Recording Equipment

I want to start recording my drums but I have a very limited budget. What would be a good setup including mics, mic stands, a mixer, cables (everything) for under $400? I have a pretty nice five piece Premier set with five cymbals and a hi hat. I also have a pc laptop which I could use for mixing, effects, etc.
Thanks!

jamiller077 said:

I want to start recording my drums but I have a very limited budget. What would be a good setup including mics, mic stands, a mixer, cables (everything) for under $400? I have a pretty nice five piece Premier set with five cymbals and a hi hat. I also have a pc laptop which I could use for mixing, effects, etc.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

LOL, you want EVERYTHING for under 400? Is this a joke? The stands and cables alone would probably run for more than half of that. Do the math.

However, with *that* budget in mind, this is what I'd get, going a bit over it:

3 Sm57 Mics


Tascam US-1641 USB interface


HERE's an example using the three Sm 57 setup. Very nice sound in my opinion.

As for the interface, it's got a lot of inputs for your current needs, but comes with Cubase 5 LE, and will still be useful when/if you decide to get more mics. The US-1641 will also send you each channel separately, so you will have all the control you need over the three tracks you'll have.

For less than 600 bucks, I think this setup will work nicely for you.
You could go for WAY cheaper mics, but for a three mic setup, those mics better be good, so that's what I thought here. If you really can't spend this much, you might as well get one of those CAD mic packs that go for 150 dollars or something like that, and give you 7 (crappy) mics.


Fox.

UNDER $400?!?!?!? SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?

If you can find a quality A/D converter for less than $100, your best bet would be to get a used condenser mic for an overhead and a dynamic mic for the kick drum (perhaps a C1000 and an SM57/SM58). That *might* leave you enough money for cables and possibly a stand, but we haven't even touched recording software yet at this point...

...or, perhaps realize that recording is kind of expensive and you should save up some more before you invest in a reasonable setup. Going the cheap route is going to give you less than passable results.

Good luck!

I actually saw a package deal at Best Buy that came with a four input mixer, 5 piece mic kit, 2 studio monitors, and some sweet headphones for about $350. I almost bought it because thats an INCREDIBLE deal, but I'm going to college soon and I don't really need that stuff now. I'm sure you get what you pay for, but still that seems pretty good.