recording on a extreme budget

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mxracer591

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Hey all, I'm new here... but not completely new to the whole home recording thing. I've been in bands for the past 10 years, and I usually end up being the one running the mixer and whatnot for our live sound, so naturally when we want to do a demo, I'm usually the one behind the controls. Basically everything I know I've learned from different places around the internet. I have three questions right now as we are thinking about doing another demo somewhat shortly. What I have for equipment is a basic set of microphones, they are all halfway decent... but nothing super special, a mackie 8 channel mixer (I think it's 8), and my laptop. My first question is, my mixer has a usb output, is there anyway to take the mix on my mixer and get that onto my laptop with each channel being it's own seperate track? The main reason I want to do this is for further editing on the drums, we play metal, so obviously a completely natural sounding drum set doesn't really fit the bill for what we need. The other question is based on hoping there is a way to record each channel to it's own track, when recording the bass drum, I've heard that you can get a pretty solid, consistent, clicky bass drum sound out of mic'ing the bass drum as opposed to triggers. I have the module set up to trigger, just not an actual working trigger (mine broke). What are some good eq settings for that metal bass drum sound? compressor settings? any other fx? third question is, can i get away with recording the drums with no condensors for overheads? I have a 5 piece set, 2 crashes, hi hats, ride, china, a bell and a splash. I believe we have 8 dynamic microphones. if I put a dynamic mic on each group of cymbals, will that ever sound decent? is there anything "special" I can do to make it sound better? Thanks in advance for the help!
 
Hey I don't know what kind of mixer u have exactly but more than likely it will only send you 2 channels to the computer. Also I wouldn't go with miking the cymbals you would probably get better results with 2 over hea mics preferably condensers as opposed to dynamic mics. Actually the kick is the only piece of the drumset I would recommend using a trigger as opposed to micing mostly because I play metal where that tight "click sound" is the only thing that can cut through with super fast double bass.


If I were limited to only using dynamic mics I still wouldn't close mic each cymbal because cymbals need some air to develop like the rest of the drums and the overheads are really there to capture all of that. Where as close mics are there for that extra oomph thats usually not what you want out of a cymbal. Also if you close mic a cymbal its going to have a really weird ringing sound I'd imagine.
 
Hey..
We're gona need the name/model number of your mixer.

Some USB ones just pass a stereo mix, and others can carry more individual tracks.
 
also, another question i just thought of... is a interface neccesary, or does the mixer directly into the computer via usb work just as well?
 
The Mackie Pro series only delivers a stereo track via USB (left and right, consider if 2 tracks). So with that mixer you can only record 2 separate tracks to your computer at one time - 2 mics, one panned left and one right, for example. If you want to record more tracks separately than that at one time, you will need to get an audio interface with as many mic preamps as you need.
As far as EQ, etc, those are effects applied after tracking and there are no set rules. You add effects based on what is needed to get the mix perfect. The better you track, the less EQ you need.
 
mxracer591 said:
also, another question i just thought of... is a interface neccesary, or does the mixer directly into the computer via usb work just as well?
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your mixer is your interface in this case. How high of quality are you hoping to achieve?
 
well, obviously I don't expect to acheive high-end album quality, but something that is fairly enjoyable to listen to, something to send to venues for gettings gigs, and something to send to record companies. Would it be possible to get a interface with two mic inputs, run the usb out on my mixer to the computer, and run the main outs, or possibly the monitor sends into the interface? So i could, in theory, send the bass drum and the snare drum to seperate channels, the toms to another, and the cymbals to another?
 
It would be better to buy a multi-channel interface and route all the separate channels you need individuall to their destination as single tracks. Much more control that way. One of the Tascam ones gets a lot of good press here... and it's not very expensive. Check this forum for more info...
 
mxracer591 said:
well, obviously I don't expect to acheive high-end album quality, but something that is fairly enjoyable to listen to, something to send to venues for gettings gigs, and something to send to record companies. Would it be possible to get a interface with two mic inputs, run the usb out on my mixer to the computer, and run the main outs, or possibly the monitor sends into the interface? So i could, in theory, send the bass drum and the snare drum to seperate channels, the toms to another, and the cymbals to another?
Click to expand...

You would be surprised how many people can't understand why their 200 dollar setup doesn't sound like a 20,000 dollar setup. Running two USB interfaces at once generally doesn't work out too well but is possible with aggregated devices on a mac and asio4all on windows. If I were you I'd go out and get something like the Tascam US-1800 like the other guy above me said can't go wrong with that.
 
guitarded2 said:
You would be surprised how many people can't understand why their 200 dollar setup doesn't sound like a 20,000 dollar setup. Running two USB interfaces at once generally doesn't work out too well but is possible with aggregated devices on a mac and asio4all on windows. If I were you I'd go out and get something like the Tascam US-1800 like the other guy above me said can't go wrong with that.
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yeah... i'm in a band with a few of them. lol. I'm just trying to weigh the options of doing it at home, or spending maybe $1000-1500 at a studio to get 3-4 songs done.
 
guitarded2 said:
You would be surprised how many people can't understand why their 200 dollar setup doesn't sound like a 20,000 dollar setup. Running two USB interfaces at once generally doesn't work out too well but is possible with aggregated devices on a mac and asio4all on windows. If I were you I'd go out and get something like the Tascam US-1800 like the other guy above me said can't go wrong with that.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've met quite a few of them. I guess I'll look at that Tascam interface. I'm trying to ultimately weigh the options of trying to do it myself, or just pay $1000-1500 to go to a studio and get 3-4 songs done and not have to worry about it, just play the music.
 
mxracer591 said:
Yeah, I've met quite a few of them. I guess I'll look at that Tascam interface. I'm trying to ultimately weigh the options of trying to do it myself, or just pay $1000-1500 to go to a studio and get 3-4 songs done and not have to worry about it, just play the music.
Click to expand...

If you make a low-budget recording, you might not get much of a response from the people you are sending it to. If the music is worthwhile and you are ready to go on it, then the studio might be the way. BUT you have to know exactly what you are going to play and be very good at it before you get there. They would know how to get the best from your sound but you don't want to spend too much time getting it right. Starting your own studio will open a whole new can of worms and it sounds to me like you are already busy on the music side. Do what you do best and let them do what they do best.
 
If you do go down the home recording route, listen to these guys.

While your usb mixer is technically an audio interface, its limitations have been pointed out.

On top of that, mixer capabilities generally aren't needed in a small home studio.

Some thing like one of the tascam models mentioned, or a presonus FP10, or any of the interfaces like that will give a discreet channel in your daw per input on the interface.

I'd forget about eqs and faders on the way in; Just keep it simple.
Get everything to sound good raw and make sure the gain is at a reasonable level. If you nail that, then everything else can be done after the recording.

If you ever find yourself saying, "we'll fix it at the mixing stage", get someone to give you a shake. ;)

Hope that helps.
 
it'd be nice if music weren't the most expensive hobby to get into. between playing guitar and drums for the past 10 years, i've probably spent somewhere about $10,000 on musical equipment. And still have a shitty drumset, and very minimal p.a./recording equipment.
 
mxracer591 said:
it'd be nice if music weren't the most expensive hobby to get into. between playing guitar and drums for the past 10 years, i've probably spent somewhere about $10,000 on musical equipment. And still have a shitty drumset, and very minimal p.a./recording equipment.
Click to expand...

Same story here but the tally after 40 years is $45,000 - with no end in sight...
 
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