Middle School Recording Project

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

So I need to record one song at least with drums, guitar, bass, and vocals. (And yes, I have the ability to play all of those instruments at a mediocre level at least.) How would I go about recording everything? What program should I use (prefferably for free). I'm tight on cash and I can't spend much. It's all due by early May. I'm writing the song in Powertab now.

[shadedlife]

you could download pirated versions of anything... i use cool edit pro 2.

[Mardok]

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
the best free program, i've seen

[airborne50caliber]

audacity is great for nearly everything

[moaner]

audacity > anything else free for everything except midi

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

audacity is great for nearly everything


How do I record guitar, drums, and bass?

Can I do it by playing the instruments and letting the PC mic pick them up? Or will that not sound good?

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

Anyone? Seems rather slow on MX today?

[bobthellama]

Use audacity, its the best for your cause. One thing though, i have found that when recording takes over top of each other, getting timing of the 2nd take is quite hard to get right sometimes. What i suggest is recording a metronome ticking by itself one track one, then add each other part as they belong, keeping in time w/ the nome. You might think you can keep in time by yourself, but trust me, the tiniest chnges in tempo can throw a song off, and cause two tracks to not lay exactly in time, making a poor recording. Hope i helped a bit. :thumb:

[himynameistweek]

eh?
well you should use a metronome for the drum parts... but after that, you listen to the drums while you're recording. it kind of eliminates the need for a metronome...

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

Thanks for the help, but I still need to know HOW to record drums and guitar and bass. Do I just play the instruments and have the PC mic pick up the sounds?

[15sbassist]

I reckon you should get an adapter for your guitar/bass lead. You plug the end of your lead (the one that normally goes into your amp) into the adapter, which allows you to plug your instrument into the mic port of your computer. I'm not sure about the drum kit? You'd need at least 4 mics for that I reckon.

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

So I can't record drums without running a few mics through a PA system? Mic packages cost around $200 and I can't get that kind of money in time.

How much are adapters and where can I get one?

[moaner]

So I can't record drums without running a few mics through a PA system? Mic packages cost around $200 and I can't get that kind of money in time.

How much are adapters and where can I get one?

not a powered mixer, a normal mmixer.

you cannot record drums to sufficient quality for any useful purposes without minimum 2 condensers and a bass drum mic.

[moaner]

I reckon you should get an adapter for your guitar/bass lead. You plug the end of your lead (the one that normally goes into your amp) into the adapter, which allows you to plug your instrument into the mic port of your computer. I'm not sure about the drum kit? You'd need at least 4 mics for that I reckon.

bass straight to PC is JUST useable.

guitar straight to Pc is beyond horrible.

[airborne50caliber]

eh?
well you should use a metronome for the drum parts... but after that, you listen to the drums while you're recording. it kind of eliminates the need for a metronome...

yes thats the way to do it.

threadstarter, dont use a pc mic. please. do it for me and for the quality of your recording.

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

I'm confused about the whole thing? If I can't use a PC mic, and I shouldn't run the guitar or bass into the PC, (according to moaner) how do I record on my computer?

EDIT: I can see this is virtually impossible for me to accomplish within a month. So far I have the bassline and guitar parts written up on powertab. I will just get a tri-board thing and glue 'em up. But that seems too small to be a project. The only other thing I can think of to do is make a fancy triboard and cite my sources. How else can I show how hard I've worked on the whole thing?

[moaner]

I'm confused about the whole thing? If I can't use a PC mic, and I shouldn't run the guitar or bass into the PC, (according to moaner) how do I record on my computer?

by plugging a mixer or pre-amp into your line in.

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

I'm having a bit of trouble finding the line-in. Do I need some special kind of chord/adapter, or just the standard speaker chords? I'm trying to plug in my Kustom PA system.

[thelemon32]

Use audacity, its the best for your cause. One thing though, i have found that when recording takes over top of each other, getting timing of the 2nd take is quite hard to get right sometimes. What i suggest is recording a metronome ticking by itself one track one, then add each other part as they belong, keeping in time w/ the nome. You might think you can keep in time by yourself, but trust me, the tiniest chnges in tempo can throw a song off, and cause two tracks to not lay exactly in time, making a poor recording. Hope i helped a bit. :thumb:

i use audacity. when you say the timing is hard to get off. does this mean that the audacity program automatically causes the timing to be off, or does it mean that it is hard to play at the same timing when recording?

