What do I need to start recording?

[timmyxD]

Hey, in a few months i'm gonna buy a drum set and lately i've been thinking I should get some stuff to start recording.

What do I need to buy?

[Bish]

Hey, Timmy.

You need something to pickup the audio/video = microphones, camcorder

Something to store the data = computer/tape drives/disk drives

Something to be the go between = mixer / analog to digital interface.


For the most part it really depends upon your budget, how much you know or are willing to learn and lots time.

I would encourage you to read through a lot of the previous posts in this section. There is a ton of data on the subject considering how many variables are going to be involved and how indepth you want to go with your recording efforts.

[timmyxD]

Hey, Timmy.

You need something to pickup the audio/video = microphones, camcorder

Something to store the data = computer/tape drives/disk drives

Something to be the go between = mixer / analog to digital interface.


For the most part it really depends upon your budget, how much you know or are willing to learn and lots time.

I would encourage you to read through a lot of the previous posts in this section. There is a ton of data on the subject considering how many variables are going to be involved and how indepth you want to go with your recording efforts.

Well the budget doesn't really matter because I don't really know the budget i'll have. I was asking because, when I get my drumset i'm going to ask the guy what microfones and mixers I should get.
Don't I need cables and stands or whatever? I wanted to know because I don't want him to make me buy stuff I don't need :/

[itchie]

doooooooont! buy anything untill you are 100% happy with playing drums

[jrt30004]

doooooooont! buy anything untill you are 100% happy with playing drums

+1 on this. i used to be a drum salesman and i was actually an honest salesman but there aren't many out there. know what you want before you walk in that door or i guarantee you're spending more than you need to.
1. pick a budget. i know you said you don't have one but that's the first step. and only pick the budget for the kit. you don't need anything else yet. if you want to record yourself to just hear yourself all you really need is a digital camera that takes video. if you were in a band and playing gigs or wanted make demos then mikes are necessary but otherwise you don't really need them.
2. research. once you know what you can afford decide what kind of kit you want. ie. brand, configuration etc. people are often surprised at how much an entire kit can cost. if you are buying a new kit from scratch at a shop you can be in the $700 to $800 range very quickly for a low end kit from a reputable company with lightweight hardware, begginer cymabls and a basic throne. so new or used is a consideration also.
you don't mention if you are new to drumming or just getting ready to buy your first kit (in other words you may have been taking lessons or playing in a school setting for a while and you are ready to get your own gear now) and that makes a difference. if you are brand new to drumming do not spend a ton of cash. i can't tell you how many times people would come in to GC and buy a wole rig and three months later here they come wanting to sell it all back. and it sucks. you won't get squat for your gear. not from a shop and you can expect about half of what you paid selling privately.even on top quality gear it's hard to get your money back, on low end gear you get almost nothing. so don't lay out a ton of cash until you are sure you like playing, and what you like playing.

[trickg]

Recording - man, that's a subject unto itself and the amount of money that can be spent can get insane in a hurry. What you ultimately wind up with for recording is almost 100% dependent on 2 things:

1.) Your budget
2.) How good you want your recordings to sound

And then there are other things to consider - how much you know as a budding recording engineer has a lot to do with it too because if you don't know anything, even the best equipment probably won't help you.

Your budget is going to play a huge factor in this. You can get a set of cheap budget mics, such as a CAD drum mic setup which can sometimes be had for around $100. I have one of these that I bought when I was drumming for a church and they didn't have any drum mics. It came with the following:

1 - bass drum mic
1 - snare drum mic
3 - tom mics
2 - small diaphragm condenser mics

7 micrphones - everything you "need," right? Well, to be honest, we never used the overheads because I already had a set of Audix FS 15 Fusion mics, and even though those are pretty inexpensive too (typically about $150 a pair) they were better than the ones in the pack. The bass drum mic was lacking too - it was just pretty lifeless. Compare that to $200 street price for an Audix D6, which is fairly highly regarded for rock players as a good mic to use live.

Mics are only part of the equation though. Then you need cables, stands, clips, etc - the hardware just to get the mics in the right place to pick up the sound. THEN you need a means and media to record. In my case I'm running everything through a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 Firewire interface - street price of roughly $450 - and I'm doing my recording in Garage Band on my iMac. GB may not be a great tool for some, but it's easy to use, and intuitive enough that you can kind of learn as you go - your projects will sound better as you get more experience and you start to figure some things out.

Keep in mind though that you don't "need" all of the fancy stuff - a lot of folks get decent recordings with hand held digital recorders - it just depends on what you are looking for.

Good luck!

[timmyxD]

Thanks for the tips guys, they helped alot. I've been playing drums for almost 2 years. I've had an offer to join a band, but I wasn't really prepared i'm gonna be in Canada for 7 months but i'm almost sure I can get a band after. I know what drumset and cymbals i'm getting. Here in Portugal everything is alot more expensive so I prefer getting it in Canada. Well let's say I'd have a budget of 500$ to 700$, would it be enough for the mixer, mics, stands and cables?

[Northern Redneck]

Dude just get a Zoom H4. set it up about 5ft in front of your kit and hit record. If your kit sounds good it will sound good on the H4.

[Yoda]

^^^^^^This. I recorded mine old Remo kit with junk heads in a non sound treated room and put the Zoom to the far left because thats the only place I could plug it in, and my drums sounded great! With proper room treated and mic placement you can get a great sound.