Phil O'Keefe Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Using a MAC. 700-800 is far more than I am looking to spend, but seems like what I'd need to do. Thinking it'll just be easier to pay my friend to record the demos as well. haha {censored}.It's not just the gear, it's what you can do with it. (That'll be $5 for the use of the mic, $5 for setting the mic up, and $40 for knowing where to put it. ) If the demos are important to you an the band, then getting someone with the gear and experience to record them for you makes a lot of sense. You get to concentrate on playing and performing instead of trying to do all that while simultaneously operating a bunch of unfamiliar gear and worrying about things like levels, impedance matching, gain staging, word clock sync, noise and acoustic isolation, objectively assessing performances and takes, etc. etc. However, I'm one of the biggest proponents and supporters of the home recording revolution. I've been involved with that since the 1970s, when I started out with bouncing and overdubbing tracks back and forth between a pair of cassette decks with a rudimentary mixer. There's a ton to learn. You can dive in head-first, or you can try to take it in manageable chunks. If there's no real time constraint, you can learn as you go along, but as the man said, it gets expensive really quickly. Interface, computer, microphones, headphones and amp, powered monitor speakers, acoustic treatment for the room, etc. etc. You can probably scrape something together with eight mic preamps / inputs if you're willing to consider used stuff and if you can borrow some mikes, cables and stands occasionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 you need enough mics in one sense but each added mic adds to the complexity of micing the drums. Phase issues and the room always a nightmare 2. Skip I have a MXL 2006. You right he might dig the 57 vocal sound over the 990 or 2006. I have used both way back when I did demos for local school bands. A piece of string and a little bit of know-how can easily fix basic phase issues with a 4 mic setup on the drums, the room is the uncontrollable factor ATM for him but for cutting demo's it wont matter too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Here's an article I wrote up on drum miking... everything from single-mic through extensive multi-mic approaches are covered... http://www.harmonycentral.com/docs/DOC-2061 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 the key is having a good sounding kit and room, and a drummer with a clue... the last of the bunch being by far the most important. This.... so totally this.... I can't count how many time's i've told someone I can't fix sloppy playing or polish a turd set of drums. Oh and crohny another two word's that will become your best friend.... "Click Track" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mhuxtable Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 sorry to hijack, but maybe relevant to your interests too... Is there anyway to record guitar DI that doesn't make it sound like you're playing through a crate practice amp? If Crohny is anything like me, then inspiration often strikes after noise ordinances go into effect. I'd be cool if a performance wasn't wasted on a placeholder because it sounds to {censored}ty to stay in the mix. Amp sim plugins. Pod farm. Amplitube. Etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members triviani Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 Not sure how much expesive are they in the USA, but I got a Zoom R16 and I'm quite happy with it. It can record up to 8 independent channels at the same time, and can work both as a stand alone recorder or connected to your mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DunwichAmps Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 A piece of string and a little bit of know-how can easily fix basic phase issues with a 4 mic setup on the drums, the room is the uncontrollable factor ATM for him but for cutting demo's it wont matter too much. i should have been more specific, in general, as you add more mics your going to increase the issues with phase and it can start to make {censored} sound worse if you are not careful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheQuietWilds Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 You know, for $500 you can't get anything. Seriously, you're going to end up with pro-sumer junk that won't hold any value and won't give you the results you want. Furthermore, your room will not be treated right and even if you had good gear, it would be picking up junk room tone. On the other hand, for $500 you can get enough studio time to record and mix an album you can be proud of, with the help of someone who knows what they're doing. Maybe not a 'big studio,' but either a nice home studio or a small privately run independent studio. Not only will the frustration level and learning curve drop exponentially, but you'll be supporting the music creation scene and giving work to someone who is trying to slog it out in a dying industry and attempting to make a living doing what they love. Just think about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 i should have been more specific, in general, as you add more mics your going to increase the issues with phase and it can start to make {censored} sound worse if you are not careful. This I can agree with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DunwichAmps Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 IMO heres what I would try to get 4 Track Interface, theres usually a couple of setups here, USB or Firewire data transfer. You will need something with phantom power for condensors.4 Mics: 1 SM57 2 Pencil Style Condensers 1 Shure Beta 52 style mic4 Stands (2 tall ones for overhead, shorts for the snare and kick) The 4 mic drum approach is good to go with, couple of different techniques with overheads can be employed to get toms/cymbals and room sound1 57 is enough to get guitars and the small condensers could be used for stereo micing on cabs as well. Bass can always be DI 2, its simple and effective. Some kind of decent comp running Reaper. I use a pretty built up machine in general, nothing truly studio quality but its hefty enough (12 gb of ram, quad core i7s @ 3ghz, 1TB drives) Probably going to run you closer to 700-800 if u can score a cheap interface thats awesome and should be ur first goal/route Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 You know, for $500 you can't get anything. Seriously, you're going to end up with pro-sumer junk that won't hold any value and won't give you the results you want. Furthermore, your room will not be treated right and even if you had good gear, it would be picking up junk room tone. On the other hand, for $500 you can get enough studio time to record and mix an album you can be proud of, with the help of someone who knows what they're doing. Maybe not a 'big studio,' but either a nice home studio or a small privately run