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recording off mixer-what product?

T

Tom W

Jul 30, 2007
6
0
#1
I have done a couple of searches, and havent found exactly what I'm looking for.

Right now I am in a Punk/Rock/Alternative/Indie/Ska Band With a drummer, two guitarst, bass and one set of vocals

We are trying to devise some type of way to record us so that we can get an idea of the way every thing sounds (convince our guitarist that he is playing wrong notes)
we dont need production quality, but something better than a digital still camera with a mic the size of a pin hole in the adjacent room (our current set up)

This is what we have at our disposal

8 channel powered mixer
4 or 5 various mics (could probably find more)
amps with line outs
boxes of random cables (RCA to Stereo Headphone, etc)

We really want to all play at once (rather than one person at a time) and with the mixer this should be possible

Rather not go directly into a computer set up (as it is in a different part of house and not readily moved)

What we need is a way to capture the output of the mixer

I've been searching the web and havent found too many
I dont care what format it records to (CD, SD card) as long as I can take it back to my house and get it on my computer (usb, cd drive, whatever) size isnt an issue (it doesnt need to be portable)


Thanks
Sorry if this has been answered but I couldnt find it
 
#3
Caveat...I am definitely not a 'sound guy' or a 'computer guy' or any kind of an expert, but I am happy to share what I have learned by trial and error.

There are digital recorders out there that do a very good job. I found one at a pawn shop, the Fostex MR8. Here is a link:
http://www.fostexusa.com/index.php?file=products/digital/mr8
I got one with a 2 gig memory card for $75, which I think was a pretty good deal. I first used it to record our band's practice, just by sticking a mic out in the middle of us. That worked remarkably well. Later, I learned that you can hook it up to the directly to the mixer. You can use it to record whatever mix you want to. You can record the house mix, the monitor mix, or a special mix that the sound person can create for you. For the best recording you would want a special mix, since you will want the drums, bass, vocals, etc. all properly represented.

Once you have the sound on the card, you just copy it to your computer and any program can be used to manipulate the wav file. I use the old (but very handy) program dcart. There are tons of them. Getting it onto the computer is as simple as connecting a USB cable and copying or moving the file.

As for cables, I use RCA-to-1/8th, with a 1/8th-to-1/4 adapter to plug from the mixer in to the Fostex, but it also takes XLR. There are a lot of ways you can connect.

Hope this helps.
 
#4
Depending on how cheap and simple you wanted to get,...

1) Get an old Cassette (yes tape. It's an 80's thing) deck from a home stereo. Plug it into the mixer. Adjust the levels to minimize distortion.

2) Since you are typing on a computer, chances are you have at least a basic soundcard on your computer. You could pump the mixer out into the soundcard and hit record. Again, judicious use of the level to avoid melting your computer (you said it was a powered mixer after all.)

Just two "dyi" type recording setups. The Computer method might be more flexible, since you will be able to run the track through Audacity for example and do some digital editing if you like. You could even burn your tracks to CD and become your own record company.


Of course, if you are at all serious about recording, there are much better ways of doing this.
 
#5
You could run your mics into your powered mixer and record direct to CD with a stand-alone CD burner, or some other type of self contained digital recorder. (maybe even into a cheap used cassette deck, just for now)

Your mixer should have some sort of stereo, Preamp level (not speaker level) outputs.
My powered mixer has a pair of output jacks labeled (L-R) preamp-out.
These would be my 1st choice to send to any (analog-input)recording device.
It also has two, FX-send outputs that would function to get a (preamp-level) stereo mix out.
(using these last two outputs might bypass your mixers EQ)

Recording studios used to make really great recordings with this type of recording method before multi-track recording was invented.

Mixing with this setup is going to be very tricky because your only going to get one chance to mix your entire recording.
If your also using this same mixer for your vocalist P/A system, this mix might be even tougher to achieve.

If you end up going this route, your first few recordings will definitely be trial and error, until you get everything adjusted correctly.

Standalone CD burners seem to be getting more scarce, but here's some info I dug up on Google:
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=S...as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&as_rights=&safe=images

I use and recommend:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...um=1&ct=result&cd=1&q=Tascam+CDRW700+&spell=1
And:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4DMUS_enUS221US222&q=Sony+RCD-w1

PS: you may find its much easier to record a live band with just two mics positioned out in the room, than close micing everything separately.

Check out this sight:
http://homerecording.com/bbs/


Let me know if you have any ???
Good luck...:)
 
#6
I've used a Sony Minidisc recorder (portable, not rack-mount) and now a video iPod with a Belkin TuneTalk mic (16-bit/44kHz). The minidisc was the superior recorder of the two, but the iPod is far easier ultimately to use and to listen back in a variety of ways - on the iPod itself or on a computer where I practice. The minidisc I have is the older kind that doesn't allow digital transfer back to the PC. And since I use the iPod for general listening anyway, having my rehearsal material on it means I carry one thing for everything. Also great for subsequent rehearsals where folks have forgotten the arrangements.

They both do well for rehearsal/documentation either via a stand-alone mic or line-in from a mixer. I've actually found that just using either device and its mic works great. No getting bogged down trying to mix the rehearsal, just hit record and play. The TuneTalk has really good bass response, too. Far better than I'd expected.
 
#9
Well, after several hours of searching the net I am still undecided.

Right now it seems as though it is between

Boss Micro BR
http://www.bossus.com/index.asp?pg=1&tmp=157

Zoom H4 Handy Recorder
http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-ZOO-H4-Handy-Recorder/dp/B000LGA2K6

in the meantime I am still looking for a used alternative (they seem hard to come by)

I have a lot of spare SD cards lying around so a device that writes to those would be a plus

Am I missing anything here? I've seen good and bad reviews for both recorders.

Thanks
Tom W
 
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#10
Wanna do it really cheap????

Go garage sale / craigslist hunting for VHS deck. Those things are bombproof. Good old cassette deck is also a great suggestion, and are also pretty bombproof.

What I like about both of the tape options is they are simple to use.
 
#11
If anyone cares this is what I ended up with...


Sony TC-WR445 - local music store $25


The other day me and the drummer set up the drum micing
Neither of us have the slightest idea about microphones, so we just grabbed a random box of them and started putting around the set. We had no idea what we were doing, yet some how with three random mic's on mic stands leaning onto guitar stands we managed to get a result that was scary good. The guitarist and I just directed out into the mixer from our amps, and then we hooked up the tape deck to the mixer with RCA to RCA cables. We hit record and just jammed, and it actually sounded acceptable.

Once on tape, I took the tape deck back to my house and lined out to my computer with a RCA to 1/8 inch right into just my basic sound card.

Using "Sound Recorder" (the one under accessories on windows) I was able to get remarkable results.

The only downsides to this set up is that I have to Carry the tape deck back and forth, and I have to transfer to my PC in real time.

No real way to edit yet I'm looking into free software though,
any suggestions?

Thanks
Tom W
 

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#13
Are you talking about pulling a stereo mix off the board, or individually tracking, say, eight tracks at the same time for future mixdown? For the latter, I like the Boss BR1600CD.

For the former, peruse this link for some cool tools. One of these should work for you.

The Zoom H4 has two XLR inputs for stereo recording. If your board's output can be set to mic level (like many of the small Mackies), you could get some really decent sound.
 

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