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Thread: Recording at home?

  1. #1

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    Default Recording at home?

    quick question here...

    i don't want/need anything fancy or expensive

    i just want to record my practicing & be able to play it back to be able to analyze it, etc.

    my stereo doesn't even have a mic jack.

    any suggestions for what i could do on the cheap for this?

    Ludwig Classic Maple Drums (22" x 14", 13" x 9", 16" x 16", 14" x 5")

    Zildjian A Armand Cymbals (14" hats, 20" ride, 16" thin crash, 16" medium-thin crash, 10" splash)

    Ludwig, Zildjian, Remo, Promark.

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    Luddy-
    Cheap? Not sure... Ya might cruise ebay and find something for the money. I picked up an older Korg D8 awhile back, Honestly can't remember what I gave for it now... But, I know I got it purdy reasonable. Hang in there tho, There's a bunch of good folks in here and they'll sure show up to help ya out.
    Q-Would you buy another one if it were stolen?
    A-Well yeah... But, I'd probly turn into a homicidal maniac first!

  3. #3

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    Quote Originally Posted by drumrbychoice View Post
    Luddy-
    Cheap? Not sure... Ya might cruise ebay and find something for the money. I picked up an older Korg D8 awhile back, Honestly can't remember what I gave for it now... But, I know I got it purdy reasonable. Hang in there tho, There's a bunch of good folks in here and they'll sure show up to help ya out.
    thanks...yep, there are and they sure will. i may look for a Korg D8 on e-bay. my metronome is a Korg, and i really like it.

    Ludwig Classic Maple Drums (22" x 14", 13" x 9", 16" x 16", 14" x 5")

    Zildjian A Armand Cymbals (14" hats, 20" ride, 16" thin crash, 16" medium-thin crash, 10" splash)

    Ludwig, Zildjian, Remo, Promark.

  4. #4

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    Luddy-
    Yes sir,
    It does okay for track stuff... It's alot like a rubiks cube to work thru tho. I thankfully got a manual with it and even at that sometimes it gets kinda goofy. It's around 2 gig HD so it's not real roomy. You just have to transfer to your PC or whatever ya use. Haven't had an ounce of luck with a SCSI cdr..? They say Yamaha cdr's are compatible. Some of the software goes over my head like an F18. Try to run on Bish or roon, They do some comp based stuff as I'm aware of..?
    Q-Would you buy another one if it were stolen?
    A-Well yeah... But, I'd probly turn into a homicidal maniac first!

  5. #5

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    Quote Originally Posted by drumrbychoice View Post
    Luddy-
    Yes sir,
    It does okay for track stuff... It's alot like a rubiks cube to work thru tho. I thankfully got a manual with it and even at that sometimes it gets kinda goofy. It's around 2 gig HD so it's not real roomy. You just have to transfer to your PC or whatever ya use. Haven't had an ounce of luck with a SCSI cdr..? They say Yamaha cdr's are compatible. Some of the software goes over my head like an F18. Try to run on Bish or roon, They do some comp based stuff as I'm aware of..?
    i'm def. no techo-genius...not close. but the concept of being able to record, then playback on my PC (because i actually have very good speakers and a nice subwoofer) appeals to me a lot. thats the route i'd like to go.

    again, thanks.

    Ludwig Classic Maple Drums (22" x 14", 13" x 9", 16" x 16", 14" x 5")

    Zildjian A Armand Cymbals (14" hats, 20" ride, 16" thin crash, 16" medium-thin crash, 10" splash)

    Ludwig, Zildjian, Remo, Promark.

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    Why you betcha!
    Boy howdy I'm not either... I've got an Audigy Platinum sitting on top of another computer as we speak that's eatin my lunch I want you to know... It collects dust and I give it dirty looks all the time. I too need to run on roon, He's the meistro with that stuff from what I gather. One of these daze man, one of these daze... Too many irons in the fire I spose...
    Q-Would you buy another one if it were stolen?
    A-Well yeah... But, I'd probly turn into a homicidal maniac first!

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    OK, let me start from scratch cuz I have no idea what you have for gear to work with at this point.

    If you only want audio, plug any mini jack microphone into your mic jack on any laptop or PC if you have them in the same room. For audio, download Audacity and Lame (both free) and set up to record from your computer. Once you can hear what you want, through audacity, you'll be able to record into audacity and play back.

