Best way for me to record???

dtrushr30dw · #1 04-30-2012, 05:44 PM

I was wondering if electric kits would have good enough quality for a demo or album, I would be using a roland td-20 with the expansion board...
Or if should I use an akg D112 on my bass drum and an sm57 on my snare. I was really wanting to know if using my zoom H2 recorder would work okay for an overhead to pickup cymbals and toms. I understand if purchasing good overheads is necessary.
Thanks.

BacteriumFendYoke · #2 04-30-2012, 05:48 PM

It depends on how serious you need the sound to be.

If you're just looking for a basic feedback on what you're playing, the Zoom would probably be enough on its own. The Zoom plus the two mics would probably do fairly well - with some compromises. If you're recording for a client, you'd need a more serious mic setup but I don't see an issue with the way you've proposed.

AndyMC · #3 04-30-2012, 05:51 PM

You can use electronic kits to record but it will sound like one under most circumstances. I just got a set of mca sp1 mics at $45 a pop and they're pretty solid overheads, that and my b52 + sm57 cover my kit fairly well, but recording is a huge subject on its own. If recording sounds interesting I would try to do it, but an elec kit will save you a lot of headaches.

BacteriumFendYoke · #4 04-30-2012, 06:49 PM

http://www.karmamics.com/shop/K-Micro-Matched-Pair.html

I'm very much looking forward to getting my pair of these. £35 for a pair (including shipping) and getting rave reviews from all the leading publications.

Bo Eder · #5 04-30-2012, 07:04 PM

Not enough info. What are you plugging these mics into? You doing this computer-based? A analog mixing? The recording process is more than just having microphones.

Wavelength · #6 04-30-2012, 07:49 PM

Zoom H2 will do nicely on its own! This clip was recorded with one: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy3TO1Upllo

Tune your kit right and take care to play with a good dynamic balance, and that piece of recording gear is all you'll need.

TNA · #7 04-30-2012, 08:34 PM

Copied from my post in another thread about recording halfway down the first page. Seriously please do a search first next time, or at the very least scroll through the first page.

"Well how are you planning on connecting the mics to your computer for recording? You need to have some sort of device for turning that analog signal into digital so your recording program will recognize it. You need to look at the whole picture, not just the mics. If you are wanting to go the cheap route I would recommend getting a drum mic pack. You can get an entry level set for around 100 dollars. This should include 4 or 5 mics that you will attach to your drums. So then you would need something to get those 4 or 5 mics into your computer. This will be accomplished most likely through usb. You can get a low end interface or a mixer with usb, just be sure it has enough inputs for all of your mics. Another options is to do only an overhead using an X-Y stereo pattern. This will use 2 condenser mics, you will be getting more cymbal sound than drum sound using only this technique, but it is an acceptable way to record your entire kit. Then you would only need an interface with 2 inputs."

As everyone else said, we don't know your budget, we don't know the quality you are aiming for. We can't give you more specific advice if we don't know your end goal.

dtrushr30dw · #8 05-01-2012, 05:13 PM

I did a recording last night on my td-20 and it was great sounding, of coarse it sounded like an electronic kit but it was good enough for a quality demo. I was just curious how good the h2 zoom would be for an overhead. If its not decent than I will go for a set of Rode NT5 overheads. I don't have a ton of money, so I have been having to use the H2 for acoustic demos. When we eq it the drums sound pretty decent, I have them tuned nicely, I use good cymbals and dynamics. The electric kit sounds much clearer though, and I can hear more of the little accents. My main question was if the H2 would work well as an overhead?

TNA · #9 05-01-2012, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtrushr30dw

I did a recording last night on my td-20 and it was great sounding, of coarse it sounded like an electronic kit but it was good enough for a quality demo. I was just curious how good the h2 zoom would be for an overhead. If its not decent than I will go for a set of Rode NT5 overheads. I don't have a ton of money, so I have been having to use the H2 for acoustic demos. When we eq it the drums sound pretty decent, I have them tuned nicely, I use good cymbals and dynamics. The electric kit sounds much clearer though, and I can hear more of the little accents. My main question was if the H2 would work well as an overhead?

What is your budget? First you are talking like you don't have a dollar to your name, and now you are mentioning buying the Rode mics for over 400 dollars. If I know your budget I can tell you the best option for recording on that budget.

I have no idea how your H2 will sound, I've only used a Zoom recorder a few times. Obviously it won't sound as good as using stand alone mics.

dtrushr30dw · #10 05-01-2012, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TNA

What is your budget? First you are talking like you don't have a dollar to your name, and now you are mentioning buying the Rode mics for over 400 dollars. If I know your budget I can tell you the best option for recording on that budget.

I have no idea how your H2 will sound, I've only used a Zoom recorder a few times. Obviously it won't sound as good as using stand alone mics.

