Recording a band...mics, mixer, MD, computer??

[Scott Silverman]

Ok, first of I want to apolgize if this has been posted before, but I spent half an hour searching and found nothing similar. So if it has been psted, then someone could just point me in the right direction.

Here is my situation: I am trying to do an audio recording of a band with 2 guitarists, 1 bass, 1 vocalist, 1 drummer, and 1 back-up vocalist. I basically need to start from scratch on equipment but here is what I was thinking of as far as mics, mixers, and speakers.

2 Shure SM57's - to mic the drummer http://www.shure.com/microphones/models/sm57.asp

2 SM58's - one for each vocalist http://www.shure.com/microphones/models/sm58.asp

1 UB1204-PRO Mixer - 12 inputs for all mics http://www.behringer.com/02_products...g=engBehringer (this page takes some time to load)

2 Studio Monitors - for pluging into the mixer and allowing the band to hear the output http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=259126&is=REG

And then comes my next question: recording. What should I use to record straight out of the mixer? I can either go into a computer and record or use some sort of MD etc. I dont really have any recording equipment so suggestions on computer software/hardware and MDs would be very helpful.

I also had a question regarding recording the guitars and bass. Can I just use 1/4 balanced cables to go straight from the guitars into my mixer? If not, how would I record guitars?

Finally, I am not looking for 100% professional quality, but I am looking for something at least half-way decent. Also I want to keep all this relatively inexpensive. There is not really any limit on cash yet, but let's just say that the green stuff is definately not unlimited.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions, and sorry if I forgot to mention anything. Just post with any questions and I will do my best to answer them.

Thanks!


ALSO: On a unrelated note, how do I do the source code to get my links to show up in text rather than the actual URL. EX: how do I get "Shure SM57" to become linkable text to the actual site? Thanks.

[Mike Rehmus]

I'd go to the pro sales department of the Guitar Center or Guitar Showcase if you want a little bit of help at a discount store.

HT Electronics in Fremont if you want to pay nearly full price but want some good help.

Adolf Gassers might be able to help you.

B&H can help to some extent but that's only a phone connection, not face-to-face.

Have you tried talking to some bands to see what they do for sound?

If I could, I'd record each microphone to its own track so I could make some decisions in Post.

You can always just rent the gear. HT might be a good place to start for that approach.

[Martin Garrison]

Scott,

The best way to record an electric guitar is to mic the amp. An sm57 works great for this. Usually the sound of the amp, and the distortion of the guitar are part of the guitarist's sound. If you use a DI to record straight off the instrument, you'll lose that.

You will probably have better results, with minimal equipment, if you record this in several passes. It can be tricky to set that up though. But if you could record the drums and bass. And then play that back and record the guitars and the vocals, it will save you needing a few inputs and a few microphones.

The least amount of mics you're going to be able to use on a full drum kit is probably 3. Two overheads, and a mic for the kick drum. If you try to close mic each piece it can get really hairy. You can see how this starts to add up.

SM58 is great for rock vocals, and the 58s or the 57s will work great on amps. You may want condensers as overheads, but the 57s will probably work fine.

I would look into combining the role of the mixer and the recording device. A computer input would work great here, there are also many stand alone digital recorders on the market. The more inputs you want though, the more it costs.

[Robert Knecht Schmidt]

Poll for bassists: mic amp or direct input?