I'm a technology moron

Superman

Gold Member
Ok, so after seeing some really cool videos by many of you and reading advice from Larry, Bermuda ect... I really want to make some videos of me playing to help myself improve. I have no recording equipment, no mics and no idea where to begin. Not looking to make anything special, looking for some advice on how to get started. Thanks in advance...
 
I haven't done anything yet myself.

It would be possible, though.

All you need for mics is a BD mic and one or two overheads. I have a Beta 52 BD mic, a 57 for the snare and 2 cheap Behringer mics condensers for overheads. That plenty for most things if your internal dynamics are decent. Son't really need the snare.

You basically need some sort of way to get your sound recorded. Many ways to do that. Computer with converters, stand alone units..... Plenty of chea options out there. You can even use an Ipad with Garageband and one of those cheap Alesis things.

Then you'll probably want to do video with a separate cam and then, after you've mixed the music to our satisfaction, you put them together.
 
Ok, so after seeing some really cool videos by many of you and reading advice from Larry, Bermuda ect... I really want to make some videos of me playing to help myself improve. I have no recording equipment, no mics and no idea where to begin. Not looking to make anything special, looking for some advice on how to get started. Thanks in advance...

I have an e-kit, so it was easy to plug in the audio cable into the laptop (mic). Of course, after seeing and hearing the video, I decided to put in more practice before trying another recording. Not sure how I would upload one. Must see a lot of improvement before I even think about doing that!
 
Are you wanting to record yourself playing along to music? Or just you playing?
I just got a used Tascam DR-V1HD off Reverb for $80, it records video but also has two built in condenser microphones so the audio quality for recording drums is pretty good.

Playing along to music..like what you did in your Offspring cover.
 
The simplest way to video record yourself playing your drums is to buy a used Zoom or GoPro video recorder. These devices have built in software to make your drums sound good. All that you have to do is click the correct button in the settings menu and start recording your video. They even come with simple editing software that allows you to process your video on your laptop.

If you want to play along with prerecorded music in your videos it gets slightly more complicated. You can send the audio from your camera to an interface and mix it with prerecorded tracks using Garageband or Audacity audio recording software. There are also numerous other programs that allow you to do this.

You can also use the camera on your laptop. If you want good sound you can use a USB mic. I use Quicktime Player software when I use this method.

The best way to record your drums is to buy a mixer and an interface.
That is what most of us eventually wind up with. You place a mic on each drum and two mics overhead to record multiple tracks at once.
At this level audio and video are kept separate and put together during editing with video processing software like iMovie and Windows Movie Maker.
 
Here is a step by step of how to make a simple recording.

1) Plug a Stereo USB mic into your computer that is positioned on a stand that is about 5 feet in front of your drum kit.
2) Open GarageBand. Open the preference menu and select the USB mic as your input.
3) In GarageBand create a stereo track of the song that you want to play along with. (Drag the file)
4) Create a second stereo track for your drums to record on.
5) Start your video camera and focus it on your drum kit.
6) Press record in GarageBand and play along with the song on the first track.
Monitor your recording through headphones that are plugged into your computer. You may need to amplify the output with a separate amp.
7) Mix the audio that you recorded in GB until it sounds good. Save it on your desktop as a cd quality file.
8) Open iMovie and load the video from your camera into your iMovie project. (Remove the audio if your camera recorded any)
9) Add the audio track on your desktop that you recorded in GB to your iMovie video and sync the video with the audio.
10) Upload the video to YouTube.
 
Last edited:
I'm a audio technology moron too. i got a ZoomQ2HD for a gift which is fine for what purposes I use it. Real easy to use but not as good as a ZoomQ3 which runs about a hundred dollars more. I didn't realize you could use Garage band to mix the Zoom videos?? OMG more stuff for me to screw up LOL.
 
I'm a audio technology moron too. i got a ZoomQ2HD for a gift which is fine for what purposes I use it. Real easy to use but not as good as a ZoomQ3 which runs about a hundred dollars more. I didn't realize you could use Garage band to mix the Zoom videos?? OMG more stuff for me to screw up LOL.
It sounds more complicated than it is.
Here is a video that I processed the audio and the video separately as I described in the previous post. I was using multiple mics on the drums through a mixer and an interface instead of a USB mic though.
https://youtu.be/2knXXG3KVDE
 
Here is a step by step of how to make a simple recording.

1) Plug a Stereo USB mic into your computer that is positioned on a stand that is about 5 feet in front of your drum kit.
2) Open GarageBand. Open the preference menu and select the USB mic as your input.
3) In GarageBand create a stereo track of the song that you want to play along with. (Drag the file)
4) Create a second stereo track for your drums to record on.
5) Start your video camera and focus it on your drum kit.
6) Press record in GarageBand and play along with the song on the first track.
Monitor your recording through headphones that are plugged into your computer. You may need to amplify the output with a separate amp.
7) Mix the audio that you recorded in GB until it sounds good. Save it on your desktop as a cd quality file.
8) Open iMovie and load the video from your camera into your iMovie project. (Remove the audio if your camera recorded any)
9) Add the audio track on your desktop that you recorded in GB to your iMovie video and sync the video with the audio.
10) Upload the video to YouTube.

Thank you very much for your advice..I will look into getting a camera and mic and will try this. Appreciate it.
 
You're welcome. There are other ways to record a drum video but this method is the stepping stone for learning the skills that you will need as you add more gear like a mixer and an interface. You can also add multiple cameras in the future.
 
You could record the video on your phone, a camcorder or a computer not sure if you have any of those!
You can record the audio a number of different ways. I run the songs audio onto my 4 track cassette recorder then add my drum parts on the three remaining tracks, you could also record the audio through an interface onto your computer.
What if any video and audio equipment do you have?
 
You could record the video on your phone, a camcorder or a computer not sure if you have any of those!
You can record the audio a number of different ways. I run the songs audio onto my 4 track cassette recorder then add my drum parts on the three remaining tracks, you could also record the audio through an interface onto your computer.
What if any video and audio equipment do you have?

Lol..I don't have anything except an IPhone..never had the urge to record anything before. But I am willing to buy stuff. Was thinking about a camcorder..I don't need the best production quality. Just want to watch myself to find mistakes and such. Problem with that is I can't run the music since I play with my Ipod. I guess I'd have to burn songs to a CD and blast the stereo..
 
You can probably find a stand alone unit for close to nothing in a pawn shop. They're outdateed, but do the job. Easy peasy to use.
 
I have all the fancy gizmos to do pro-quality recording, but when I am just recording for my own review I find that the webcam on my laptop is more than adequate---KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID!
 
Back
Top