I have around 500 dollars, but I meant I didn't have a ton to spend to get an excellent drum sound. This is for a home studio project i am doing with my band

TNA · #11 05-02-2012, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtrushr30dw

I have around 500 dollars, but I meant I didn't have a ton to spend to get an excellent drum sound. This is for a home studio project i am doing with my band

Don't just assume that home recordings have to be bad quality. If you know what you are doing you can make home recordings using budget equipment sound fairly good.

Here is the stuff I would recommend buying.

USB Mixer
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-a...usb-fx-regular

Drum mic Pack
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-a...77126000000000

Cables
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/microphone-cables

A very good free recording program called "Reaper"
http://www.reaper.fm/

All that stuff should be around 300-400 if bought new. I would strongly advice looking to buy used though. Then with the extra 100 dollars or so you might want to get some overhead mics, or maybe a kick mic.

Bo Eder · #12 05-02-2012, 01:28 AM

Its a knowledge thing here mostly. You can buy stuff, but if you don't know what you're doing, it won't matter. You might better spend your money giving a knowledgable sound guy $50 and asking him for a quick lesson.

Richards1008 · #13 05-02-2012, 01:54 AM

Watch Ebay and craigslist for everything, I got a 7pc (3 toms, kick, snare, 2 overheads) samson mic kit with all cables, drum mic clips, kick mic stand and two overhead booms for $250.

Got a Peavey 1002 Unity 10 channel (true 10 ch with 10 mic preamps, watch for this) used on Ebay for 35 bucks.

The only other expensive item that was free for me to use is my Lexicon Omega Pro USB interface which has 4 channels and 2 mic preamps, I use this for the overheads (it has phantom power) and run the other two channels for the stereo output of the mixer.

All in all, with miscellaneous cables and two more SM57's I picked up for $12 each for the floor toms, I have my 8pc yamaha kit completely mic'ed for a little over 300 bucks. The Lexicon unit, along with many usb interfaces/mixers, usually come with recording/mixer software.

http://youtu.be/9xuOAnyZ7fo
An example of my recording, the audio is overall lower than recording level because of video limitations (mainly my editing software) but as far as mic's and equipment, stick with name brands for mixers and usb interfaces, Samson makes a decent low end mic, (check out Cobus Potgieter on youtube for more examples of well mastered samson mic sounds) and you can get set up real nicely for relatively cheap.

dtrushr30dw · #14 05-02-2012, 01:55 AM

I'm sorry that I forgot to mention that I am only buying the mics. Other band members have mixers and computer software.
Right now I want an AKG D112 an SM57 And Decent Overheads. If I could individually mic every tom I would, but I can't see that happening on my budget

Richards1008 · #15 05-02-2012, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtrushr30dw

I'm sorry that I forgot to mention that I am only buying the mics. Other band members have mixers and computer software.
Right now I want an AKG D112 an SM57 And Decent Overheads. If I could individually mic every tom I would, but I can't see that happening on my budget

I don't see why not with many sizes of mic pre-packs on the net now for cheap...

Take a look at samson's lineup, even with a SM57 and a D112, buying them used then suplementing them with the D112 and 57 you can still come out way under 500 without having to buy a mixer and such.

Bo Eder · #16 05-02-2012, 06:11 AM

You can mic up a kit really well with three GOOD mics. I would recommend the Shure Beta 52 on the bass drum, a Beta 57 for your snare, and a AKG SE300B as your single overhead pencil condenser mic. I've gotten great recordings using this set-up, but I went even cheaper: a regular ol' Shure SM58 in the bass drum, a SM57 on the snare, and the aforementioned AKG as my overhead. It all depends on the mic pre-amp you're plugging in to as well.

If I had the budget, I'd get an EV RE20 for my main bass drum mic, and keep my SM57 and AKG. That would be the ultimate three-mic set-up. Unless you can just get THREE AKG 414 spaced strategically around the kit ;) (Or Neumann U87's....) AKG C12, anyone?

Richards1008 · #17 05-02-2012, 06:53 AM

Gotta be an AKG D112, SM57 and a AKG C414...

TNA · #18 05-02-2012, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtrushr30dw

I'm sorry that I forgot to mention that I am only buying the mics. Other band members have mixers and computer software.
Right now I want an AKG D112 an SM57 And Decent Overheads. If I could individually mic every tom I would, but I can't see that happening on my budget

This is my last post because it seems like you are not listening to a word I am saying and are leaving out very important pieces of information. I just gave you a link to a 5 piece mic pack for about 100 dollars. You can get that along with an sm57 and the D112, and some overheads for under 500 dollars.

Bottom line is we cannot give you any good advice if we don't know more info. Mics will only help so much, good preamps, a good interface, good software, proper mic placement, proper gain staging, a good engineer are all huge factors in getting a good sounding recording. We don't know what sound you are trying to get. We don't know what kind of kit you are micing, we don't know what kind of music you are playing, we don't know what preamps you are using. Sure an SM57 is an industry standard, a D112 is a well known kick mic. If that's what you want then get those. But we don't know what YOU want.