Felix
Joined: May 30, 2008
Posts: 135
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Posted on Mar 31 2009 08:13 AM
Hi
we plan to du our first recordings in next time and we want to do by ourselves sso i want to ask you about the equipment you use...
We dont want to record on the line In, so we want to record over an Room Microphone and one in front of the amp. We can Rent some Drummics.
Guitar -> effexts -> Amp -> Micros -> (Interface?!) -> Notebook
is this okay?
can you goive us an advice or name some Gadgets you use?!
cheers
— Band: http://www.myspace.com/theterrortones
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Mar 31 2009 10:16 AM
Don't be afraid to try things out and learn as you go on. Since you are recording yourselves you have all the time in the world. Don't feel like you need to finish on the first day. It is going to take a while to get the right drum sound.
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zak
Joined: Sep 24, 2007
Posts: 2728
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Posted on Mar 31 2009 10:55 AM
This post has been removed by the author.
Last edited: Sep 27, 2009 19:58:24
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Jagshark
Joined: Nov 05, 2008
Posts: 745
Colorado, home of The Astronauts
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Posted on Mar 31 2009 10:57 AM
Experiment with mic placement, move it around until it sounds good.
— (defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks
Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq
Enjoy every minute
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Felix
Joined: May 30, 2008
Posts: 135
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Posted on Mar 31 2009 12:18 PM
okay
should we do it digital or anaolge?! Could you please describe your setupo`?!
— Band: http://www.myspace.com/theterrortones
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Mar 31 2009 12:24 PM
You should do digital.
Last edited: Mar 31, 2009 12:30:20
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Jagshark
Joined: Nov 05, 2008
Posts: 745
Colorado, home of The Astronauts
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Posted on Mar 31 2009 12:27 PM
Good microphones and preamps are a big plus like zak posted.
Digital or analog? I dunno, I've done both ~ as far as I'm concerned what's very important is that you get as much gain on the front end as possible.
Gadgets? We're using some old pro-tools set up with some AKG microphones.
The most limiting thing for us is that we don't have expensive pre-amps - the cost for those is prohibitive. If you can swing it, get good pre-amps and mics.
— (defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks
Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq
Enjoy every minute
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Felix
Joined: May 30, 2008
Posts: 135
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Posted on Mar 31 2009 01:30 PM
so i have to buy a interface/ soundcard?! Which one would you suggest?!
and Cables?!
— Band: http://www.myspace.com/theterrortones
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Mel
Joined: Feb 25, 2008
Posts: 321
Canada's Wet Coast
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Posted on Mar 31 2009 01:41 PM
Recording the drums is going to be the hardest part. A variety of mics (dynamic and condensers) will help. After that the preamps in your chosen audio interface will come into play.
For the audio interfaces, we've used/own everything from Presonus Inspires, Behringer FCA's, Echo AudioFire and Apogee Ensembles. All firewire interfaces because we weren't happy with the latency of USB. Our finding is that a mid priced audio interface usually gives the best bang for the buck ($300-$600 range for example). Once you go beyond that, the quality does get better but you have to balance that against your bank account and what's acceptable. The $600-$1000 range seems to bring a lot of bells and whistles with it.
For recording the guitar(s), a single mic (experiment with placement for your amp) and a DI on the amp if the amp has it gives you a good range of tones (multi-tracks). If the amp doesn't have a DI, I'd suggest using something like a Radial active DI box between the guitar and amp as well as the mic. If the DI signal is captured plain, you can then re-amp or use plugin's in your recording software to get almost any type of sound you want.
For bass, we normally plug it right into the interface and record it raw. Once it's in the software we find we can do what we want with it.
For digital vs analog, there are pros and cons to both. We started off strictly analog, ended up digital just because it was easier in the long run and we found we had more control. One thing with digital, if you clip (overdrive) during recording, i.e. pin the recording level meters, do it again. Clipping is not your friend in the digital world. We found we don't need the hottest signal coming in for recording, anything in the -10 to -3 range works well. After mixdown, then you can work on mastering to bring the levels up if need be.
None of this really addresses the pitfalls of mixing down a song nor mastering a CD. That's an art all in itself. All I can advise is to get it sounding as good as you can and then play it in as many different environments as you can to see how it sounds.
Wish you well on your journey!!!!
— Mel
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zak
Joined: Sep 24, 2007
Posts: 2728
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Posted on Mar 31 2009 01:56 PM
This post has been removed by the author.
