Sugjestions for home recording...

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frickdrums

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I am trying to get some 'ok sounding' drums just from recording on my computer. all i have is one input, but I have a couple of mics(real cheap ones though). I recordin in a decent sized room in my house. I currently just record with just a room mic and it sounds prety crapy.

Does anyone have a sugjestions for comming out with any better sounds? any thing about the room or mixing mics or something. If I mix 3 mics and put them all into one input on my computer, would that work?

thanks
 
Ya I read all that, but i only have one input on my soundcard... so I am not sure about what kind of mixer I need, and/or any other stuff. Also, is there anything i can do to the room to make it better?
 
what soundcard do you have?....

what mics do you have?.....

what preamp do you have?.....

i can tell you that your basic strategy is to get the drums sounding good in the room first thru a good kit with good heads tuned correctly.....next, have someone play the kit while you walk around and find the spot of the room where you get a full balance of the kit and stick the mic there....

now if you do have to spend a few $$$ to do this right, what is the minimum you can spend?....

im gonna assume that since you are going into the mic in of the soundcard since you say you only have one input...that isnt your best option....

with a cheap preamp like the AudioBuddy($79) you can go into the line in of your soundcard with 2 mics.....get a cheap mic like the Behringer ECM8000($35) or the Marshall MXL603($60?) to use as a overhead mic and use your existing mics on the kick,snare and toms and i think youll get something usable.....

please be advised that your limited gear will give you a limited sound....but you can get something you are pleased with once you realize it wont sound as good as your favorite CD....
 
My suggestion is:

Spend a little money, forget the mics, buy a cheap or used midi keyboard and a electronic drum module, im sure your soundcard has a midi port. you will be quite impressed by the quality of the recordings once you learn how to use it all, trust me.

However, if your not serious about it than forget I mentioned this.
 
Good drum recordings are the hardest and most expensive to do. If you even attempt it without the proper equipment dont expect your results to sound even close to a full pro drum sound.

Expect to spend around $1000 US on mixer, compressors and mics to even be in the ballpark for a decent drum sound.
 
2 ecm8000's - 70
sm57 - 80
at atm25pro - 60

2 audio buddy preamps - 160

Behringer Composer compressor - 100


under $500.......
 
Frick

I'd be very surprised if you card has only one input. You'll probably find it's a stereo plug (left and right) so with the right cable you should be able to record two tracks.

Mark
 
Gidge- You left out a mixer, cables, sound card and software :) Thats another $500 easy.
 
well how about including the drum kit in it also...i was comparing apples to apples in a situation where the recording medium wasnt at question.....your words were "$1000 US on mixer, compressors and mics ".....so i used standalone preamps instead of a mixer and ill opt to do without compression until the mixdown stage.....
 
Gidge - All he has is one stereo input so he cant do that without a new card. It would be pretty tough to track drums without any compression or limiting and get a good consistent signal.

I've yet to hear a truly good cheap drum sound. It seems the best way to go if you cant afford to do it right is to do it differently and give the drum sound some type of character that is a little unusual.

Then people cant say it sounds bad it just sounds different.
 
ok,

you can go the old route with the 2 Audio Buddys but get a line level mixer to submix or:

Behringer MX802A - $100
2 ecm8000's - $70
sm57 -$80
at atm25pro - $60
Composer pro compressor $100
$410 total

hes just looking for "ok sounding".....im not trying to discourage anyone...we havent even begun to explore how the sound of the room will effect your sound...the most killer setup of drums/mics will sound like shit in a bad room.....

and we havent even asked him how much HE is wiiling to spend so the $1000 issue is out the window....

one cheapskate way is an Audio Buddy with a sm57 on the kick and a ecm8000 ooverhead....under $200
 
similar situation and OUR solution. The solution may not work for you.

Problem
---------------
my band has a huge stumbling block right now. it's the fact that in order to get my drummer Roger's drumset recorded properly, we're going to have to get more decent mics and then do something about the room we're playing in. Even if the mics are 'decent' .. the room is gonna kill us. The other problem is how are you gonna get a decent mix when you're in the same room that the drums are in? ... you got it .. expensive headphones.

(Of course this depends on your situation)

I already have a mixer, fx processors, PC, audiophile sound card, microphones ...

The way I see it is it's gonna cost us over 1000$ in gear . headphones , couple more mics, and something to fix the room's acoustics.

All this to get an 'ok sound' that's only as good as our mics. Have you seen the price of condenser mics?

our solution
--------------------------
Sell your soul for some electronic drums. Hell, even if you have to trade in your drum set .. it's only temporary. You can jam at all hours of the day. The sound is fine for a great demo. You can output to monitors or cheap headphones. The mixer guy won't get a headache trying to 'mentally block' the drummer . No need for microphones.

The way we see it is that if the band is gonna make it .. why worry about not having a 'real' set of drums .. you'll have plenty of money later right?

(I've been thinking about building a set and using an alesis 5 .. but the more i think about it i may just go nuts and make payments on a real set with a double bass pedal)
 
oops i forgot..

with an electronic set you can plug straight into your sound card's stereo input and all you need is a 5$ converter jack from radio shack. Since the drums are all 'panned' in the drum module .. you've got less to worry about.
 
You can run 6 or more ins to a mixer and a stereo out to the soundcard, can't you?
I didn't read through the whole thread. Instead of buying a mixer if you don't have one yet, I'd upgrade my soundcard first. Something with more ins, not to mention converters.
 
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