Advice on recording band

[blmeier7]

I’m looking to do some basic budget recordings of our band for promo purposes. We have nothing other than some cell phone recordings so far. I’ve been looking at all the USB recording interfaces and still have no clear idea what I should be looking for.

I’ll be going into a Chrome book ( I know it’s not ideal, but it’s what I’ve got). And I’ll be doing minimal processing.

Any recommendations? Do I need midi, is a single channel ok - should I be looking at 2 or 4 channel interfaces? I’m just looking to buy once and not overlook anything. Thanks in advance.

 

[seamonkey]

If it's an iPhone, and using an app like GB, then it's not bad at all. The omni directioinal mic can do a decent job in a app that can record full range. Apples new iPhones are using MEMS microphones which are very good.

If you want to step up to an interface, you could also do a single mic, but don't expect more than what you can do on an iphone mic.

The next step is a bunch of mics into an interface to record each instrument on separate tracks. This is the ultimate best approach. You'll have plenty of changes to adjust mixes even after you record. This gets expensive, and an iPhone of iPad can do it but most tend to use a PC/Mac. Between a PC, Mac, iPad the sound quality is the same. IMHO - It's just easier to record and edit on a PC or Mac with an interface with many inputs recording simultaneously.

A chrome book is Android and while it can record, it can't do realtime interactive audio like an iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC. I wouldn't even bother.

 

[equill]

2 channels mean you can record in stereo, or 2 mono sources at once, and you can get a long way with that.
If you needed MIDI, you'd already know it because you'd be using it. If it comes along for the ride on an interface you bought, then you have that option available for the future.

If a Chromebook is all you have, and you don't have plans (or the budget) for something more capable, maybe take a slightly different direction and look at a portable digital recorder. The Zoom H1n has a reputation for giving you a lot for the money; you can get better recordings out of that than a phone, and you should then be able to copy those recordings to a computer for further processing. As you go up the range, better recorders have added features like inputs for external microphones or connecting instruments directly to the recorder, and the ability to use them as an audio interface when you get a more capable computer.

All of that said, quality is pretty important for promotional material - expertise is at least as important as the equipment being used. You may be better off getting an experienced engineer to record and mix your demo.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

You say this is for "promo purposes." That means put your best foot forward. Presenting your music with crappy, budget tracking, mixing and (no doubt, non-existent mastering) means most of the people you're trying to sell will perceive the band as -- well, just what I said. I've learned many lessons about this scenario. Never try to sell your product until it looks as good as it should be.

 

[Tosh]

^ truth ^
I had a band that was trying to get a gig on 6th street in Austin. We were an all original prog/fusion/rock group.
We made our own "demo" at home and it didn't get us anywhere. Later we went to a studio & recorded the same 4 songs as before. Once it was done, we hit the clubs again with our new demo.

I had 4 voice messages on my answer machine when I got home from distributing the tapes. We had 3 gigs the next week, and more followed.

The home demo was not a total waste of time, because we had the songs down cold by the time we got into the studio. However, it was the studio demo that got us the gigs.

If you wanna play the blues
then you gotta pay your dues
and you know it don't come easy

 

[Basslice]

I guess it all depends on the end purpose. Like @Ukiah Bass says, if you are really trying to make quality demos, practice some songs and go to studio and do it right. Cheaper than building your own studio.

If you are like me and want to record your band, listen and share for fun, then there are a lot more, good options. I built my own home studio, but it is not exactly portable and not really set up to record a whole band.

Here is what I would do in your situation. Get a portable field recording rig. Zoom makes a few things that would work great.

H4n Pro Two XLR in Channels + 2 Built-ins - $210
https://www.amazon.com/Zoom-Microphones-Interface-Podcasting-Music/dp/B086653VSH/ref=sr_1_1

F6 Audio Four XLR in Channels + 2 Built-ins - $330
https://www.amazon.com/Zoom-Microphones-Interface-Podcasting-Music/dp/B086653VSH/ref=sr_1_1

Either one you can set and forget or add you own room/drum/instrument inputs. You can fit it in a back pack and download your work to a PC later. This is what I would do.

 

[blmeier7]

Thanks everyone, that helps a lot. I hadn’t considered the portable recorders...I’ll do some reading on those.

