Band Recording for feedback

[9danke]

I thought it would be a great learning tool for my band to record practice. I recorded in Rockband - I put the mic in a closet down the hall and covered the mic with a pillow - and I still get "over powered" and horrible, fuzzy, and unbalanced sound.
Any ideas, besides getting everyone to turn down their guitar amps (which seems to be impossible), to get a usable recording?
I set recording level to automatic, with no other adjustments.

 

[Charling]

Well, down the hall in a cupboard and with a pillow over it is not going to get that great a sound. All those things will accentuate some frequencies massively and get rid of other entirely.

Is there some way of taking down the gain on the rockband mic so you can have it in the same room as the band? Maybe take it off automatic and set it to a low record level. You should be able to get passable results if so. It'll be pretty lo fi, but you'll be able to hear what you are doing at least!

 

[NoiseNinja]

Have you tried the opposite approach, playing in a closet covering the amps and drumset in pillows, placing the mic outside.

No seriously, you need to turn down the input level on the mic, untill it dosn't clip. Aren't you using a mic preamp you can turn down the level on?

 

[9danke]

Personally, I like the "put the amps and drums in the closet", but I'll try putting the mic in the same room and putting the input level down as low as possible and see what happens.
Charling was 100% correct. Some frequencies dominated and others disappeared entirely.

 

[DuraMorte]

Does your band have a mixer and a few microphones? If so, you could use that to get a much better sounding recording than a single rockband mic.

 

[cheapbasslovin]

^+1 You'll also have some level control at a source with (hopefully) a little more headroom.

 

[JamesGoodall]

++1 it's a two hundred dollar (+/-) investment, and playing back practice sessions always helps your band better themselves