Would this mic setup work?

[VampiricYouth]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum

Anyway, Software wise I use Audition for recording/mixing/mastering and Fruity Loops for some synth seqencing. I've always done my own guitar/vocal recordings like this.

Guitar > 606 Pedal > Line In

Vocals: Mic > Mic In

This always sounds pretty decent for a low budget recording, but now that I'm in a band I can see us doing home recordings to, so I was thinking if this would be the best way to mic drums, seeing as I only have one Line-In for one signal I figure this would be the best bet.

Drums > 3 Mics (Bass, Toms/Snare and High Hats/Cymbals) > Mics go into 3 Inputs of a PA System > 3 output leads go into an adapter to turn 3 signals into 1 (Like a y adapter for 3 leads ) Adapter > Line In

Would this work?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

That may "work", but most likely you're not going to get the very best quality sound out of it for a couple of reasons...

First, using a PA mixer for recording is not the best idea in the world. If that's all you have and you can't budget for anything else, then it'll just have to do, right? But don't be suprised if that PA mixer adds a significant amount of noise to your recording. Typical PA mixers are usually not designed to be the cleanest in the world because that is not the major consideration in PA work, They certainly don't have the same quiet engineering as a typical studio mixer.

Second, by pushing the 3 PA outputs into one line (not really recommended from an Ohm's Law standpoint, but you can probably get away with it) you are tripling the amount of noise into that one line.

As I alluded to in other threads, what I have discovered about this forum is that it's impossible to determine any one person's definition of "acceptable sound". One person's "that's too noisy" is another person's "that sounds fine to me". If you're looking for just a very basic level of recorded sound or simply don't have the immediate budget for anything more, then what you propose will at least work and may be "acceptable". If you are expecting getting a recording anything close to comercial CD quality from such a rig, you'll probably be disappointed.

G.

 

[scrubs]

What mics do you have?

A decent 3 mic setup for drums would be one mic on the kick drum (preferably a large dynamic mic, although others may work) and two overhead mics (preferably condenser mics, though others may work) to capture the rest of the kit. For mono drums, you could also try one kick, one snare, one overhead.

The mixer question has already been covered. If you could swing it, get a small Yamaha MG series mixer. That will give you enough channels to do what you need and a cleaner signal than the PA.

Also, if you are running mics through the PA or mixer (preamp), go into the line-in, rather than the mic in. It will generally sound better.

 

[VampiricYouth]

Hey guys, thanks a lot...

Thing with me is I really have zero understanding of recording hardware such as mixers, preamps etc...Only thing I'm good at working with is software so I really wouldn't know where to start.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Hey guys, thanks a lot...

Thing with me is I really have zero understanding of recording hardware such as mixers, preamps etc...Only thing I'm good at working with is software so I really wouldn't know where to start.

Well, reading threads and asking questions here is probably a great way to start Welcome to our nightmare...

G.