The music scene where I’m at is not too competitive, and we’ve never had issues getting gigs. But there has been a couple of times where a new potential gig place asks us for sound samples... and we’ve got nothing.

I did re-listen to some recordings we’ve done with an iPhone, and they’re not bad at all. They could certainly work for the level of “demo” that I’m talking about. But I was hoping stepping it up to separate tracks would allow me to adjust levels, and allow the addition of some compression where needed. But I’m hearing that if I’m not willing to step up to PC/Mac then it’s not really worth the effort.

We do have connections to a top-of-the-line recording studio here. So we may look into that option.

Part of the reason I was looking into recording is just for hobby/knowledge experience. And I wouldn’t mind recording some bass ideas to save on a computer rather than iPhone.

Thanks again, the advice so far is helpful.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

Gear wise, there are quite a few rabbit holes you can go down. Performance wise, if you can set up a few mics on a drum kit into a mixer and record those separately, then the most challenging instrument is taken care of. Have a guitar player play a scratch track through headphones for the drummer.

You can add other instruments later. Capturing an entire band performance with mics live is possible, but you lose that ability to adjust levels unless you invest in some interfaces with multiple inputs. At which point, multi tracking it studio style would be make just as much sense.

If you network a little, you might find that there are some local people who have project studios that are well equipped to do demo quality work.

 

[cheapbasslovin]

Zoom makes a recording mixer that can record up to 8 channels simultaneously and then transfer the tracks to DAW. It sounds like you're looking to get a live recording and this would be pretty good for that function. I think there are a few other mixer recorders, but they come in a few bucks higher for the same number of tracks, if I'm not mistaken.

Zoom LiveTrak L-8 8-channel Digital Mixer / Recorder

 

[DirtDog]

You’re at the absolute thinnest edge of the wedge here for DIY recording circa 2021.

To have a full multitrack setup - enough to track each instrument, drums and vocals - you’re looking at expensive interfaces and a reasonably powerful computer. Then there’s the engineering know-how...mic’ing drums for instance, then there’s the room (treated for recording or just a typical jam room?), then there’s the production, mixing and mastering.

if you don’t have the gear and know how, it’s a bit of a stretch to get a decent full band demo together in short order.

like others have said, studio route might suit you better but there’s likely also some amateur engineer/production types that might be willing to come to your location and record you. When you’re networking, try to find these types of people....

I fall into that last category; one of my systems is spec’d for mobile recording of a full band - everything, including mics and cables, cost me several thousands of $$$ and I’ve got thousands of hours of DIY recording experience under my belt. But I don’t get the chance to deploy this system as often as I would like (esp since Covid). You might get lucky and find someone like me that’s local to you....

 

[Basslice]

You’re at the absolute thinnest edge of the wedge here for DIY recording circa 2021.

I agree. I am amazed though of the sound quality I have gotten our of a simple Zoom H2 recorder sitting in the practice room. Just the onboard mics. I wouldn't put it up against the quality of real studio, but if you listen to the recordings, we sound pretty good and I enjoy listening to old gigs and practices. It has also been a useful tool to get our drummer to back off a bit and one of the guitarist to turn up.... A simple room mix is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Killing Floor]

Maybe consider making a demo with a different drummer and don’t even tell the regular drummer. And deny, deny, deny. And when he finds out just say “oh, that was when you were gone and we were just hanging out and jammed with some friends”.

 

[Slevage]

If you can balance the band in a live setting you can make a decent recording with a 4 channel, handy recorder (Tascam,Zoom).
Get a good live mix on 2 channels then decide if anything needs to be up front more. Channels 3&4 can get their own instrument (maybe vocals).
Though not album quality, it will be good enough for a demo for local bars.

 

[mikewalker]

something like a ZOOM R8 ( or maybe even an R16) can get you in the game : R8 R16 Multitrack Recorder

 

[cableguy]

I agree. I am amazed though of the sound quality I have gotten our of a simple Zoom H2 recorder sitting in the practice room. Just the onboard mics. I wouldn't put it up against the quality of real studio, but if you listen to the recordings, we sound pretty good and I enjoy listening to old gigs and practices. It has also been a useful tool to get our drummer to back off a bit and one of the guitarist to turn up.... A simple room mix is not necessarily a bad thing.

