Home Recording

[CHBryan25]

I just moved to a new house and have a room set up where my band practices. It's a medium sized room with carpeting. I have recorded at home before using like a MIDI box thing and a mic, but I was wondering if you all had any suggestions about the best possible (without being way over the top) home recording devices/techniques to get some decent sounding recordings of us...

[Wheeler004]

Would you be using a computer? If so, what kind?

[CHBryan25]

A Mac Book Pro. We have a drums, two guitars, bass, and vocals.

[Wheeler004]

A lot of it is going to depend on how much you are looking to spend. For around $150, you can get an Alesis 8 channel mixer with recording software (I believe Cubase) with USB hookup. If I were you, I would probably go for something that will give you a little bit better quality. For around $500, you could get an Apogee One, Logic Express, and an 8 channel mixer that would give you high quality recordings, albeit scaled down and simplified control over mixing perameters. For a little more, you could upgrade to an Apogee Duet, which would give you the ability to track in stereo if you record live.

I really like the Apogee/Logic combo for a Mac, but there is a wide variety of different interface and software options available. The best thing to do is spend some time researching on the internet and finding what fits best for your budget and needs.

[CHBryan25]

Thank you the Apogee products sound nice. Which set up would be better the Apogee One or the Duet for recording us live in the room (then overdubbing the vocals etc)?

[Wheeler004]

I would definitely go with the Duet over the One. The Duet will give you the option to record in stereo and allow you to do a little more mixing. It would allow you to cut individual tracks while recording semi-live as well (like tracking bass and drums at the same time, but using dedicated tracks). The Duet reportedly has better sound quality (though I am far from certain). I think you will find that having the option of recording in stereo or dual mono is well worth the extra coin.

If you decide two channels isn't enough, the Apogee Ensemble is a great piece of gear (though quite expensive, and possibly more than you really need). It offers 8 channels, which provides an immense amount of flexibility when it comes to mixing down. The Ensemble would be ideal if you need increased control over the perameters of each channel during mixing. For all intensive purposes, the Duet will probably suit your needs just fine.

[gregorybj]

I enjoyed my recording setup! I had a usb mic for my cabs and my vocals and I could also play through the Pod xt directly into the computer. Unfortunately, my computer just crashed and I lost 20 gigs of recorded material. I put over 500 hours of work into that stuff. Luckily though, I was able to render and save the mp3s of my better recordings. But I am feeling ok for a guy that just lost that.

[GregoryL]

I'm a dedicated Apogee Duet user, but if you're looking for something that would provide more inputs to record simultaneous tracks without having to step up to the Apogee Ensemble, I'd check out the RME Fireface line.

They seem to fill in the gap between the Duet and the Ensemble and receive high marks for sound and reliability. MOTU ... not so much, but lots of people use them as well.

[devinb]

A lot of it is going to depend on how much you are looking to spend. For around $150, you can get an Alesis 8 channel mixer with recording software (I believe Cubase) with USB hookup. If I were you, I would probably go for something that will give you a little bit better quality. For around $500, you could get an Apogee One, Logic Express, and an 8 channel mixer that would give you high quality recordings, albeit scaled down and simplified control over mixing perameters. For a little more, you could upgrade to an Apogee Duet, which would give you the ability to track in stereo if you record live.

I really like the Apogee/Logic combo for a Mac, but there is a wide variety of different interface and software options available. The best thing to do is spend some time researching on the internet and finding what fits best for your budget and needs.

$500 is a ton of money to spend to record a band with one mic being placed somewhere in the room?

If your the OP's intent is to really be able to record drums well, particularly while recording guitars and bass at the same time, and leaving any flexibility for mixing (i.e., not buying some sort of mixer with mic-pres and recording, and printing mixes), I'd guess you're looking at several thousand dollars and up to get to a very basic level, with minimally mic'd drums.

I'd really suggest the OP consider saving money and block out studio time later on, and enjoy the experience and the better product.

At the very least, I'd plan on doing drums in a studio, and everything else at home, depending on the drummer, and what sounds you're going after (in terms of the number of mics, not even the quality of mics and mic pres), you may be able to professionally record drums for a number of albums in what it would cost to buy a set-up to do drums at home.

[Wheeler004]

You'll note I recommended the Duet over the One, and I certainly never recommended recording using a single mic in a room (not sure where that came from). You'll also note I gave examples of gear starting at $150. I'm simply trying to give the OP an idea of some of the things out there.

You needn't spend thousands of dollars to get a decent recording set up for a band mix. A good mixer, a couple quality channels of A/D input, the right mic placement, a little patience, and a good ear should suffice. The OP asked about home recording, so I'm relaying information about home recording, not advising on the futility of a budget home studio.

