What else do I need to record drums?

Blankso

Senior Member
I already have the mics, cables, and a computer with recording software.

Im not looking for super pro equipment. Just something thats sounds decent.
 
An audio interface? Do you have something to plug the mics into? That would be the logical next step if not.
 
An audio interface? Do you have something to plug the mics into? That would be the logical next step if not.
Oops I forgot to type what should I get to plug the mics into. But ya. I need that.
Do you plug those in with a USB cable?
 
USB or Firewire, usually. USB is usually only on the cheaper ones because it's not supposed to be quite as good for audio.

You will need an audio interface with enough channels to plug your mics into. That's everything, I think. You can always find things to add, but those are the bare essentials.
 
You'll spend at least $300 for an interface that can accept up to 8 microphones at once. So make sure your computer is fast enough to handle all that incoming data. You will need a hard drive that spins at 7200 rpms (they usually come in at around 5400, so keep that in mind), and you'll need ALOT of processing power to be able to apply eq and effects to each track.
 
These Zooms are not too bad. This one's $399 and the R24 (24 track) is $499.

R16-xlarge.jpg


http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/R16/

I played with one at Sam Ash once and for the money, I thought it was a good "get started quick" solution.
 
I use the R16 for all of my video stuff. Nice unit. I'm not into using the computer at all. I'm debating getting the Zoom Q3HD video thingy - but I am unsure.
 
I want one. My CPU is screwed on my old rig that I put pre-mixed mics to a 2 channel pre-amp then to a software DAW. Only EQ and panning.

Do you happen to know if the pre-amps are better in the R24?
 
I use the R16 for all of my video stuff. Nice unit. I'm not into using the computer at all. I'm debating getting the Zoom Q3HD video thingy - but I am unsure.

So Bo,

You can record right into the Zoom, audio and video both? And it has an audio input into which a board mix could be run into? I would like to know how noisy the audio input from a mixer is.

Mike

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The only difference (they told me at Sam Ash) between the R16 and the R24 are the amount of channels. The electronics aren't necessarily better in the R24. You're still only limited to recording 8-tracks at a time.

But I started this thread some time ago detailing what I've been doing with my R16, after some people have emailed me about how good my videos sounded, here:

http://drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69369

Suffice it to say, the R16 is only to record the audio. I use a Kodak Zi8 flash camcorder to record the HD video, and do both at the same time. I start the video, then roll the R16 to record the audio and do it all live. After the audio mixdown, I then take both files (audio file and video file) and dump them into iMovie on my Mac. I sync the two up together and there you have it!

Sorry to disappoint, but this is the only way on a budget that I could produce the videos I've put up on YouTube. I still use the computer, but only after the work is all done, so the computer doesn't have to be all that powerful, because you're basically just putting the two files together and uploading. But the results are much better than trying to record everything into the camera - alot of those cheap flash camcorders do not have a LINE IN jack, or when they do, they distort.

That said, the new Zoom Q3HD is intriguing because it shoots HD video, AND has a LINE IN jack. If it's anything like their other audio recorders, it should be able to handle the stereo signal off of a mixing console easy. I use my Zoom H2 (a two-track audio flash recorder) to record directly off the console sometimes.
 
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