Setup Advice

[h00li]

G'day to all

I am just starting when it comes to recording, though I have a slightly-above-beginner-level understanding of sound/frequencies/IT due to the nature of my job. The biggest bit I fall down on with regard to recording music is the fact that I have no experience

I would love it if people could give me any advice that they see fit regarding my setup. I am a drummer with decent gear, and how now purchased some mid-range recording equipment to get me started. I am using a Focusrite Sapphire Pro 40, and grabbed a Shure drum mic pack (DKM4?). Have also picked up a couple of Behringer condenser mics as overheads (not shown in pic), an SM57 and just yesterday grabbed a Sennheiser e604 which I have put on the snare.

My recording space isnt the best, but could be a lot worse lol. It is a rectangular stand-alone structure on my property which has a concrete floor covered in carpet and a V-shaped roof. The sound isnt horrible in there, but I will be aiming to improve it no doubt!

One question I do have is regarding the software on my PC - the Focusrite came with mix control software which I think it said needed to be run before starting up Pro Tools etc in order for it to work. I realised the last session I did that I did not run the program at all and it still all worked - can anyone explain to me what the purpose of the mix control software is?

If anyone can see anything in my setup that I can change or modify that will help improve sound or make it easier to record, please let me know! I am keen to learn as much as possible.

Cheers,

Shannon

 

[Seidy]

You don't need to run Mixcontrol before starting up your recording program (but somehow I have a wierd habit doing that ).
The point of the Mixcontrol is that you can route the inputs and outputs of Saffire and create different headphone mixes. For example you can create Mix1(see the tabs on the top) for yourself when sitting in control room, Mix2 for one musicians headphones and Mix3 for another. Hope you see the point and also read the manual.

 

[h00li]

Ah I see Thanks for that.

I tried reading the manual but it had hard to understand terminology like "I/O", "Power Button", "Thankyou for purchasing" and "Recording" and for the life of me I couldn't find where the "Press to be a pro recorder" button was, so I kinda just skipped it

Did some recording for a guy today and did a pretty good job of it I think. I will be sending him the .wav files on a DVD so he can edit them to his hearts content, but I will give it a go myself and throw something up on SoundCloud soon. Geez this is fun