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Our band ordered a 44-track recorder the other day and it is expected to come through by post tommorow.
Exams during the week so I don't think we will be using it until around mid-week.
I'm posting this really for tips on recording on these multitrack recorders as I have never used one before and nor have any of the other band members. Should be pretty simple how to work the thing though, it sounds simple and if anything goes wrong there's always the manual :-)
But I am just asking for tips.
The only major problem I can think of at the moment which is suppose to be is that the room we are in is pretty small and so I heard recording may be bad quality? I don't think it will be a problem though.
Oh and another one...recording drums.
I saw a microphone set which we told our drummer about in a shop the other day. It's just hooking up all the microphones to the drums and then go from there and he is going to buy. But, in the meantime, whats the best method of recording drums? Just like using a standard microphone?
I don't know if many of you have exprience in this but if you have please share all knowledge.
Thanks.
Exams during the week so I don't think we will be using it until around mid-week.
I'm posting this really for tips on recording on these multitrack recorders as I have never used one before and nor have any of the other band members. Should be pretty simple how to work the thing though, it sounds simple and if anything goes wrong there's always the manual :-)
But I am just asking for tips.
The only major problem I can think of at the moment which is suppose to be is that the room we are in is pretty small and so I heard recording may be bad quality? I don't think it will be a problem though.
Oh and another one...recording drums.
I saw a microphone set which we told our drummer about in a shop the other day. It's just hooking up all the microphones to the drums and then go from there and he is going to buy. But, in the meantime, whats the best method of recording drums? Just like using a standard microphone?
I don't know if many of you have exprience in this but if you have please share all knowledge.
Thanks.
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Goatboy wrote:
> A couple of mics for the drums Craw?
> Pah, typical bass player, scared of being outshined.
> Heh
lol for a start I'm a guitar player!
Typical drummer equation:
greater number of mikes = greater importance :)
The guy only has a 4 track - hence I suggested the simplest option for tracks and budget.
I could suggest a set up for those with more money than sense but we may be some time...
> A couple of mics for the drums Craw?
> Pah, typical bass player, scared of being outshined.
> Heh
lol for a start I'm a guitar player!
Typical drummer equation:
greater number of mikes = greater importance :)
The guy only has a 4 track - hence I suggested the simplest option for tracks and budget.
I could suggest a set up for those with more money than sense but we may be some time...
Not sure about home recording, but I do know if you want the drums to come through then a couple of overheads isn't going to cut it in a professional standard.
The studio we use, there were dynamic cylinder mics for the hi-hats, ride and individual cymbals.
With the snare the engineer used 2 mics - one above and one below.
Clip mics on the rack toms and floor toms.
Specifically designed kick-drum mic with angular something or other.
3 overheads and mics facing into the walls (4 in total) to catch the sound bouncing back.
Obviously this is in a professional studio and may be a tad more expensive than you may want to go, but it's the mic that matters for drums.
The room/studio also helps.
The drum-booth I used had removal wall coverings to either expose slate for a harsher sound, or padded to bounce the sound back and give a warmer, more rounded tone to it all.
A couple of mics for the drums Craw?
Pah, typical bass player, scared of being outshined.
Heh
The studio we use, there were dynamic cylinder mics for the hi-hats, ride and individual cymbals.
With the snare the engineer used 2 mics - one above and one below.
Clip mics on the rack toms and floor toms.
Specifically designed kick-drum mic with angular something or other.
3 overheads and mics facing into the walls (4 in total) to catch the sound bouncing back.
Obviously this is in a professional studio and may be a tad more expensive than you may want to go, but it's the mic that matters for drums.
The room/studio also helps.
The drum-booth I used had removal wall coverings to either expose slate for a harsher sound, or padded to bounce the sound back and give a warmer, more rounded tone to it all.
A couple of mics for the drums Craw?
Pah, typical bass player, scared of being outshined.
Heh
Not a problem m_w_a.
Any difficulties let me know.
Any difficulties let me know.
Thanks for that detailed information Claw :-)
If I have any problems I'll refer to it.
Cheers.
If I have any problems I'll refer to it.
Cheers.
Somebodys probably aready said this, but the best microphones for recording drums are Dynamic Mics - you know, the cylinderal ones - as they have the widest frequency range. You'll also want a specialist Bass Drum Dynamic Mic for the, erm, bass drum, which will set you back a few hundred quid or so for a good one.
Don't worry about the room TOO much, as you can always add on reverb digitaly afterwards.
44 tracks? You BAST*RDS!
Don't worry about the room TOO much, as you can always add on reverb digitaly afterwards.
44 tracks? You BAST*RDS!
OK...
You have a multitrack.
Now obviously you want to make as best recordings as possible so I suggest your next highest investment be in some decent mikes. You could probably get away with three at the moment. I would go for two Shure SM58's and a Shure SM57 for the time being. Obviously if you've got money to burn you might contemplate some dedicated drum mikes, but to be honest I wouldn't suggest using more than a couple of tracks for drums anyway.
