Home-made Recordings

venturabass · #1 03-03-2009, 02:41 PM

I need some help

My band wants to lay down some tracks this weekend. My friend(vocalist/guitarist) has a Mac with a multi-track GarageBand, and a preamp. We have 3 mics, 2 with stands.

Now, any suggestions on good techniques for better recordings with our equipment?

Thanks

TheVoiceless · #2 03-03-2009, 02:51 PM

I would suggest you do a lot of test takes before you try going for final takes. A player should be able to nail his part within 5 takes. If a player is playing longer then that the performance seems to suffer. So if you go through the trail and errors prior to this you will save yourself some headaches. Thats assuming you are tracking individually. If you are trying to make a live recording I would try different mic positions. And consider you volumes cause you have to make some adjustments.

Well good luck.

scottbass · #3 03-03-2009, 03:03 PM

How many inputs can your friend's Mac accept simultaneously?
Can you borrow any drum mic's?
Do you have a separate mixer?

If the answers are 2, no and no, it's gonna take you a LONG time to track all those parts individually. You will be lucky to get one song completely recorded this weekend. Also, without drum mics and a mixer (or at least 6 simultaneous inputs to your friend's computer), your results will sound like a home recording.

I recommend you do a search to find out how best to mic and record your individual instruments given the limitations of your equipment. There are lots of home recording websites out there.

You CAN obtain good results with minimal equipment, but you have to really know what you're doing or else you will just be wasting everyone's time.

It's all so variable depending on what you have and what you're trying to accomplish, it's not gonna be possible for someone to give you a 500-word reply in a forum that will help you very much.

megadan · #4 03-03-2009, 03:52 PM

+1 to scottbass.

Your best bet may be to set up two decent quality condensor mics to capture a stereo image of the room, and play all together. Use the 3rd mic for the kick.

Tons of old jazz and rock records did it this way,and they can sound great. however, it takes a lot of work to get everything setup right. Experiment,and trust your ears.