Recording n00b....

[strungout]

First off, I'm new to recording completely, I've talking with some people and have tryed to gather info. help a brotha out....?
anyway,
I'm looking to record a band of mine. a drummer, 2 guitarists, bass, and a vocalists. We want to keep the recording equipment as basic as it can without spending a ton. We play 80s and modern metal if that matters. I'm new to this so bare with me.... I have access to Cakewalk Sonar4 studio edition and Cakewalk Home Studio 2 XL. how many tracks are available in either of these cakewalk editions? We aren't gonna use much effects, but Which would be best suited for us? (the computer we're gonna be using is top of the line with lots of memory, but I'm not sure about a sound card)

We have all the mic's we are going to be using for recording. What other stuff would we need? I myself have only a rough idea, maybe a set of monitors and headphones, a mixer(?), and an interface (delta 44?). Do I really need a mixer? If we use an interface, will we need to buy a soundcard?

while I'm at it, could anyone explain the recording setup in general (I've heard different things from different people)? explaining what's the most basic, essential equipment to start with? what each piece of gear does, etc.?

thanks
lets not flame the n00b

 

[Goldcan]

Not flaming the noob, cause I'm still one, but when you say "We have all the mic's we are going to be using for recording" what mics do you mean, how are you planning to record, one track at a time or are you wanting to record all band members at one time, that means a lot when you want to know what you want to do.

On a personal side, when I read what you wrote I thought I'd actually written it, no shit, and just forgot about it. Except I became more intersted in recording my band mates than I did playing bass for them.

This is a whole new world, bro. You asked a lot of questions that I can't answer, all I'm gonna do is prepare you for a lot of answers you can't handle all at once.

Recording your band in the way you might want to is going to take a lot of time and money, and if not money, a lot of finesse and jerry rigging, there is no easy answer to any of this, you're in for the long haul or you're just gonna do what you want no matter what anyone says.

Welcome to the HR world, buckle up, cause it's gonna be an exciting ride.

 

[Massive Master]

Monitoring is (IMHO) the most important (and for some reason the most neglected) part of the chain - You can not tweak what you can not hear. Get the best you can.

Then, you can make the most out of everything else.

With poor monitoring, you can't make the most out of anything - because you can't hear it accurately.

I'm sure others will leave some specifics on the other questions...

 

[strungout]

Not flaming the noob, cause I'm still one, but when you say "We have all the mic's we are going to be using for recording" what mics do you mean, how are you planning to record, one track at a time or are you wanting to record all band members at one time, that means a lot when you want to know what you want to do.

I have some sm57, sm58, e609, and some I can't think of off the top of my head. my drummer has a list of mics he has (don't know much about drum mics myself). I play guitar. And I would like to record one at a time.


thanks massive master for your opinion bro

 

[Goldcan]

I have some sm57, sm58, e609, and some I can't think of off the top of my head. my drummer has a list of mics he has (don't know much about drum mics myself). I play guitar. And I would like to record one at a time.


thanks massive master for your opinion bro

I'm going to say this and get shit, but where you're at, if you can mic your drums and vocals with decent mics then you can record on at a time and use those mikes to record everything else. You want at good vocal mic, and good drum mics, cause if they do their job for drums then they'll work for everything else ('cept maybe vocals).

My goal is to have everything, drums, guitar(s), bass, keyboard, vocals, recorded all at the same time on different tracks, so I'm focusing on different things, but if've you're doing all of that one at a time, it's a lot easier and you can focus a lot more on gear that will make you sound good as such.

Mainly because you can use some of the drum mics for guitar mics and so on, all depends on the sound you're going for...

And let me say right now, this is all off of info I've learned... I'm also kinda (pretty) drunk, so if someone counters me with like 1,000 posts, probably believe them more than you should believe me.

 

[strungout]

I'm going to say this and get shit, but where you're at, if you can mic your drums and vocals with decent mics then you can record on at a time and use those mikes to record everything else. You want at good vocal mic, and good drum mics, cause if they do their job for drums then they'll work for everything else ('cept maybe vocals).

My goal is to have everything, drums, guitar(s), bass, keyboard, vocals, recorded all at the same time on different tracks, so I'm focusing on different things, but if've you're doing all of that one at a time, it's a lot easier and you can focus a lot more on gear that will make you sound good as such.

Mainly because you can use some of the drum mics for guitar mics and so on, all depends on the sound you're going for...

