line out->mixer->audacity?

[El-Bob]

my band is ready to do some recording and we are planning on going from the line out in our amps to a mixer and then into our guitarists laptop with audacity(we'd be using 2 mics on the drums through the mixer).

i am wondering if this is a good approach or if we should try something different? also if this will work, can you guys recommend me a cheap mixer that will give us decent results?

I know i'm not giving you much to go on but if you need more specific info to answer my questions just let me know.

 

[DocBop]

If that is the gear you have then that is fine. Getting your balance may get tedious because I have a feeling the mixer is going to be in room where you play, a lot of trial and error.

You could also use what you get at a work track and overdub each part afterwards building the tracks up. Be a good playing lesson redoing parts. Plus then you can mix it anyway you want.

 

[El-Bob]

thanks for the advice.do you think it would it be easier to get a good balance by recording the tracks one at a time?

 

[Taylor Livingston]

Yes, definitely. You're going to be mixing while you record, if I understand your setup, and that's pretty difficult. Besides getting levels balanced, if you record everything on one track, you won't have much room to do anything with EQ, etc, once you have it recorded. For instance, if you find that your bass sounds thin, you won't be able to add low end to it without also increasing the low end on the kick drum, which may end up sounding boomy. When everything is recorded separately, you can do much more to enhance each instrument separately.

 

[El-Bob]

ok, so if we're recording everything separately can we just go without the mixer or should we use it to mic the drum set in stereo?

 

[DocBop]

ok, so if we're recording everything separately can we just go without the mixer or should we use it to mic the drum set in stereo?

First have Audacity generate a click track very important if you're going to be building up all the tracks separately. Yes, I would record the drums in stereo.

 

[El-Bob]

ok thanks. now, anyone have a recommendation for a cheap mixer?

 

[Plain Old Me]

Just how cheap are you looking? It might be a better investment to go with some sort of interface that can do more than 1 track at a time...

 

[El-Bob]

well, i'm looking for it to be as cheap as possible. less than $100 is good, less than $60 is better.

 

[Plain Old Me]

If you can spring for something like this:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-MobilePre-USB-Portable-Audio-Interface?sku=701368X
you could get 2 tracks down at once, and do the drums in stereo as well. It costs $120, but it is probably worth it if you want to get decent quality recordings.

 

[El-Bob]

too late, it's gone

 

[Plain Old Me]

too late, it's gone

Wow that was quick... Well the PreSonus Inspire is slightly more expensive but will get much the same result if you want to spend the $ for it.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-INSPIRE-1394-FireWire-Audio-Interface?sku=241483V

 

[LUMPYKILLS]

That radio shack mixer is like, 40$ and is extremely good quality.

 

[El-Bob]

That radio shack mixer is like, 40$ and is extremely good quality.

you could have just walked up the road to tell me that