Building even the most modest of home studios requires thoughtful planning and difficult decisions. To the OP, after you've decided on a budget, you have to decide how to spend the money. IMO, a good recording interface with the best quality you can afford should be the primary concern. Given the proper mixing techniques and a little practice, you can overcome the obstacles of only having a couple A/D input channels. It is much more difficult to overcome the pitfalls of lower quality inputs and A/D conversion. Apogee is by no means the only high quality stuff out there, it's just my personal favorite and I am continually impressed by its capabilities. YMMV.

[jmoose]

Before you can figure out what gear you need to get, you really need to define what "decent" is and and align your expectations to that.

Then figure out the budget...

There's a VERY large difference between sticking a pair of mics up in the best sounding spot and doing a full-out multi-tracked extravaganza.

Both of those approaches can sound "decent" and both can cost comparatively little or a whole lot compared to booking a modest studio when you to.

Figure out the goal & purpose of the recordings and the rest will start to fall in place.

[devinb]

You'll note I recommended the Duet over the One, and I certainly never recommended recording using a single mic in a room (not sure where that came from). You'll also note I gave examples of gear starting at $150. I'm simply trying to give the OP an idea of some of the things out there.

You needn't spend thousands of dollars to get a decent recording set up for a band mix. A good mixer, a couple quality channels of A/D input, the right mic placement, a little patience, and a good ear should suffice. The OP asked about home recording, so I'm relaying information about home recording, not advising on the futility of a budget home studio.

Building even the most modest of home studios requires thoughtful planning and difficult decisions. To the OP, after you've decided on a budget, you have to decide how to spend the money. IMO, a good recording interface with the best quality you can afford should be the primary concern. Given the proper mixing techniques and a little practice, you can overcome the obstacles of only having a couple A/D input channels. It is much more difficult to overcome the pitfalls of lower quality inputs and A/D conversion. Apogee is by no means the only high quality stuff out there, it's just my personal favorite and I am continually impressed by its capabilities. YMMV.

Sorry, I think I got in a hurry when I saw a One or Duet for a full band situation...I'm not anti-Apogee in the least bit, but I'd really only consider those for mic'ing up an amp or doing vocals at home...

I am a big proponent of using studios, in general, I think most home recordings are serious lacking when compared to even modest professional studios with a good engineer. I also believe that in the long run going into a studio is far less expensive for most people, and while you don't end up with a rack full of equipment that will quickly depreciate (in many cases), you will likely have a better recording, and perhaps a much better experience. I do understand the interest in engineering, in experimenting and learning and such. But a simple set up is never simple, when you start, you may realize that there are loads expenses that you don't anticipate, from a headphone amp/mixer, cables and whatnot up...

From a practical perspective I really think a person needs to consider a hard budget when comparing costs to a studio...does $500 get them to the point where they can record a band, or does that get them to the point where they will still need to spend double that to just record the drums in stereo, leaving little to no room for editing and mixing...I think too many people look at the hourly rate of a studio and figure they're better off buying things, but by the time they're done they'll have spent way more...now, if you write and want to record a hundred songs a year, that's another story, but if you might make an album twice a decade...

[Wheeler004]

You're definitely right-- home studio equipment can really add up in a hurry! Mics, monitors, mixer, preamps-- the list goes on and on. Studio time is a great option, especially for a full band looking to record a serious album. As you pointed out, the other consideration is how often your band is looking to record. My band records every rehearsal so we can track our progress and pinpoint things we need to work on week by week. I guess one of the reasons I recommended the gear I did is because it provides a good way to record a live band for reference/practice purposes, and it also provides a great platform for individual tracking for an album. Sorry if my response came across as a bit defensive; it's tough to recommend gear without knowing the full extent to which it will be used.

[devinb]

I probably deserved it.

Even the mundane things add up...buying the mic stands, sure they don't have to be fancy, but should you ever want to put up nice overheads, you may regret doing that with cheap boom stands with a collapsible tripod base...and so on...home recording kind of reminds me of a home improvement project, and sometimes becomes one (see the thread about buzzing in the monitors).

I really think unless you're the type of person that has amazing follow through, you should really consider going into a studio...besides the cost, the learning curve is wide, if not steep.

[arthur rotfeld]

Borrow two condensers and record the live band straight into an interface/computer...see if you like that kind of sound. You should be able to get a decent "live" sound like this. When it's time to buy, figure $500 for the two mics and stands and $100+ for an interface. There was someone on here who had some nice sounding demos done like that....forgot who.

IMO if you are going to mic everything it will become an ordeal...and expensive. Better going into a studio at that point.