And let me say right now, this is all off of info I've learned... I'm also kinda (pretty) drunk, so if someone counters me with like 1,000 posts, probably believe them more than you should believe me.

so are you advising me to record all the instruments at once, or not to? sorry your second paragraph threw me off.

 

[Goldcan]

so are you advising me to record all the instruments at once, or not to? sorry your second paragraph threw me off.

No mainly I mean that when I record a band I plan on doing it all at once with all different mics designed for recording for those instruments,

What I suggest for you is using your mics to your advantage since you're recording one at a time, your drums are going to be your biggest mic hogs
if you can get good mics for them then you'll do well for everything else cause you can reuse them, but that's how I see it right now for your situation, but for sure get more advice, because I don't need you hunting me down cause you spent a grand on mics on my advice and actually didn't need to.

 

[Cyrokk]

For starters, as Massive said, monitors are the most important part of the recording chain. They are essential not only for mixing, but for determining whether it sounds good when being recorded.

To record a drummer, you won't be able to record one piece of the kit at a time. You will be using multiple mics to record his kit into the pc, and what you use to get the tracks into the computer will depend on your soundcard. If you are using a soundcard with multi-channel inputs, then you won't need a mixer. If you are using your typical two channel soundcard that most computers come with, or a gaming card like soundblaster, you will need to get a mixer to mixdown your drummer's tracks to two stereo tracks.

If your pc is "top of the line", then don't worry about how many tracks your software can handle. You will be recording probably less than fifty tracks, and your computer will be able to handle it.

The general approach to recording a full band is:

-Mic up the drums. How you mic depends on the number of mics you can use for the kit. The minimum you'll need is two, although using one for the kick, one for the snare, one for the hi hat, one for each crash plus overheads for the toms gives the most workable results. Use a mixer to get down to a two track stereo mix if you don't have a multi-input card as I described above,.

-Record the drummer, having the rest of the band play unmiked just so the drummer can get the vibe and keep his place in the song. There will be bleed from the guitars when recording the drums, so make sure the guitarists are in tune.

-Once the drums are recorded, everything else can be recorded one track at a time. I typically record in this order: rhythm guitars, lead guitars, bass, vocals, and finally back vocals.

-Stay away from effects like reverb, delay, eq, and compression when tracking, as you can't erase those effects from the initial tracks you recorded.

 

[strungout]

For starters, as Massive said, monitors are the most important part of the recording chain. They are essential not only for mixing, but for determining whether it sounds good when being recorded.

To record a drummer, you won't be able to record one piece of the kit at a time. You will be using multiple mics to record his kit into the pc, and what you use to get the tracks into the computer will depend on your soundcard. If you are using a soundcard with multi-channel inputs, then you won't need a mixer. If you are using your typical two channel soundcard that most computers come with, or a gaming card like soundblaster, you will need to get a mixer to mixdown your drummer's tracks to two stereo tracks.

If your pc is "top of the line", then don't worry about how many tracks your software can handle. You will be recording probably less than fifty tracks, and your computer will be able to handle it.

The general approach to recording a full band is:

-Mic up the drums. How you mic depends on the number of mics you can use for the kit. The minimum you'll need is two, although using one for the kick, one for the snare, one for the hi hat, one for each crash plus overheads for the toms gives the most workable results. Use a mixer to get down to a two track stereo mix if you don't have a multi-input card as I described above,.

-Record the drummer, having the rest of the band play unmiked just so the drummer can get the vibe and keep his place in the song. There will be bleed from the guitars when recording the drums, so make sure the guitarists are in tune.

-Once the drums are recorded, everything else can be recorded one track at a time. I typically record in this order: rhythm guitars, lead guitars, bass, vocals, and finally back vocals.

-Stay away from effects like reverb, delay, eq, and compression when tracking, as you can't erase those effects from the initial tracks you recorded.

Thanks for this info Cyrokk. very informative . Few questions though. When I record vocals (or any instrument), will I need a preamp? Could I just buy an interface with a phantom power feature as an alternative? If so, do you know any good interfaces with phantom power on it with 2-4 inputs?

Do you recomend any specific mixer for the drums (gonna be using 12 mics or less)?

and one last question, an interface is the same thing as a soundcard right? I thought that soundcard was a more computer oriented word for it. I know my n00b-ness is showing here, but you gotta learn it somewhere along the line.

Thanks!