Last edited: Sep 27, 2009 19:58:28
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Felix
Joined: May 30, 2008
Posts: 135
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Posted on Apr 05 2009 07:50 AM
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pvittorio
Joined: Apr 25, 2006
Posts: 23
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Posted on Apr 13 2009 03:58 PM
I have a tascam FW-1884. The mic pre amps are not terrible but I think I need an outboard pre. I have the KRK five inch monitors but the eight inchers get all the reviews. For mics, I have the Shure SM57 and an Audix I5 and I am torn between the two mics. I love them both for close miking my Twin Reverb. I also have the large and small MXL 900 series condenser mics, they are great for acoustic guitars and great for the budget. I use Sonar for my DAW and I love it. I had a computer built with two 320Gig hard drives, one for the DAW and one for the audio files. I need a studio pair of mics as overheads for the drum kit in either XY or AB configurations, I still have alot to learn, this is just the begining.
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Mel
Joined: Feb 25, 2008
Posts: 321
Canada's Wet Coast
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Posted on Apr 13 2009 04:39 PM
zak
Mel
For recording the guitar(s), a single mic (experiment with placement for your amp) and a DI on the amp if the amp has it gives you a good range of tones (multi-tracks). If the amp doesn't have a DI, I'd suggest using something like a Radial active DI box between the guitar and amp as well as the mic. If the DI signal is captured plain, you can then re-amp or use plugin's in your recording software to get almost any type of sound you want.
Well...that's one take on it.
DI is very useful for bass tracks and can fill out the frequencies missing from a mic'd bass track when combined, but I have yet to hear DI guitar through digital plug-ins that didn't sound like DI guitar through digital plug-ins. None of the guitar sounds that really appeal to me were recorded that way.
None of that crap is a substitute for good primary tone coming out of your amp speakers, and mic placement.
On the recent recordings we just did I used a Shure SM57 and a Sennheiser 421 on each speaker of my cabinet combined with a Rode NT1 a little further away and I am really happy with the results.
The tone you hear is a combination of the amp and the room, might as well try and capture it as close as possible to how you hear it. Tracks recorded direct and then run through digital effects and "amp simulators" usually end up sounding phony and sterile.
That's why I suggested recording both ways. I like to have options and the sound coming from the amp, regardless of type, doesn't always cut it for me for every song. So I always record with both amp/mic and DI. I can re-amp or mix in raw signal for what sounds the best to me.
After the engineer, producer and mastering are done with it, what you recorded and what comes out can be substantially different any way....
— Mel
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Steve
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 86
Tewksbury, MA
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Posted on Apr 14 2009 10:48 AM
As a layman, I've always wanted to know this:
What happens during Engineering, Producing, and Mastering?
I mean actual tasks, not "my awesome tunes get wrecked".
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Jagshark
Joined: Nov 05, 2008
Posts: 745
Colorado, home of The Astronauts
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Posted on Apr 14 2009 12:03 PM
Steve
As a layman, I've always wanted to know this:
What happens during Engineering, Producing, and Mastering?
I mean actual tasks, not "my awesome tunes get wrecked".
I will try to put those functions in some sort of layman's terms, like say, house construction.
Engineer - think of this as a bricklayer, drywaller, framer - the engineer is setting up microphones, getting recording levels correct, hooking up cords. he's doing a lot of 'bricks and mortar' work.
Producer - sort of analogous to a general contractor or foreman - he's directing the overall project. He makes the calls on where the mics are placed, whether the band performance was good (sometimes makes suggestions as to how a band should play a number), he might decide which studio room best suits the band recording, and basically he pulls together the whole project. Very often the Producer and Engineer are one and the same person.
Mastering - imagine our imaginary house is now more or less finished. But you really want it to "pop" and stand out, so you get a top notch landcaper and interior designer to work their magic so your house is the best on the block. Ok, maybe this analogy really does not work so well. The mastering person basically finesses the final recording to sound ideal everywhere....from a crummy little boom-box, to your ipod, to the radio, to an audiophile Hi-Fi system. It's at this point that most musicians are like "my tunes are wrecked"
Maybe that helps?
— (defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks
Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq
Enjoy every minute
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Steve
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 86
Tewksbury, MA
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Posted on Apr 14 2009 01:12 PM
Quite a bit.
Does mixing happen during recording, or after (or "depends")?
Is that part of the Mastering process, or something different?
When an old recording is "remastered", I assume that entails more than just re-cutting a lacquer, or re-converting to a digital stream?
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Jagshark
Joined: Nov 05, 2008
Posts: 745
Colorado, home of The Astronauts
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Posted on Apr 14 2009 01:39 PM
Mixing will typically happen after the recordings are done. Then the recordings are sent to a mastering house or person.
I'm not very knowledgeable about remastering old recordings. I do know original tapes often get lost, making the remastering process very challenging.
— (defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks
Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq
Enjoy every minute
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