Play-a-long & recording question

alvanko

Senior Member
Alright folks. Here's a long winded question. I'm trying to figure this out.
I'm an old man (54) who still plays drums at home as a hobby. Just for fun. I played in a band for many years through the 70's and 80's. I'm not great, no real technique, more of a flailer and thrasher. I enjoy harder rock. I have my Vistalite acoustic drums that I just started playing again, after 15 years in the attic. I have a Roland set i got about 2 1/2 years ago. I like playing along with tunes on YouTube and many drumless tracks. I run my computer through the Roland drum module and then i can run the out put of the drums to an amp (when no one is home) or my headphones. Easy enough to balance the volume of the music and Roland's. I can record this mix when played through an amp with my H2 digital recorder and play it back and critique myself through my laptop again. I want to do the same with my acoustic drums. I have tried playing the tunes through my amp but it gets so loud and I really can't hear it and loose track of where i am and it gets ugly. Not to mention I can't get a good mix on the H2.
I recently played along to a radio station with decibel reducing radio headphones. Now I can hear the tunes, clearly and my drums and I don't play as loud and it is so much better. The problem is two fold. I want to play along with my computer through headphones, and record a mix of the tunes and my drums which would have to be done with the H2.
How can this be done?
Confused?
How do I play my acoustic drums to music through headphones and record on the H2 with a half decent balance/mix?
 
Im not sure how you could record them together, but you could try download a music software like Audacity, record your drums on their own with your H2, then load your drum track and the song you were playing both into Audacity, and mix them that way.
 
i'm not sure if the H2 will mulitrack, but if it will - you could pre-record your tune of choice onto one channel and your drums onto the other. each track will be mono though.

. track will be mono
. your drums will be mono

or best:

line both your track of choice and your drum tracks into a small mixer - line out of the mixer into the H2. the H2 does have a line in, correct ? that would mean two tracks (stereo) of your song(s) of choice into the mixer, plus how many ever mics you have on your drums into the mixer. the output from the mixer can be panned however you like it into two channels (stereo) which you can line into the H2. that is, if the H2 has line ins as well as the onboard mics.

Peavey makes good small mixers that a lot of drummers use for sub-mixing to stereo. PV6, PV8, PV10. the number indicates how many inputs it has.
 
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Hey Alvanko.

I'm creating a video course regarding how to record drum covers using just your camcorder and Windows Movie Maker. Of course, you can incorporate the H2 into that mix (I also have an H2, and I love it).

I've just published the first video of the course that may be of interest to you and others who play to and record songs where the first note of the song is a drum beat:

How to Record a Drum Cover When the First Note Is a Drum Beat

I hope you find it useful! Also, be sure to read the four-part series, "Record Yourself Playing Drums", which is linked to in the accompanying article to the above video. The series goes over some generalities regarding drum cover recording that you may find useful.

Happy drumming!
 
Thanks everybody. I'll have to try some of this stuff.
I've used Audacity to convert analog to digital in the past but my computer is too slow and primitive to work efficiently.
.
I'm thinking too, if I had an amp with headphone output, I could use that with headphones and place the H2 between the drums and the amp , closer or farther depending on the mix. Primitive but easy. I just hate to spend hundreds of dollars on an amp. I'll have to watch GC for used stuff and Crag's List.
 
HA!
That's why I got the H2 a few years ago, to replace the cassette. The cassette is what i used to use in the 70' - 80's to record (with microphones!). A few direct records from the sound board.
Still doesn't resolve the volume and balance issue.
Thanks though!
 
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