Recording an EP

r6mile · #1 05-07-2006, 12:29 AM

My band wants to record an EP. The thing is there are no recording studios over here, and I don't want to record with a PC, one instrument by one. We need some kind of digital recording, no cassette. We already have a mixer and speakers that we use to practice and gig a lil' bit. Do you think I could get a mic for the drums, then plug something on the mixer and record? If so, what kind of equipment do I need?

ChadSmith · #2 05-07-2006, 04:23 PM

If you can find a way to record the drums live with the bass then you can go over it one by one with a digital recorder. It's not ideal, but without studios around it allows you to get a more "live" feel. I'm not framiliar with the equipment I've used before (it was the guitar player's job), but that technique has worked for me in the past.

nastyfunk4 · #3 05-07-2006, 04:33 PM

I think Roland has a couple digital recorders that could work for you...

phillys · #4 05-07-2006, 09:12 PM

My band is in pretty much the same situation as you. With just a mixer, a laptop with Audacity, tons of cables, 4 cheap mics, instruments and a couple of amps; we managed to record a demo CD *giggles* It's not terrific, sure, but it gets the job done. Here's a song that we recorded:

http://rapidshare.de/files/19903587/...eps_4.mp3.html

We had to do tracking though, as in record each instruments separately because we wanted the flexibility to tweak each sound/track separately. But we lost a bit in terms of dynamics cause we are really not used to tracking one by one. ANYWAY, with that equipment, I'm more than sure that you can come up with a decent recording by recording everyone live as a whole band. Just make sure that you got the right sound right before you begin... etc..etc..

r6mile · #5 05-08-2006, 05:09 AM

Thank you all for your answers. The thing is that in our songs everyone plays a bit of melody, so if we play it one by one, then we all lose the rythm and the beat, so we'd really like to record it all at the same time.

I checked out those digital recordings, but they're really expensive, and I don't think it's worth the money just for now. I have an idea. If I plug a RCA-minijack cable from the mixer output to the line-in (or mic input) of a laptop, do you think it would work?

By the way I checked out your mp3. Good job! And the quality is amazing!

phillys · #6 05-08-2006, 06:30 AM

Thank you, r6mile.

About that idea of yours, you're absolutely spot on! That's what we did to record those songs

Too bad we couldnt get our grubby hands on D.I. boxes and the likes but these will do

r6mile · #7 05-08-2006, 08:42 AM

How did you record it? I mean, which instrument was recorded first and so forth? How did you record the drums and the acoustic guitar? Can you please give me the details?

bassbrad · #8 05-08-2006, 05:21 PM

One way that might work for you r6mile is to use the mixer with all of you plugged in and record a mono or stereo track of all of you playing as a scratch or guide trak. Then record each part seperately using the scratch trak as a guide and then discard the trak when you have all the other parts. This way you can retain some of the feel of a live recording but still have the quality production values of a more professional recording. Recording each trak seperately allows you to each focus on your sound or tones and also the performance.

phillys · #9 05-08-2006, 05:44 PM

Like you've said, I first plugged the output cable from the mixer to the microphone input of the Laptop. Then I would start up Audacity tp track them one-by-one. I plugged all my mics and acoustic guitar straight into the mixer. I took the line out from the electric guitar amp and plug it into the mixer. It's the same thing for bass.

As for the drums, I used 3 mics to to mic it. One mic would mic the bass drum by placing it directly in front of it, and two would be used to mic the rest of the drums by playing them on each side. One in between the snare and the first tom while the second one in between the 2nd tom and the floor tom.

From there it just takes a lot of tweaking, and adjusting of volume to get things right. Don't worry about getting an overhead mic or whatever because as you can hear, the vocal mics(cheapy ones, mind you) can pick up the cymbals sounds pretty okay, so, I decided not to depress myself anymore with more mics and settings

EDIT: Yeah, great idea from bassbrad. I would be trying out something like this soon

r6mile · #10 05-08-2006, 08:00 PM

Whoa thank you for all your answers! I'll try to do that, record a scratch and then make the players play while listening to the scratch on an MP3 player or something. That's a great idea.

Have you ever had any problems with the mixer, or Audacity, not getting the proper sound when playing low notes on the bass? I'm not saying I have, I was just wondering...

phillys · #11 05-08-2006, 08:56 PM

Nope, I've never had any problems with Audacity to be honest. I have yet to find the need to venture on into more commercial products. So far so good and Audacity will do