My band has use a Zoom recording gigs just sitting out in front of the mixing desk. Not as good as a studio recording but gives a good room vibe. (make sure you're recording at a place with a competent soundman.) Combine that with video from the show and you can get a good demo showing how you are live. It also show audience interaction as well.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I’m looking to do some basic budget recordings of our band for promo purposes. We have nothing other than some cell phone recordings so far. I’ve been looking at all the USB recording interfaces and still have no clear idea what I should be looking for.

I’ll be going into a Chrome book ( I know it’s not ideal, but it’s what I’ve got). And I’ll be doing minimal processing.

Any recommendations? Do I need midi, is a single channel ok - should I be looking at 2 or 4 channel interfaces? I’m just looking to buy once and not overlook anything. Thanks in advance.

This is two 8 channel rack
Interfaces running simultaneously into a macbook. So we were able to record 16 tracks at the same time. Basically it took 8 channels just to track drums and we used the second one for guitars, bass, vocals, and keys. (Ignore the gun, not real, it’s actually a mic stand lol)

Doing it that way can get good results but requires a lot of additional gear. Not just a recording device but you need drum mics, mic stands and cables for all the mics.


simple but usable alternative is to just get a handheld recorder like the zoom stuff that has inputs, not the least expensive ones that only have a built in mic. Make sure you get one with two or more inputs and just take a stereo feed from the board at your next gig.

in my home studio I do use a little focusrite 2i2. It works fine for everything except drums. But I use my home studio more for writing and demoing purposes so I do it the easy way and use virtual drums and groove packs. The addition of midi groove packs has changed recording demos at home a lot for me. Because the groove packs are recorded by real drummers so the midi isn’t locked to the grid and sounds a lot more realistic than programming on a midi map which typically sounds mechanical unless you spend countless hours moving the midi off the grid and changing the velocity of every single hit. They basically make the groove packs by having a real drummers play an e kit and then they chop up the midi information into shorter grooves. Here are some of the drum samples and one of the groove packs I use. This is basically two products to buy. The drum samples, and the groove pack. Totaled like $50. when you get the groove packs they have the recorded bpm used for the groove, but they will morph to your bpm in your DAW, so you don’t have to only use grooves with exact same bpm, lot of the grooves work just fine a little faster or a littler slower.

there are other methods some of my friends use. Like they’ll pay to track drums in a studio but then do everything else at home with a simple interface. One of the local bands here records midi using an e kit and uses virtual drums. Basically using the e kit to record midi and then they apply the virtual drum samples to that midi. You can start getting usb interfaces that have a midi in around the $200 range.

 

[2playbass]

The Zoom mics do a pretty good job. I've also found the audio recorded by my GoPro 7 at gigs is surprisingly good. I'll sometimes put mine up in a lighting rig during setup, or mount it somewhere so it's beyond the reach of people in the audience. I connect to it to an external battery that lasts the whole gig, and control it remotely from my phone. You can attach better quality external mics to the GoPro if you want to. You get both audio and video out of it.

That said, the Presonus (StudioLive 16R) mixer I use for gigs (or practices) when we are providing the PA has multi-track output to my Mac. If I want really good quality audio, I will record multi-track and mix it later in Logic Pro. If I just want a quick-and-dirty recording with decent quality, I'll just use the GoPro.

 

[dBChad]

We were in the same position, and actually ended up solving the problem on accident. The guys in my band and I each split a license for Reaper (super affordable but very capable and professional DAW) and a 2 channel PreSonus interface each. It was good for multi-tracking, but we played better as a band. Back in December, I started running sound locally as a way to offset the monthly cost of storage I was paying to keep a PA system I already owned. I started out using a 90's era Carvin 16ch 4 bus mixer and a small rack with a couple outboard effects unit in it (Amazing sound quality, poor convenience). Then, late January/early February my local music shop had a clearance on a Behringer XR18 mixer. I scooped it up at about $200 below street price. It sounds surprisingly good (not as good as my outboard rack gear) and cut 30-45 minutes average off my setup and striking time. The workflow isn't as easy for me as the old school fader farm mixers I learned on, but this is a very deep toolbox. I can control it wirelessly with my tab and I usually have my laptop wired to it on an ethernet cable for redundancy (in case the wifi drops out).

