I was wondering what would i need to record myself drumming. Mics, interface, mixer etc. I am just looking for an idea of what would be needed, and so products that give you the most bang for your buck. Thanks
b r a d .
There are many, many threads on this... do some searching to learn more than you'll probably get in this thread.
You should look into...
- Microphones. The most obvious pick. You can do one, two, and three mic setups, but for a good stereo setup you should go with two overheads, kick, and snare mic. This helps you easily get a balanced and full sound and if your technique is not great in terms of playing balanced, you can mix around it to some extent. For overheads, look at a condenser. Large or small diaphragm, your pick. Of all the mics to spend on, these are the two, as they'll be the foundation of your kit's sound. For snare, it's hard to go wrong with a Shure SM57 starting out - it's been on zillions of recordings, and it can be used on other sources. (Guitars, etc...) For your bass drum - a large diaphragm dynamic, something like an AKG D112, a Shure Beta 52, or an Audix D6. There are other mics that will do the trick, but these tend to have a scooped sound that will work for a lot of applications out of the box. Don't go too cheap here as you'll want to upgrade soon otherwise.
- Cables - not much to say here. As many XLR cables as you have mics.
- Interface - what you use to convert your mic output into digital form. Required for digital recording, there are many forms. Your best bet here just starting out is something with integrated preamps such as a Presonus Firestudio or some other similarly-priced item with a few inputs and outputs. Make sure you've got phantom power available - you'll need it for condensers. You should try to go firewire if you can. Also, avoid the Presonus Firebox - the little 4 input guy - the preamps don't have enough clean gain in my experience, and if you have to use the software's "+12 dB" option, you're in trouble. There are other manufacturers beyond Presonus, but in that price range it's the one I've got experience on.
- Digital audio workstation software - if you've got a Mac, you're lucky - GarageBand gets you this for free. A step up is Logic Express which has a ton of the functionality of Logic Studio. Other options are Cubase or Pro Tools. I'm a Logic guy, and I think Logic 9 is a pretty amazing piece of software.
It's fun stuff to get in, and part of the fun is the weird experiments and learning curve. It's as much about tuning (and under mics your kit will have all kinds of sounds you may not hear otherwise; you can tune heads differently in relation to emphasize attack, resonance, etc), mic placement and choice (which can make HUGE differences in the ultimate recorded sound), and strange experiments that pay off. Plus you'll hear records in a new light, and you can set challenges for yourself - how do I get the bass drum sound from this album, or the snare sound from that album, etc. It's fun to just tweak on sounds and massage them subtly via EQ, compression, reverbs, delays, etc.
Also, it can set off a recording gear wishlist that makes your drum wish list downright reasonable. My current short-list for recording gear is way more than I could spend in a year... which forces me to go back and try and get what I've got to emulate "that" sound through other means... which increases my bag of tricks even more.
Very fun stuff.