I would imagine you are gonna record in a rehearsal room... drums first.. so stick your 2 mikes over your drums. Try the SM58 infront of the drums - slightly toward the bass drum and in between the toms. As for the SM57 try angling it toward the snare and hi-hat (from behind). Dont worry too much about your cymbals both the mikes will pick these up a treat... set your levels and bash some stuff out. Record and playback as many times until you're happy. You aint gonna get a studio reproduction here but youd be surprised how much of a difference a slight adjustment of a mike can make.
If you're gonna be playing all together for this recording you may aswel record another instrument at the same time. I would suggest bass. Now you have a choice here - you can either mike up your bass cab or you can DI (Direct Input - for which you would need a 'DI Box) the bass directly into the desk. It depends what kinda sound you want really and how much of a part your amp plays in the sound. Again with miking fiddle round with mike positioning and record and playback a few times.
An important thing to remember is try to keep your fingers off the EQ on your multitrack BEFORE you record. Its easy to apply EQ after the recording but its difficult to compensate for EQ that you added PRIOR to the mixing stage.
When recording your bass and drums try not to use your guitar and vocals. Hopefully your bassist and drummer are confident enough to be able to run through the tune without everyone else. If you do need guitar/vox try and keep it to a minimal to avoid overspill.
Record a few takes. If you're not happy with one keep it and record another - upon listening back you may realise that the one you weren't happy with actually wasn't as bad as you thought. Sometimes 'feel' can make up for technical mistakes - especially when drumming is concerned.
One big tip for recording drums - put a count in before you start. You'd be amazed how many people forget this or start recording just as everything kicks in. When you come to lay down guitar or vocals this could cost you dearly - and the last thing you want to do is have to set up a drumkit again!
Anyways when you listen back its important to do it on the best monitors you can get your hands on. If time is on your hands it may be worthwhile just using a day to record drums & bass so you can go home to mix it down. For the mixing down process you want to 'bump' the drums down onto a single track, and possible also the bass (depending on number of guitars/vox you need to record). When doing the mixdown try to replicate as natural sounding drumkit as possible.. it will be quite difficult as you only have two tracks to deal with but you'd be surprised how much difference a little EQ tweaking here and there can make. For exact instructions how to 'bounce' two tracks down to one refer to your manual.
If you have a compressor/limiter/gate/effects unit now would be a good time to apply some to your drums. Remember - if it aint broke dont fix it so go easy on the effects. Compression would probably be the best to use here, as would possibly a little reverb for ambiance (to give the drums a more 'live' feel...). Again refer to manuals for those as I could be here all day explaining the various techniques.
Next up to record would be guitar. Make sure the amp is loud enough for a start. A lot of people rehearse at low volume but you aint gonna get the tone you require for recording like that. Dont be scared to turn it up the mikes will be able to cope. Try the SM57 pretty close to the speaker but not directed at the center. Tray angling it towards the outer cone instead. Sort out playback for the guitarist through headphones and record it. If he uses various effects/channels make sure they are of a similar level.
So in theory you should have 1 channel left for vocals (adapt if different band set up). For this use an sm58 and run a mix through heaphones for your singer. Most important things here are that the singer can hear himself, the song and that he/she tries to sing at the same distance from the mike throughout the tune. It will take practice this... and on playback you may not be as happy with the results as with the other instruments. But the most important thing is tuning.. you have a multitrack so dont be afraid to re-do stuff over and over again if it means getting the best vocal performance you can.
After that take the machine home.. hook it back up to your monitors and spend some time with it. Try different methods of compression/effects to get the sounds you want. Again with vox a tiny bit of reverb can add life to a recording and make it sit on the rest of the music easier. Sometimes its better for one person to try the mixing as too many people you can just end up going round and round in circles. If someone isn't happy give them the machine and let them have a go. Thats the beauty of mulitracks really.
Overall just dont be afraid to experiment. Later on you can try bumping stuff down onto your pc and using some sequencing software and effects to polish your stuff. You'll be amazed what you can do at home nowadays.
You have a multitrack.
Now obviously you want to make as best recordings as possible so I suggest your next highest investment be in some decent mikes. You could probably get away with three at the moment. I would go for two Shure SM58's and a Shure SM57 for the time being. Obviously if you've got money to burn you might contemplate some dedicated drum mikes, but to be honest I wouldn't suggest using more than a couple of tracks for drums anyway.
I would imagine you are gonna record in a rehearsal room... drums first.. so stick your 2 mikes over your drums. Try the SM58 infront of the drums - slightly toward the bass drum and in between the toms. As for the SM57 try angling it toward the snare and hi-hat (from behind). Dont worry too much about your cymbals both the mikes will pick these up a treat... set your levels and bash some stuff out. Record and playback as many times until you're happy. You aint gonna get a studio reproduction here but youd be surprised how much of a difference a slight adjustment of a mike can make.
