Band demo recording...super cheap
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Posted on Apr 28, 2007 10:08 pm
Jordy
Member Since: Apr 28, 2007
Hey, this is my first post on the board, and I was looking around and figured that this would be a good place to ask some questions.
A buddy and I have been working on a musical project, it's essentially bass driven folk with free-style lyrics. What that really means is that it would be much easier to record if we could record everything live at the same time--an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar, and vocals. I've had experience with recording with an old school Boss 4-Track recorder that they don't make anymore.
What I would like to do, in an ideal world, is have a machine that can record the vocals, guitar, and bass guitar simultaneously, putting the guitar and the bass into the machine directly, therefore not catching into the vocal's mike.
This doesn't have to be straight into the computer, I don't mind moving it over somehow, assuming that can be done from the machine.
I don't know if I'm giving enough information, so please tell me what else you guys need to know.
And here's the most important thing. We're running on the exceptionally low funds of two college kids, so anything over about 150 bucks each is going to be rough...so I guess that's a 300 dollar budget?
Is this doable?
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Apr 28, 2007 10:50 pm Ya, it is doable indeed. Do you already have mics and cables and such or will that need to be in the $300 budget? There are a couple different ways to go really. You can invest in an audio interface for the computer, something like the M-Audio Delta 44 would be an exact fit as it has just 4 independent inputs. This will allow you to record 4 tracks at once. But the key here is you will also need a small pre amp for the mic's, unless of course you already have a mixer with pre amps built in.
Let us know what equipment you already have and we can go from there.
And welcome to HRC by the way.
JordyMember
Since: Apr 28, 2007
Apr 29, 2007 12:56 am Wow, I hope you know how happy I was just to see the words "it is doable indeed"!
We have access to mics, but they're your basic stage vocal mic...which I guess would be OK, right? I mean, we're not looking for professional quality, just something to send to coffee shops so we can gig.
Cables...well, I don't know what we have access to, but my friend has connections with a local church (that's where the mics will come from) so he might be able to fish up some cables...
That's a big "no" on the mixer, and I'm really worried about anything on the computer for the simple fact that I'm not running anything special and I'm sure my bandmate isn't either...
When I've recorded in the past, we just had that Boss I referred to earlier, and we didn't have to do anything involving the computer except putting them on for web distribution. Problem is the Boss recorder has since bit the dust, and like I said, they don't make it.
So, "yes" on mic, "possible" on cables, and "no" on mixer.
Thanks for the welcome, and even bigger thanks on offering some help.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Apr 29, 2007 02:11 am No problem Jordy, thats what this place is all about. Although with summer fast approaching everyone is running slowly on getting some posts answered but you'll find everybody here very helpful. It is late and I'm gonna finish a few things and off to nighty night, but I will take a look into a couple of alternatives you might find interesting as far as 4 track type units that might fit the bill. Not a huge selection in the $300 range but there are some good ones out there. And indeed some that will probably make it easy to get you into the PC after mixxing down.
zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Apr 29, 2007 02:22 am depending on the time and the quality you desire... I've done quick demos by using a 'gray' tape recorder... you know... the kind used is every US public school...
anyway...
we would all play live, have the vocals go though a guitar amp or PA... and the mix would be accomplished by moving the recorder around the room until it was acceptable... then we'd pop in a fresh tape and record the demo.
Apr 29, 2007 03:53 am I used one Crown cassette boombox to record my bands every night through the 80s and part of the 90s using a secondary output (monitor B bus) on the PA mixer, and the results were sometimes amazing.
Point: be mindful of the quality of the end product, but also remember it doesn't necessarily require the most expensive gear. A fresh, open mind is a good start to getting good sounding recordings. The time is now to choose not to overthink the recording process. Trust me on this one. If you and your band members are good at listening to one another as you play, and you blend well as a group, you won't need to worry too much about separating signals in the recording anyway. If you want to record everything live with no overdubs as you say, you can easily accomplish that for under 300 bucks, with a small mixer plugged into the back of your PC. Really.
You didn't say how many are in your group, but this mixer will do four instruments/singers nicely for $90: www.zzounds.com...m--BEHXENYX1202
Or, for an extra ten bucks: www.zzounds.com...tem--BEHUBB1002
And of course if you need a good, easy-to-use recording program for free: audacity.sourceforge.net/ There are other freeware/shareware programs too.
JordyMember
Since: Apr 28, 2007
Apr 29, 2007 12:19 pm I wouldn't call it a group--it's just me and the bass player. I play acoustic (electric every once in a while) and he plays the bass. I'm singing (If you want to call it that) and I've learned how to hold a shaker while playing guitar, so there's that.
That's another reason recording live is needed--My acoustic guitar uses pickups, so I don't think it will 'hear' the shaker, therefore, I need my vocal mic to pick it up, but I need to be playing guitar to get shaker rhythm just perfect.
The stuff Herb is offering sounds like a good way to go...How exactly would that look, going with the mixer/audio program? Is it as simple as plugging the mixer into my laptop and the audio program will read the incoming audio signal? Because that would be pretty sweet, I must say.
What kind of cable would be required for the mixer to PC?
Apr 29, 2007 01:39 pm The $90 four-input mixer will work for you just fine. Just plug your microphone or guitar cables into it - read the manual - and run a stereo cable from the main outputs of the mixer into the line in (blue input) in the back of the PC. You'll need a 1/4" male pair on one end, converted to one 1/8" stereo plug on the other end. Tell that to the clerk at Radio Shack and they can help you with the cables and adapters. That'll get you going. Install the audio software, and if you have a hitch, write back.
JordyMember
Since: Apr 28, 2007
Apr 29, 2007 01:51 pm The line in....well, I'm on a Dell laptop, the closest thing to a line in that I can see is the microphone jack. Would that have the same effect? I've also got USB ports, though I don't know if that'll do the job either...
Apr 29, 2007 06:21 pm I was afraid you'd say that. To be honest, microphone jacks are notorious for their inferior sound quality. But if it's the only analog input on your machine, well, it may or may not provide acceptable sound. It depends on the quality of your sound card, and what you consider acceptable. If you use that input, you will have to be very careful setting your input levels, because microphone inputs are much more sensitive than line inputs, and you can run into distortion very quickly.
Now there are USB mixers out there. This one is $150, andcomes with Cubase LE, a recording program a lot of people use: www.zzounds.com...ALEMULTIMIX8USB
JordyMember
Since: Apr 28, 2007
Apr 30, 2007 01:29 am I'm seeing some reviews on that USB mixer that suggest it's not that user-friendly...
Does anyone around here have some experience with it?
