Please Help A Newbie Out:
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Posted on Jan 29, 2004 10:39 pm
GratephulPhish
Member Since: Jan 29, 2004
OK, so my band wants to start recording. I knew absolutely about home recording until I recently did some research and decided to get a mixer/recorder combo (Studio In A Box). This one question has been bugging me tremendously though. If you can help, I would really appreciate it. Here goes: If i plug the mics directly into the SIAB (which has an internal preamp), how are we supposed to hear the vocals if we record in a live playing style with all band members playing together at once? Know what I mean? Also, how can I get the volume levels right on the recorder so there is no clipping while we play? I will be hearing the sound from the amps not the monitors (The amp will be much louder than the monitors). SOme people have suggested that I connect a PA to the headphone out on the recorder and have aheadphones for every band member. Is this the way to go about it? THANKS. Hope these questions arent too dumb.....
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Jan 29, 2004 11:00 pm This is the way I plan to set things up. My band will be playing together in the same room at the same time. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Instruments are as follows: Drums, 2 Guitars, Bass, 3 Vocal Mics. The SIAB (Mixer/Recorder) that I am going to purchase can record 8 tracks simultaneously. I plan to sub-mix the drums so that they only use 1 track. I will plug the guitars in from the amps' outputs and do the same for the bass. The vocal mics will go straight into the internal preamp. Will this work? Will this sound good? Hopefully this will help someone answer my above questions. Thanks!
Jan 30, 2004 12:56 am can you give a link to that mixer/recorder thing? most people here use their computers to record and that's usually a more afforable and flexible option, but i can't be sure until i see what you plan to buy.
also, it might be alot easier to track each band member one at a time, until you guys lose the "vibe" that way, that's understandable. cause check it out, you will want to record the vocals for instance separeately as one of the last things you track so that you can monitor from headphones.
also, i'm not so sure you want to mix your drums down to one track. that's seems like that will limit what you can do when it comes time to mix
LokiCone PokerMember
Since: Apr 07, 2002
Jan 30, 2004 01:20 am Do you have two rooms at your disposal? One room for the band consisting of them, the amps, and the mics all in position, and one for the engineer who is recording which will consist of the recording medium and monitors. THis way you can hear the stuff as it's being projected through the console and into the recording medium and not worry about hearing the amps themselves. If you can, set up three rooms, have one room be the "control room" consisting of the engineer, recording medium, and monitors, one being the amp and drum room, with the drummer and set, the amps, and all the mics in position, and the other room being where the rest of the band is actually playing. With a headphone amp or something of the like you will be able to give everyone playing a pair of headphones to listen to the sound overall, while the engineer sits in the control room listening through his monitors.
Jan 30, 2004 01:46 pm I am assuming you haven't done much recording before in the studio so, the easiest way to do it would be to set up the band like you're talking about and just running "scratch" vocals into the 8-track. Then you can come back later and do the final takes. As far as everybody being able to hear it; unless you put headphones on everybody and run the mix through there, you won't be able to hear the vocals. If you go through monitors you'll have bleed through on all of the instrument mics from the PA'd vocals. Also judging by your name you band probably does a lot of jamming so I think you'll have to do all the instruments "live" at the same time rather than come back and dub them. But that's my opinion, I am certainly not the most experienced guy on this site.
TheTincanbugsloppy dice, drinks twiceMember
Since: Aug 05, 2003
Jan 30, 2004 01:55 pm I concur with Firetruck. You don't want to lose that live feel, if you follow the Phish/Dead style.
I would also add that personally, I feel that for the bang for the buck, you can't go wrong with a computer-based recording setup. Those standalone interfaces are nice, but you can really use a ton of tracks with the pc. I'd put that money into a nice, studio-quality soundcard with multiple track inputs. You can just do so much more tinkering with the final product, easier, if the music is already on your pc. Plus, those standalone units break down after a while, while a software studio package will follow you to your next computer upgrade, offering more flexibility and power the more money you put into your computer.
I'd love to hear your band once you get up and running! :)
TheTincanbugsloppy dice, drinks twiceMember
Since: Aug 05, 2003
Jan 30, 2004 01:57 pm The ad for musician's friend on the left side will take you to their site, where you can check out a variety of top-quality soundcards for that purpose. There are reviews of many on this site, as well... search the forums, and check out the articles available.
Good luck....
Jan 31, 2004 10:24 am Thanks for all of the responses. Yes I do play in a Dead/Phish like band and playing live together is really the only option. Each instrument feeds off the others and the music's mostly imporovisational. Based on all of your help and the suggestions of some others I have made a few decisions. First of all, here's a link to the Mixer/Recorder I plan to buy: www.rolandus.com/products...did=VS%2D2000CD Please let me know what you think of that SIAB. Secondly, as far as the vocals are concerned, we will be recording two types of CDs. One type will be "live". We will edit the mix ONLY to improve the sound. There will be no overdubbing, etc. The other type of CD we wish to make is a "studio" CD. Here we would like lyrics and instruments and such to be performed perfectly. Based on everyones opinions, for "live" recording where vocals need to be recorded, we will run everything through the mixer/recorder, then out into a PA and into speakers where we can hear the vocals and everything out of the speakers. For "studio" CDs, we will plug all instruments into the mixer EXCEPT for any vocal mics. They will go into the normal PA and not be recorded. We will then go back later, and in a silent environment, record the vocals. In both of these scenarios as the music is recorded we will have an engineer with headphones monitoring the levels for us. Will this plan work? THANKS....
Jan 31, 2004 10:27 am And I forgot to mention, that recorder/mixer has VGA monitor output capability so on a large screen I can use a mouse and keyboard to control a much easier layout of functions. I really like this idea because I am more of a "hands on" person and I want to actually turn knobs, but I think this option will give me some software like control over my music.....
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jan 31, 2004 12:55 pm Well it really depends on your need but I sould opt for the Roland Unit as it can be controled like a computer. The Krog is an excelant unit as well and has a couple features the Roland does not have, but that said, the editing is limited to the small screne onboard and that in my mind is a down side.
Jan 31, 2004 08:38 pm hmmm, $2000 could build you a nice PC.
$500 for the computer
$500 for the soundcard(s)
$500 for the software(s)
$200 for a mixer
just my 2 cents, nothing more.
