I imagine it's pretty low.

Hit eBay and look for a used Tascam poratstudio 4-track or 8-track for recording, and then look for some used microphones. The less expensive mics would include Shure SM57 and SM58, just about anything from MXL, Studio Projects B1, etc.

You'd need two matched (same make and model) mics and one vocal mic if you were on a real tight budget and just wanted to record the band straight stereo with a vocal track. With this setup you could get away with the 4-track recorder. You'd need 5 mics minimum (stereo drum, kick, vocals and guitar, bass would come in direct) on the 8-track recorder for a bit better of a multitrack recording.

And the expenses everybody always forgets; mic cables and stands. Those alone new can cost as much as the used gear.

Don't expect it to sound like "London Calling"; they had a few million dollars to work with, not a few hundred ;). You will wind up with a relatively low-tech recording, but that can actually fit pretty well with punk pop, and it will still be of better quality than you might expect if done right. It's a fair way to get started entry-level in the recording racket for under a grand.

G.
 
I think one big question that needs to be answered is, like Glen said, what the actual budget is. The other big question is what do you have already that can be used, or what can you borrow from other people for free or dirt cheap?

Also, remember that a "raw" sound isn't an effect, and raw doesn't necessarily mean cheap.
 
thanks for your input ,what i meant by raw was lo-fi (not amazing quality) with out any sort of effects and not too polished my budet is about £300 (not sure how much that is in dollars) i know its not much but we are only 15. i looked at ebay and found some equipment like what glen said for under my budget .for two matched mics would these be any good http://www.behringer.com/C-2/index.cfm?lang=ENG and i have no recording equipment at all so far
thanks again for your inputs
 
You'd have to have phantom power for those...but if you picked up a small mixer that had phantom power, those would work as drum overheads or something. Go with the traditional SM58 or SM57 for vocals.
 
£300 is peanuts in the recording world.

Get your band rehearsing till you're tight as hell and get yourself booked into a REAL studio and do a live recording. You'll get a 6 hour package for about £75. That's 2 hours to reherse and 4 hours recording/mixing.

When it comes to the mixing part get yourself in the control room and ask as many questions as possible and get yourself an idea of how things work. It's the best £75 you could spend at your age and the best £225 you could ever save

Don't thank me now, and don't spend all the change on beer...you are only 15! :D

£300 = $515 at todays rate
 
yeah lemon tree weve been talking about going into a pro studio but it would be nice to have some recording gear so we can record when ever we want .ive just bidded on a tascam 4 track portastudio on ebay
 
I'm a big Tascam Portastudio fan.

I've also recorded many Black Flag covers, being a huge Black Flag fan, myself. I even saw Black Flag at a clandestine street gig in Downtown LA. They pulled up with a Ryder van, near the railroad tracks in the warehouse district, and let'er rip! It was a small crowd of about 100 people, outside. Dude, I was front/center! Henry Rollins splashed sweat on me! I'd have never washed since then,... but it was 1986,... and,... y'know :eek: !

He was the skinny, long-haired, sweaty and mean Henry Rollins then, not the bulky, break-your-neck-with-my-bare-hands, short-haired Henry Rollins of today.

I guess I can't say anything technical about your question, except that a high enough model of Tascam Portastudio should enable you to record 4-tracks simultaneously,... which is IMO the minimum you'd need. That's why I'm curious as to which Tascam you bid on. Hopefully it's one that does 4-tracks sumul recording.

Then,... set up your band,... mic up each element, and let it rip! Black Flag, itself, was never too big on fancy production. They seemed to do most of their stuff live-in-studio, with a minimum of overdubs. I didn't detect much in the way of studio overdub technique until "In My Head", which I believe was their last studio album, ever.

Thanx and good luck!! :eek:
 
hi reel im a massive fan of black flag as well the tascam i bidded on was only two sumul recording but i didnt win so im still looking , i would have loved to see black flag live but i was born a bit late for that (1990). im now thinking of getting a tascam 414 with a small mixer and some sm57's and other mics on ebay

thanks every one for your replys!!
 
Yeah, okay!

The 414mkII is a nice unit, that records up to 4-tracks simultaneously, so you should be fine with that. They go at reasonably low prices on Ebay, too, and that's always nice.

The 424mkIII would be a step over the 414mkII, at a higher bid price. The 424mkII does e'thing the mkIII does, less the extra 2-full channels, and for less $. Other Tascams that record 4-simul are many:
464
644
244
246,...
eh,.... Probably more that I just can't remember right now. Need more coffee! :eek:
 
thanks reel im gonna look into those models, i cant believe all i had to do to get this infomation was just post a thread instead searching the net for ages.thanks alot everyone(and special thanks to a reel person)
 
You could even get ahold of a 4-track that records one track at a time then just use a mixer to route all your inputs to one if you want.

I think I would try micing the guitar and bass cabs each with their own mics, then use a vocal mic and have a room mic to pick up the drums and everything and all the bleed.
 
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