Come to find out, this mixer works as a 16ch interface for Reaper, now we can play as a band and every mic and instrument is recorded on it's own track for individual editing, effects processing, or punch in editing in the DAW. It's a lot of money up front compared to a more stripped down interface, but it also comes with some very nice digital effects, a live sound mixer, and an in-ear mixer if your band ever makes that move. Compared to my old analog gear, I would say I gave up an inch of sound quality to get 10 feet of convenience. The workflow is a little more cumbersome, but the more I use it the better I get. You can also save scene for easy recall of certain venues or other bands. Maybe it's not right for you, but it's a pretty impressive tool for the money.

 

[Bullitt5135]

Am I correct in assuming you are a weekend warrior band like mine?

Maybe you can find somebody locally who is willing to come to a rehearsal, and record you? You might get lucky and find a kindred spirit to do it for a case of beer or two? I say that because even with appropriate gear, it can be hard to play and run all the gear at the same time - and results can be disappointing. Depending on where you live, some cities have rehearsal studios with the ability to record your sessions.

DIY recording can be a slippery slope. My old band attempted to record live into 4-track Tascam then overdub vocals. I was embarrassed with how bad the results sounded. Then I got an 8-channel digital mixer and produced stuff in GarageBand. It sounded marginally better, but it took forever.

It wasn’t until I started using a more advanced DAW (Reaper), and hundreds of hours of trial and error and obsessive research until I started producing demos that I was proud to share outside the band.

To be honest, I have gotten decent audio & video of my band on my iPhone. If your band has a good live mix and you’re not too loud, you should get usable results. This summer, I’d like to invite a bunch of friends over for a mini gig, have them all shoot video so we get multiple camera angles, then find somebody to edit it down into a 3 minute promo video. The places we target all seem to ask if we have a YouTube channel, so short videos seem like a good solution.

 

[Bullitt5135]

We were in the same position, and actually ended up solving the problem on accident. The guys in my band and I each split a license for Reaper (super affordable but very capable and professional DAW) and a 2 channel PreSonus interface each. It was good for multi-tracking, but we played better as a band. Back in December, I started running sound locally as a way to offset the monthly cost of storage I was paying to keep a PA system I already owned. I started out using a 90's era Carvin 16ch 4 bus mixer and a small rack with a couple outboard effects unit in it (Amazing sound quality, poor convenience). Then, late January/early February my local music shop had a clearance on a Behringer XR18 mixer. I scooped it up at about $200 below street price. It sounds surprisingly good (not as good as my outboard rack gear) and cut 30-45 minutes average off my setup and striking time. The workflow isn't as easy for me as the old school fader farm mixers I learned on, but this is a very deep toolbox. I can control it wirelessly with my tab and I usually have my laptop wired to it on an ethernet cable for redundancy (in case the wifi drops out).

Come to find out, this mixer works as a 16ch interface for Reaper, now we can play as a band and every mic and instrument is recorded on it's own track for individual editing, effects processing, or punch in editing in the DAW. It's a lot of money up front compared to a more stripped down interface, but it also comes with some very nice digital effects, a live sound mixer, and an in-ear mixer if your band ever makes that move. Compared to my old analog gear, I would say I gave up an inch of sound quality to get 10 feet of convenience. The workflow is a little more cumbersome, but the more I use it the better I get. You can also save scene for easy recall of certain venues or other bands. Maybe it's not right for you, but it's a pretty impressive tool for the money.

Great suggestion. This is exactly how I like to do things now, although I’ve upgraded to a Soundcraft Ui24r. I try to record every gig for prosperity, and to have a reference recording of all the songs we play - helps with practicing later on.

If anyone is thinking of going the digital mixer route, the main reason I went to the Soundcraft was the ability to easily record multi-track to a USB thumb drive. No laptop needed. In the OP’s case, he said he only has a Chromebook. I’m not sure what, if anything, you can produce on that...which is why I initially recommended iPhone video and playing live as a band.