What's the best way to record songs played by my rock band, so I can stick the songs on the promotional CD?

-2 guitars
-1 bass
-1 drum
-maybe 1 keyboard

I have a Sony Minidisc recorder that is capable of recordings (although I need to get a stereo mic first).. Any advice?

u need a mixer to let all the sound transmit in to ur MD. but MD wun have a good quality after recording.

u dun have some recording devices?

for me, drum alone took up 6mic at least to record it.

unless you wan ultra reverberation, place ur mic there and jam while you record. save cost but yet quality drop.

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Get a mixer with like 6/8 inputs and mic everything up.
Audio interface with just as many i/o's n stuff so you can get an individual track for each instrument.

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quote:

Originally posted by EnerJen What's the best way to record songs played by my rock band, so I can stick the songs on the promotional CD? -2 guitars -1 bass -1 drum -maybe 1 keyboard I have a Sony Minidisc recorder that is capable of recordings (although I need to get a stereo mic first).. Any advice?

You could record everything at once, but then you need enough inputs : either a mixer, or a soundcard/multitrack recorder with enough inputs + preamps .
But for most control, it's usually done in overdubs (everything apart). Usually first the drum (following a clicktrack if wanted), then the bass, then the rest. It's usually done that way in studio. You get the best performance of each part, and if someone messes up, you can just record the part over again. What is required here is low latency monitoring (you got to provide headphone cues to the musicians), enough preamps, and enough inputs on your interface/recorder (if you want to close mike the drum, expect about 8 mics for a standard drumkit).

If you record everyone at the same time, everyone needs to be "perfect" at the same time. If only one person makes a mistake, everyone has to start over. Obviously, extremely good musicians are required for this.
The only thing it can give you more is a "live" feel (that can be had with overdubs too, though). But then it's still better to record each instrument on it's own input. So a decent audio interface is needed (or again, a multitrack recorder). If use a mixer, and record the stereo out, well then you don't leave any choice for mixing, everything must be done at the record stage... So if you use a mixer, it's indeed better to use one that has direct outs.

And of course, decent room accoustics are needed.

Last edited by Dj Thy on Sep-05-2004 at 13:53

You might be best to go to a local recording studio and get it done for you at a price, it'll cost you but it'll sound better than something recorded at home with cheap stuff...

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