If you're gonna be playing all together for this recording you may aswel record another instrument at the same time. I would suggest bass. Now you have a choice here - you can either mike up your bass cab or you can DI (Direct Input - for which you would need a 'DI Box) the bass directly into the desk. It depends what kinda sound you want really and how much of a part your amp plays in the sound. Again with miking fiddle round with mike positioning and record and playback a few times.
An important thing to remember is try to keep your fingers off the EQ on your multitrack BEFORE you record. Its easy to apply EQ after the recording but its difficult to compensate for EQ that you added PRIOR to the mixing stage.
When recording your bass and drums try not to use your guitar and vocals. Hopefully your bassist and drummer are confident enough to be able to run through the tune without everyone else. If you do need guitar/vox try and keep it to a minimal to avoid overspill.
Record a few takes. If you're not happy with one keep it and record another - upon listening back you may realise that the one you weren't happy with actually wasn't as bad as you thought. Sometimes 'feel' can make up for technical mistakes - especially when drumming is concerned.
One big tip for recording drums - put a count in before you start. You'd be amazed how many people forget this or start recording just as everything kicks in. When you come to lay down guitar or vocals this could cost you dearly - and the last thing you want to do is have to set up a drumkit again!
Anyways when you listen back its important to do it on the best monitors you can get your hands on. If time is on your hands it may be worthwhile just using a day to record drums & bass so you can go home to mix it down. For the mixing down process you want to 'bump' the drums down onto a single track, and possible also the bass (depending on number of guitars/vox you need to record). When doing the mixdown try to replicate as natural sounding drumkit as possible.. it will be quite difficult as you only have two tracks to deal with but you'd be surprised how much difference a little EQ tweaking here and there can make. For exact instructions how to 'bounce' two tracks down to one refer to your manual.
If you have a compressor/limiter/gate/effects unit now would be a good time to apply some to your drums. Remember - if it aint broke dont fix it so go easy on the effects. Compression would probably be the best to use here, as would possibly a little reverb for ambiance (to give the drums a more 'live' feel...). Again refer to manuals for those as I could be here all day explaining the various techniques.
Next up to record would be guitar. Make sure the amp is loud enough for a start. A lot of people rehearse at low volume but you aint gonna get the tone you require for recording like that. Dont be scared to turn it up the mikes will be able to cope. Try the SM57 pretty close to the speaker but not directed at the center. Tray angling it towards the outer cone instead. Sort out playback for the guitarist through headphones and record it. If he uses various effects/channels make sure they are of a similar level.
So in theory you should have 1 channel left for vocals (adapt if different band set up). For this use an sm58 and run a mix through heaphones for your singer. Most important things here are that the singer can hear himself, the song and that he/she tries to sing at the same distance from the mike throughout the tune. It will take practice this... and on playback you may not be as happy with the results as with the other instruments. But the most important thing is tuning.. you have a multitrack so dont be afraid to re-do stuff over and over again if it means getting the best vocal performance you can.
After that take the machine home.. hook it back up to your monitors and spend some time with it. Try different methods of compression/effects to get the sounds you want. Again with vox a tiny bit of reverb can add life to a recording and make it sit on the rest of the music easier. Sometimes its better for one person to try the mixing as too many people you can just end up going round and round in circles. If someone isn't happy give them the machine and let them have a go. Thats the beauty of mulitracks really.
Overall just dont be afraid to experiment. Later on you can try bumping stuff down onto your pc and using some sequencing software and effects to polish your stuff. You'll be amazed what you can do at home nowadays.
On this one theres four tracks.
E.g one track for guitar, one for bass, one for drums and one for vocals.
It's like combining all the separate pieces from all instruments which makes the final thing like when you're playing.
it all then goes onto tape and you can do what you want with it from there.
We will be putting it on CD and then converting it to MP3 for web use. So I'll let you lot on here hear what we produce if your interested.
The new generation of recorders are digital and can be connected to a CD-R drive to burn straight onto CD.
E.g one track for guitar, one for bass, one for drums and one for vocals.
It's like combining all the separate pieces from all instruments which makes the final thing like when you're playing.
it all then goes onto tape and you can do what you want with it from there.
We will be putting it on CD and then converting it to MP3 for web use. So I'll let you lot on here hear what we produce if your interested.
The new generation of recorders are digital and can be connected to a CD-R drive to burn straight onto CD.
What does the recorder do then? just put all the instruments together or what? i need to know for future
Yep it's that one, a silver one.
Just checked back here before bed heh.
I though it looked pretty simple enough. Checked reviews on it before we bought it and sound quality is suppose to be good. As long as it doe's the buisness right?
Whats your expriences with sound quality on these types of multitrack?
Just checked back here before bed heh.
I though it looked pretty simple enough. Checked reviews on it before we bought it and sound quality is suppose to be good. As long as it doe's the buisness right?
Whats your expriences with sound quality on these types of multitrack?
Is it the MFP-01? Just had a look at the Tascam website - that's a 4 track multitracker. Looks simple enough, I used to have a very similar one to that. Basically you can record 4 instruments at a time, 4 times. So there's a possibility of 16 individual tracks.
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