Cheap way for my band to record itself?

[dpakman91]

I don't have mics for my drums, nor do we have any equipment to "properly" record ourselves, but we really want to get a listen to how we sound.

One option is just to record with a videocamera, but obviously there is one mic on the camera, and it sounds horrible, and depending on where you put the camera, you hear one instrument much more than the other.

What else do you guys do to record your bands?

[aznriceball]

can you guys afford an overhead?

[Paranoidd]

Maybe look into just renting a mic or two, or some gear?

A ribbon mic in a room with decent acoustics might be able to give you a decent sound (make sure you talk to someone knowledgeable at a music store about mic characteristics, like how high SPL's will ruin most ribbon mics. It's not something you put on the snare. It's a highly sensitive mic you'd put a few feet from the kit in the best acoustic area to get an overall sound of the kit).



One or two large diaphragm condensor overheads might also work.

[Win A Rabbit]

if you're just wanting something for you guys to listen to, you really don't need much (assuming of course you're not trying to make a professional recording or anything) my band used my friend's sister's karaoke machine to listen back on a few of our jam sessions. we recorded a 5 song demo with just a computer mic that we borrowed from a friend and downloaded a free recording program. if you work with some mic placement, it's not too difficult to get a decent sound.