Recording myself question

ZDrumMan

Active Member
I purchased the wrong mix board as I all too often jump in on an idea before thinking. To quote that famous philosopher Homer (Simpson) DOH. So what I have ended up with is a live 12 track mixer that has a stereo output to my computer via USB. I have five mics on my set and for my learning about my playing, it works. It is not the best setup but it has helped me to hear where I need to improve. So, for the time being, it meets my needs. Now that C-19 is resolving (we hope) I can see where for a home studio that will later involve other members of a rhythm section, I need something much better.
What I would like to do is get a microphone for each track per recording (plus any direct inputs from instruments as well). I have tried a few different recording software packages and found for my purpose, Audacity will do just fine (yes, trying to keep costs down). My question to the brain trust here is, what equipment should I go with to get to my desired end result? I know I must change out the mix board, but recommendations would be appreciated.
 
Ah. The eternal question.

On a side note, why is it the drummer the one buying gear to record a whole band? You ever see your guitarist buddies thinking of anybody else when they start recording? No. They just buy for themselves because they’re so focused on themselves all the time. The drummer is always the guy thinking about recording with everybody in the band. Just sayin’.

I know you want to do this on a budget, but there’s really no way to do that. So, like cymbals, I suggest you buy once and cry once.

what I’ve done is this: I bought a Yamaha TF rack mixer and added the Yamaha TIo 16-channel input box. So now I have a 32-channel mixer with about 24 aux outputs. But the cool thing is that you can do a direct-to-2-track recording using an external hard drive via USB, or you can plug a computer into it and record separate tracks to whatever software you have that can handle simultaneously recording on that many channels. It’s an investment, but if you’re serious, you’ll end up there anyway.

my recording and live situation rig cost me about $2200.
 
I'd recommend getting a Soundcraft Ui24R for around 720 bucks which has enough ins and outs for your application, has quite nice Studer pre-amps, various effects (Lexicon, DigiTech) for live and acts as a mixing console and USB sound card, controlled via web browser on any device. This should enable you to do rehearsals, recordings and live shows with the same device. Quite the same concept Bo already mentioned, just utilizing different gear.

On a side note, why is it the drummer the one buying gear to record a whole band? You ever see your guitarist buddies thinking of anybody else when they start recording? No. They just buy for themselves because they’re so focused on themselves all the time. The drummer is always the guy thinking about recording with everybody in the band. Just sayin’.
In my opinion it has to do with technical requirements. One is totally able to use just a notebook and a microphone to record guitars, vocals, keyboards and what else. Spending a few bucks on a stereo pre-amp just adds to the quality. Compared to a drummer who would need at least eight pre-amps, ADCs and microphones - while that's still a very limited setup.
 
Well, as a keys player, I've been with many bands where the drummer just wanted to play, was always late to set up and give a crap about how he sounded for people, I had to buy Mike's for drums way before Mike's for me, well, I don't reply need any for me, but it goes with the level of technicality you are involved and then, you think of a better sound for everyone, you think "band" first instead of "me" first....I have more Mieke for drums than the rest of the studio Mike's for guitar plus bass plus brass etc...
Also because, maybe, as we are, keys and then, always at the back, we are not distracted by the girls yelling at us in the crowd and we are then focus on how we hear things from our perspective!!!
 
The side bar topic is funny to me. Yesterday I watched a Bernard Purdie interview where he states the drummer is often the band leader because if everything goes bad, the rest of the band always looks at the drummer. :cool: Not sure if that is true, I just think the timing of this is ... interesting.

Thanks everyone for your input.
 
The side bar topic is funny to me. Yesterday I watched a Bernard Purdie interview where he states the drummer is often the band leader because if everything goes bad, the rest of the band always looks at the drummer. :cool: Not sure if that is true, I just think the timing of this is ... interesting.

Thanks everyone for your input.
Is that the one where he goes in a five minute rant about young drummers playing in sneakers?? 😂
 
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