independent studio. Not only will the frustration level and learning curve drop exponentially, but you'll be supporting the music creation scene and giving work to someone who is trying to slog it out in a dying industry and attempting to make a living doing what they love. Just think about it. It really depends on what your trying to do and how hands on you are. If he has the motivation to learn for himself and is mainly interested in cutting demo's to listen to while writing music then the investment can be worth it in comparison to going to the studio everytime you have a few new songs you jsut want to record so you can hear them back. I wouldn't recommend attempting to actually record a full album with such a rig, while it could be done you would really need to know what your doing. At that point I would highly recommend exactly what you said and start looking for a smaller studio with a patient and knowledgeable engineer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Krallum Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 On the topic of amp sims. Amplitube 3.x sounds pretty killer especially if you are competent to use the given and also custom cab impulses. Revalver sounds quite a bit like a 5150 and the amount of customization and modding is pretty insane, but i've never used it in an actual recording mix so i can't say that it cuts through like an actual 5150. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members big69 Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 Softube makes amazing amp sims. Get the Metal Amp Room if you end up with DI stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArrMatey Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 If you are going to buy a kick drum mic, get a d6. It records very well and has plenty of attack. It's a great mic for single kick drum mic'ing. Def get a 3-4 mic setup for drums then record the guitars in overdubs and then overdub everything else. It will be the cheapest way. As long as your guitars aren't blaring and over-bleeding and you are consistent with your takes, a 4 track system should be enough to start with. I do recommend a kick, 2 more overhead placed carefully (one over the side picking up snare and hi hat, one picking up the rest of the drums) then an sm57 for guitars, that should get you started and you can use the 57 for vocals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Player99 Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 What about using midi triggers on the drums and record mostly track by track? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 What about using midi triggers on the drums and record mostly track by track? You can certainly try that, although the quality of sampled cymbals still leaves something to be desired IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members crohny Posted April 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 {censored}, people dropping knowledge left and right. I'll have to read all the {censored} but from what I skimmed I'll just go off that, essentially my friend has an in home studio that is pretty rad. He did my bands demo and single and I was pumped on how it came out. He cuts us big time brakes so studio time with him isn't pricey nor a one time thing. I really would like to be able to record {censored} on the fly. Regardless of what it's for. That isn't something I can do with that dude which sucks. I was thinking about this {censored} while I was out tonight and I am leaning towards the idea more and more and wanting to drop some cash on a home recording set up. I can piece it together as I go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members crohny Posted April 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 You know, for $500 you can't get anything. Seriously, you're going to end up with pro-sumer junk that won't hold any value and won't give you the results you want. Furthermore, your room will not be treated right and even if you had good gear, it would be picking up junk room tone. On the other hand, for $500 you can get enough studio time to record and mix an album you can be proud of, with the help of someone who knows what they're doing. Maybe not a 'big studio,' but either a nice home studio or a small privately run independent studio. Not only will the frustration level and learning curve drop exponentially, but you'll be supporting the music creation scene and giving work to someone who is trying to slog it out in a dying industry and attempting to make a living doing what they love. Just think about it. We are on the same page dude. If it was a full length or EP I want someone who isn't me recording and setting up mics and {censored}. I rather pay someone to capture my sound properly than me sit around trying to mic {censored} properly, eq everything right and have to keep redoing {censored} over and over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members c+t in b Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 don't use a Stereo XY setup on the overheads, as was mentioned earlier in the thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Texas Noise Factory Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 So.... What are these dudes doing while you are at home recording them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members crohny Posted April 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 you need enough mics in one sense but each added mic adds to the complexity of micing the drums. Phase issues and the room always a nightmare 2. Skip I have a MXL 2006. You right he might dig the 57 vocal sound over the 990 or 2006. I have used both way back when I did demos for local school bands. I use a 57 for vocals presently, but I really dig how my vocals sounded with the mic my friend has in his home studio. Sounded {censored}ing amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pewtershmit Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 I have many advices on this subject a lot of which have been mentioned already, but my biggest piece of advice is to realize the gear your buying has very little to do with how the end product will sound, so find a knowledgeable guy, buy him beer and pizza and ask him to show you the world. Then practice practice practice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members big69 Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 So.... What are these dudes doing while you are at home recording them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members crohny Posted April 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 So.... What are these dudes doing while you are at home recording them? What are you doing tonight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Texas Noise Factory Posted April 5, 2012 Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 Band practice. About to go to bed. Wait, was that a proposition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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