recording drums on MR-8 (options??)

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thegrew

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hi there.....i am in a band, and am seriously considering using my Fostex MR-8 to record us. the only concern i have is about recording the drums.....the MR-8 can only record 2 tracks at once, and has only like 2 mic inputs....do you think i could get REASONABLE results recording the drums with just 1 mic??....i know it will be nowhere near IDEAL, but what do you think??
i am also thinkin that maybe i could use a little mixer unit with like 4 inputs, then feed them all into the 1 MR-8 unit....i know this would NOT give me great control of each individual option, but what do you think??.....any help would be greatly appreciated.....me just wondering how other MR-8 users record drums successfully......thanx again.....peace....dave
 
I'm certainly no expert, but I've got an MR-8, and I'm planning on going the mixer route just as you described. For $100, you've got a few mixer options (Behringer, Alesis, Yamaha) that will give you four mic inputs. Maybe I'm just being naive, but I don't see any reason why you wouldn't have total control over each track. If you make all your adjustments on the mixer, fine tuning the signal that's going into the MR-8, it seems to me that it's possible to get a pretty great drum sound -- assuming, of course, you've got the right mics, the right drums and a decent room.

If the one mic you were going to use to record the drums straight to the MR-8 is a condenser (which it should be, I would think), you'd need to get a phantom power unit, which would run you about $50. For another $50, you can get a mixer that has phantom power built in, and will enable you to get a MUCH better sound.

Hope that helps.
 
thanx mike..i was thinking about it, and you are right..i could adjust the levels on the mixer unit, i will try that....i read a lot on here and other boards about mics and how important it is to have good mics....i have a peavey mic that was kinda expensive.....it records my acoustic guitar really well on the mr8, and i know my drummer has a couple of shure mics, but i am not sure (lol) which ones...i'll let you know how i get on.......thanx for the advice tho....peace out....dave
 
Dave. Micing drums is an art all in itself, but at the basic - your and my - level, you can get good results with a kick drum mic and two overheads. If you've got a little mixer you could try that - if not, then a kick and just one overhead. I'm a big fan of not spending any money until you've learnt the basics (and hence where to spend it effectively). Get the drummer in a room, move the mics around the kit, and see what happens.
 
thegrew,
If you get something recorded, do me a favor and post it. I will be taking my MR8 to Ohio to record a drummer in the near future, and I need to know what I can reasonably expect.


bd
 
Recording drums...

One of the best drum recordings ever is a Mapleshade CD of Michael Carvin. I mention it because it was all done with 2 mikes, live, direct to 2-track tape @ 15ips. The soundstage is phenomenal -- on a good system you can "see" the drum set in front of you.

So, experiment -- try recording the drums direct into the MR8 on two tracks, using the others for guitar, vocals etc. Remember, the final criteria is how it winds up sounding, not how you did the recording. Don't think you "can't" do anything. Just do it and keep doing it and your knowledge base will really start to grow.

As a start, I'd place the two mikes about two feet apart, angled out from each other about 45 degrees, and about one or two feet above the set...

Record the drums first, then go back and add the rest. Have fun!
 
I am in a similar situation, however, I use only one mic for my drums. Because I play the guitar as well, I record my stuff one thing at a time. I've gotten good results with one mic. Like everyone's been saying, it all depends on your taste. With the one mic, I place it fairly close, about 3-5 inches, from the resonant side of the kick drum. From there, I point my mic in the direction of the snare and hats. For me, it sounds pretty good. It picks up the snare and hats cleanly, the toms fairly well, cymbals nicely, and the kick very punchy and deep. Just thought I'd share with you what works for me.
 
Enrigue, that sounds awesome.....do you have any MP3s posted anywhere? I'd love to hear it for myself.
 
Hey guys,

we used four mics for our recordings on our mr-8.

2 overhead akg condensers placed over left and right in front of the drums, and one shure sm58 for the snare/hi-hat - these were plugged into a mixer that must have been from the 70s. A shure mixer that only has volumes and power!

the kick was a dynamic akg d3800 direct into the mr-8.


not bad results.....check both songs done completely done on the mr-8:

www.nowhereradio.com/randomthought/singles


Let me know if you have any questions or comments about it.
 
bdbdbuck said:
thegrew,
If you get something recorded, do me a favor and post it. I will be taking my MR8 to Ohio to record a drummer in the near future, and I need to know what I can reasonably expect.


bd
Click to expand...
hey bd i recorded a song with live drums on the mr-8 and they sound awsome i dont know how limited you are as far as mics go but here is what i used ; a beta 52 kick drum mic,and sm57on the toms and snare, and two over head condencer mics. if you will tell me how to post it i will. iv never done that before. bryan
 
p.s.

i forgot to tell you how i ran the mics into the mr-8 i used a fender mixer and mixed the drums i paned the condencer mics hard left and all the other mics hard right and went out of the main outs to track one and two on the mr-8
 
Scourge,
Just go to www.nowhereradio.com ....there you will be able to get 15megs free space. You will need to convert your .wav to mp3 though. Do you have a program that will do that? If not, just say so and we'll hook you up with some free stuff that works beautifully.

I get the picture of how the chain went. Where was the placement of the mic that you used for the toms and snare? How were you able to pick up cymbals? Was that done with the overheads? Where were the overheads placed? Sorry for all the questions, it's exactly how I had planned to do it.....just don't know about placement.

Thanks,
bd
 
howdy

thanks for the info. on nowhere radio i tryed it and guess what no i dont have any thing to convert to a mp3 so your info. would be greatly apriciated ( man i cant spell). now as for the drums i miced every tom and the snare seperatly with sm57s i have mic clips that conect directly to the rim of the toms and point the mic inward to the aproximate place where the stick hits the head and the over head condencer mics were for the cymbols.
 
Re: howdy

scourge said:
thanks for the info. on nowhere radio i tryed it and guess what no i dont have any thing to convert to a mp3 so your info.
Click to expand...

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/
Get the dMC music converter- good stuff!
Converts anything to anything else (*as long as you download the appropriate codec).
 
ok i got it

i converted it to a mp3 now im wandering if i want to put it on nowhere radio its my first recording and i dont know if i want every one to hear it it has a few flaws is there a way that just you can hear it,bdbuck so youcan hear the drum sounds? i wouldnt mind putting it on there but do they mind if you put things on there with a couple of mistakes?
 
FLAWS???? LOL! If that was the case, I'd be banned for life! Go for it dude, lemme hear it!


bd
 
well im trying

iv been trying to upload it but it takes like 10 min and then it just says this page can not be displayed its not long or anything its only like 3and half mins this is getting fustrating. you got any tips?
 
grrrrrrrrrrr

ok it finally uploaded and now it wont play it grrr help!!!!!!!!!!
 
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