[airborne50caliber]

he means hes tried recording everything separately without monitoring. theres nothing to stop you listening to your drum track while you record guitar. In fact, its the only sensible way to do it, unless there's latency.

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

he means hes tried recording everything separately without monitoring. theres nothing to stop you listening to your drum track while you record guitar. In fact, its the only sensible way to do it, unless there's latency.

And if you don't want to hear it, turn off the volume.





So these adapter chords....can I get them cheap at Wal Mart or radio Shack?

[moaner]

And if you don't want to hear it, turn off the volume.





So these adapter chords....can I get them cheap at Wal Mart or radio Shack?

RS, certiantly.

get a couple, they're easy to lose.

[airborne50caliber]

i always lose adapters, argh!

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

I got the adapter. Can I run it from the PA's line out into the PC Mic socket in my sound card?

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

??¿

[airborne50caliber]

lost thread of discussion

[Moseph]

ok, first, you're going to need to spend roughly $130 US or so on gear to make this work. This is for a bare-bones recording, so don't expect it to sound wonderful, but it'll get the job done.

Buy a cheap, 2-4 channel mixer, make sure you have @ least one preamp in it. Additionally, make sure it has @ least one channel where you can plug a high impedence source in (ie, guitar and bass). Here's a good one for this... (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/631237/).

Buy a couple of mics, you'll probably only want to spend about $50 US for the pair, so keep that in mind. Behringer Ultravoice XM8500's will probably suit you.

You'll also need @ minimum: 2 XLR (mic) cable, a 1/4" TRS cable, a 1/4" to 1/8" stereo adapter plug (maybe 2), and possibly a y-adapter of some sort.

Take the output (main/headphone) f/ the mixer, and run it into the "line in" on your computer's soundcard to capture sound. Read your mixer manual, and make sure you know how to move signals around on the board f/ the mics.

For the actual recording, use Audacity as suggested (http://audacity.sf.net). Record one track @ a time, preferably doing drums first as suggested (use two mics overhead to record drums, or possibly one overhead and one on the kick, it's your decision). After you have a solid drum track that isn't straying too far f/ your metronome, you can do the other parts, one track @ a time.

Here's the key to this endeavor: latency will be an issue for you recording one track @ a time. Everything you record after that first track will be time-delayed f/ the original track b/c your hardware/software isn't perfect. Use the "time shift" tool (it looks like a line w/ a pair of arrows @ either end) to put things back in sync. Make sure you're listening to the original track so that you keep time on the new ones as you record them. You're going to have to fidget w/ each track a bit to figure out where to place things (this gets a little easier w/ practice, but it's your first time).

That should be enough to get you started. Other configurations are possible, but this minimizes the amount of gear to buy, and also keeps costs relatively low. Good luck w/ your project.

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

So why can't I use my PA mixer?

[Moseph]

I never said you couldn't. I just didn't read as carefully as I should have. If your PA mixer has preamps and line-outputs, you can use that.

[shayne_122]

i'd say getting an apex omnidirectional mic for 40 bucks, hook it in to your mixer, connect the line out to your line in or mic jack on your sound card, record with pirated sonar or just use audacity. you can actually get a relativley good drum recording using a single omni mic. for guitar, please please please please dont record with distortion, unless you got a good amp and a really good mic, it'll sound like cr/ap. bass, well you can mic the amp, or, the better way, just shove your bass cable into one of the input jacks on the mixer.

the teachers wont give a **** about how it sounds.. or at least mine didnt... (see i have to go to this nazi private school, who do this international bauccalauriate program in which we do a project that takes a year long... doesnt matter what it is, as long as you document it well. my album that i did sounds okay, actually near studio quality, using that setup right there)

[airborne50caliber]

studio quality, going from mic to line in? ok...

[shayne_122]

studio quality, going from mic to line in? ok...

first off... i said near studio quality...

second off i said
hook it in to your mixer, connect the line out to your line in

the mixer preserved the sound quality, and you can eq on it, or sonar/whatever

but... i did make one mistake in not saying that i recorded with a soundblaster audigy external usb... which cut down on alot of hiss.

and also, i said not to record with distortion, because thats hard to get a good sound with a cheap mic, unless you have.

[shayne_122]

want a sample?

[airborne50caliber]

back off i believe you, i misread

[XemoXmoshXpitX]

Tis not a fight thread.

[gaz12369]

want a sample?

I'd like a sample, though not to prove you wrong, just to see what it sounds like to determine how much i wana spend on recording stuff:)

Gaz