Cheap recording/editing program?

Saw your thread, read it; thanks....good sound samples too. Not bad for 4 mics with kick, snare and 2 overheads.

Are you capturing 2 rack and 1 floor tom?

To try to summarize...

Since I'm not recording with other musicians in the same room, I use two large condensers to capture a stereo image the ambient sound. I then add dynamic mics (kick, snare) to bring out the feature instruments. This works really well if all you're doing is recording drums (No bass/guitar/etc bleeding in).

Most mixing is self-mixing. It forces me to learn to be a real drummer and play the toms louder/quieter depending on the results I desire. It also forces me to position the mics correctly. I can treat the LDCs with EQ and compression to nudge the tom/cymbal ratio a bit, but overall, it's exactly what the kit sounds like in the room.

Live mic'ing/recording is a bit different. To aid in isolation, sound guys mic everything in close proximity and attempt to re-create the ambient sound from the constituent tracks. LDC overheads are replaced with highly directional SDC's that tend to excel at picking up high frequencies (cymbals).

Honestly, there's no right/wrong way. Either philosophy works. I prefer the former over the latter as it's simpler and easier on me. I can invest in fewer, higher quality, mics. I don't have to deal with phase across 8 tracks or other bizarro sonic mayhem. I only need 4 stands and 4 cables (no rats nest). I can spend more time playing and recording and less time fiddling with a bunch of shi....gear.

Re: Toms. I own an 8/10/12 RT and 2x16 FT's. Kick is a 22". Snares vary (LB417, LM404, LS401). I use various configurations depending on what I need or what mood I'm in. At this exact moment, I'm 12/16/22/LB417.
 
I would recommend using Garageband if you're just beginning to get into recording. You can then change to PT or Logic if you find you've hit a specific limitation.


This



if you're on a Mac, Garage Band is powerful and you go straight to Logic if you decide you need more (Logic is my personal fav).

And this.

I struggled with Audacity and Sonar but stepped right into Garage Band with no issues. It was worth buying a Mac just for GB that comes loaded for free.

For what I do (just demo/learning stuff), I didn't feel the need to go to Logic.
 
I struggled with Audacity and Sonar but stepped right into Garage Band with no issues.

I also liked that GB forced me to accept/embrace/use a particular workflow. At times, it will feel like it's missing a crop/drag/edit feature. It has always turned out that I was simply attempting to do something the wrong way in the workflow that would have bit me later, and it demands that you know how to split in order to delete a track fragment.

So far, the biggest missing feature has been a native phase-flip. I managed to find a free plugin for that. The lack of a customizable metronome sound was resolved by a click track. Lack of Mackie-Control was made up for by the cross compatibility with logic-remote. There were a couple other hurdles that I can't recall now. Stuff like the built-in movie track for synchronization was a pleasant surprise.
 
To try to summarize...

Since I'm not recording with other musicians in the same room, I use two large condensers to capture a stereo image the ambient sound. I then add dynamic mics (kick, snare) to bring out the feature instruments. This works really well if all you're doing is recording drums (No bass/guitar/etc bleeding in).

Most mixing is self-mixing. It forces me to learn to be a real drummer and play the toms louder/quieter depending on the results I desire. It also forces me to position the mics correctly. I can treat the LDCs with EQ and compression to nudge the tom/cymbal ratio a bit, but overall, it's exactly what the kit sounds like in the room.

Live mic'ing/recording is a bit different. To aid in isolation, sound guys mic everything in close proximity and attempt to re-create the ambient sound from the constituent tracks. LDC overheads are replaced with highly directional SDC's that tend to excel at picking up high frequencies (cymbals).

Honestly, there's no right/wrong way. Either philosophy works. I prefer the former over the latter as it's simpler and easier on me. I can invest in fewer, higher quality, mics. I don't have to deal with phase across 8 tracks or other bizarro sonic mayhem. I only need 4 stands and 4 cables (no rats nest). I can spend more time playing and recording and less time fiddling with a bunch of shi....gear.

Re: Toms. I own an 8/10/12 RT and 2x16 FT's. Kick is a 22". Snares vary (LB417, LM404, LS401). I use various configurations depending on what I need or what mood I'm in. At this exact moment, I'm 12/16/22/LB417.

Thanks for taking the time to explain that.
 
I am not really sure if this will be helpful or not.

Over the past couple years I have been looking at different ways to do recording. I have several designs I now use, depending on what I want to accomplish. The diagram shown below is the simplest model I have; and it can do up to 14 separate tracks and is portable. A nice thing about this model is that it can be built up slowly as to not break the bank and is expandable to a lot more tracks.

At the center of the design is the Tascam US1800 ($229USD new / +/-$175USD used). As you will see in the picture, there is no mixer or board required, nor is a headphone amp necessary. The rack mounted Tascam provides for that functionality. There are no EQ or effect loops that can be set up, so you will get a pure signal recorded that you will EQ and add effects to when you are doing the mixdown through the DAW.

If you have a PC or MAC computer/laptop already, the highest ticket item is already accounted for.

The software for DAW I use is Cakewalk Sonar X3 Studio Edition (now selling for $120USD since a new release was just introduced), though you could also use the Standard version (>$100USD) that has less features but is still good. If you have an iPad (or an iPhone) and WiFi, you can also use DAW Remote HD (free) as a controller for Sonar X3.

The DAW, computer, a few mics, and the Tascam are pretty much all you need to get started.

It is important to know you do not need to get a bunch of mics to start with, nor do they need to be top of the line, though I would suggest to start with not less than 3.

If you do not have any mics already, the AKG P170 can be had for about $60USD each and work pretty well as overheads. The Tascam will provide the phantom power for these. Shure SM57s are great all around mics ($99USD new) and can always be found used. The SM57 works great for a snare or a Tom. I used a Shure Beta 52A for the bass drum that I picked up for $99 USD ‘like new’ off Amazon. The mic I used for the hi-hat is something that I have had for many years and is a self powered condenser (i.e. it uses a AA battery). Any decent condenser mic will work for a hi-hat.

The nice people on the forum can give all kind of help if you want to select anything from lower end to higher end mics. I do not know much about them, but the Audio-Technica MB/DK4 Drum-Microphone Pack looks like an inexpensive (around$100USD) low end starter kit of (4 mics) that could easily start you off.

The studio monitors are only really necessary if you want to have the pure sound while doing a mixdown; and while I use the DT770 headphones, your favorite headphones will work just as nicely.

There are a lot of things I have not covered here, such as stand, cables, setup, etc.. While you do not need Mogami mic cables, I would suggest you get something somewhat decent. I used Whirlwind MC Series mic cables which are very inexpensive and are very good cables.

Hopefully this note will be helpful to someone trying to figure out and method of doing some recording without having to spend a real lot of money.

I am not a rep or endorser of any of the products I listed. These were simply my choices that I deceived on after doing due diligence and research. There are other products out there, I’m sure, in which a similar model could be crafted that would be good as well. This note is not start a debate on what is better. ;-)

The drawing below is my tested configuration.
 

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Reaper. most likely the best & easiest there is.

The plugins it comes with are great quality so you have pretty much everything you need straight out of the box.
 
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