What's the weak link...

[C_flat]

'Nuther newbie question:

As reported on these pages, I'm in a 3-piece snooz-blooz & beatnik jazz basement trio (bass, stereo synth guitarist & drums) Nobody sings aside from a few grunts here and there. I want to roll tape while we play to capture any moments of inspiration we might have, to capture original (OK, very derivative) song ideas we come up with on a given evening, or to perhaps allow us to release a plainum-selling disc someday.

I've got a Tascam 424 MkIII:

-the bass amp's line-out goes straight in to track 1

-guitar left & right (via SM57's) go to tracks 2 & 3

-on the drums I've got a SM57 on kick, SM57 on snare, & 2 SM58's as overheads. All 4 go into a Peavey XR-684 mixer/amp, where I can only adjust relative levels (EQ is disabled to the Monitor Out when in the stereo mode req'd for the synth guitarist). I take the PV's monitor line out over to the Tascam's track 4

Mic Question (thought I'd never get to it, didn'tcha?):

-in light of my limited sub-mixing capacity and cassette-based 4-track (recall the Weak Link subject line) , would I be wasting my time tracking down used "real" kick drum mics such as a D112 or Beta 52 and a pair of condenser mics for the overheads? I'd hate to spend >$250 on mics just to discover that the drums were just as lame.

If not, what is the "SM-57 of overhead mics"? The SM-57 seems to be a no-brainer for guitar amps, snare, and evidently for driving nails as I've recently learned. Is there a similar condenser mic of choice?

Thanks,

Cb

 

[Tekker]

I've heard of people getting a good sound with a 57 on the kick so I think it's just a preference thing (if it sounds good to you, DO IT). But for the kick drum mic try an Audio Technica ATM25 ($140) and for drum overheads a pair of Marshall 603s ($69 ea) (I guess you could call them the SM57s of overheads ).

-tkr

 

[C_flat]

Thanks - who sells the 603's for $69?

Cb

 

[Emeric]

I don't follow this exactly.

"I want to roll tape while we play to capture any moments of inspiration we might have, to capture original (OK, very derivative) song ideas we come up with on a given evening, or to perhaps allow us to release a plainum-selling disc someday. "

It's one or the other or both.

What are you trying to do exactly? Record a good jam for playback review etc, or record live off the floor for a CD release of some type?

===========


If your just 'rolling tape' for the sake of capturing ideas etc. Fidelity falls way down there on the scale. Just hit record and go.

If your trying to record it, then a lot of other things come into it.

Which is it?

 

[C_flat]

"...Which is it?"

OK - to be a bit more serious - we won't be releasing anything of a commercial nature. If after a while we found that we had 60 minutes or so of stuff we were proud of we might put up MP3's, maybe burn a handful of CDs for family and friends. In the meantime we find it useful to record as a scratchpad - we're all in our 40's and often have difficulty remembering "..ya know...that one tune we were fooling with last time..."

A few months ago I fetched a boombox to catch something during a practice. The following week I unearthed my Tascam (which I bought some time ago just to practice soloing on guitar over chord changes). I ran the bass direct, had mics on both guitar amps, and put hi & low SM58's on the drums. Upon listening to the playback we said "Day-um!! That doesn't sound bad!! I mean, well...the bass & guitars are great, but the drums kinda blow..."

I'm a bit obsessive by nature (probably the only one here) so I later rummaged through a box'o music junk a buddy left me and came upon some old AKG's. Then I came upon a deal on another SM57...

I'm thinking I might be doing about as well as I'm going to with SM57s & 58s. I'm merely wondering if it'd be a waste of money to watch 'net classifieds for a righteously priced kick mic & a pair of condensers in light of the fact that I'm using the monitor section of a low-end PA amp as a drum sub-mixer, and running that 4-into-1 over to a single track on my Tascam 424.

In guitar-speak, would upgrading the drum mics be like plugging a Gibson L-5 into a Pignose?

Thanks in advance,

Cb

 

[Henri Devill]

Beatnic jazz ...That sounds like fun!This being a 4 track in mind...Get a couple condensers X/Y
them over the drums...leave the 57 on the kick {see if you even need the 57 on the snare}Try and just get a room sound for the drums.Fold in the 57 on the snare if you have to.The condensers
will definetly "open" up the sound of the drums.You got to have
phantom power for your condenser mics...I dont know if your Peavy has it.If it doesn't,maybe you could get something like AKG C1000's that will run on 9volt batterys.Good Luck

Don

 

[Dot]

I think Tekker's recommend is a good one. An ATM25 on the kick and a pair of 603's.