    If you want video, take any digital camcorder with a good memory stick and plant it on a tripod, hit record play away. When done, take the stick from the camcorder and pop it in a card reader slot on your PC. If not, download the clips from the sticks by connecting the camcorder to your PC and copy/move the files from the stick to your hard disk.

    That was the fast and dirty version.

    Got more questions, post them here and I'll help the best I can.
    Signature here

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    Thanks Bish,
    I sure appreciatcha!!
    Q-Would you buy another one if it were stolen?
    A-Well yeah... But, I'd probly turn into a homicidal maniac first!

  9. #9

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bish View Post
    OK, let me start from scratch cuz I have no idea what you have for gear to work with at this point.

    If you only want audio, plug any mini jack microphone into your mic jack on any laptop or PC if you have them in the same room. For audio, download Audacity and Lame (both free) and set up to record from your computer. Once you can hear what you want, through audacity, you'll be able to record into audacity and play back.

    If you want video, take any digital camcorder with a good memory stick and plant it on a tripod, hit record play away. When done, take the stick from the camcorder and pop it in a card reader slot on your PC. If not, download the clips from the sticks by connecting the camcorder to your PC and copy/move the files from the stick to your hard disk.

    That was the fast and dirty version.

    Got more questions, post them here and I'll help the best I can.
    cool, thanks a mil. all i need to do is pick up a mic, download the software (i just hope it's user-friendly ) and i'm good then. not ready to get setup for video yet...

    Question: are you saying I need both Audacity AND Lame, or is that an either/or deal?

    Ludwig Classic Maple Drums (22" x 14", 13" x 9", 16" x 16", 14" x 5")

    Zildjian A Armand Cymbals (14" hats, 20" ride, 16" thin crash, 16" medium-thin crash, 10" splash)

    Ludwig, Zildjian, Remo, Promark.

  10. #10

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    ok, i just downloaded Audacity & ran the application.

    i have absolutely NO CLUE how to get started using this.

    any how help on how to record using this would be great, otherwise this may be over my head & i may need to get recorder from the caveman days

    Ludwig Classic Maple Drums (22" x 14", 13" x 9", 16" x 16", 14" x 5")

    Zildjian A Armand Cymbals (14" hats, 20" ride, 16" thin crash, 16" medium-thin crash, 10" splash)

    Ludwig, Zildjian, Remo, Promark.

  11. #11

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    OK.

    The reason you want LAME is to be able to convert your recorded audio tracks from Audacity to MP3 format. Now with Lame all you do is have their files in their folder and point to the folder from within the preferences of Audacity. You don't install or do anything else with LAME but have it available.

    Once you have Audacity installed, obviously start the program. A little to right of mid point at the top is a dropdown for your input. Depending on what you want to record change your choices accordingly. If you are plugged into the mic jack of your sound card, use the mic input. If you are only using line in on your sound card choose line in with the dropdown option. (As a disclaimer, you may need to do some tweaking on your sound card settings within Windows. What and how, I don't know at this point not knowing what issues you are having.)

    Once you have a hot signal into Audacity, your line levels should be active. If you can hear through your PC what you want to record you should be seeing activity within the Audacity program or one or another setting isn't quite right. Again, not sure since I'm not sure you are having problems.

    Now the next big thing to know is that when you get something recorded it takes up a lot of space. Again through preferences find where your files are automatically being created and saved. I changed my location to a second harddrive in my PC so my data is separate from my OS.

    Ok so let's say you are seeing Audacity light up and detect your sound coming into the PC.

    In the upper left quadrant are the "tape" controls. Big round buttons. Use the record button to record. And funny as this may seem, use the play button to play back what you just recorded.

    Now if you start the recording again after one pass you'll notice a second track being created. You can record as many tracks (one at a time) as you want. No limit other than the visual on screen which you will notice once you've got 5 or 6 tracks in the same file.

    You can also save the file at anytime and go back to it later. You can edit the tracks, remove them, realign, mix, modify and all kinds of cool things.

    You have a goal so now you need to figure out how to get there. You are close. Good luck.
    Signature here

  12. #12

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bish View Post
    OK.

    The reason you want LAME is to be able to convert your recorded audio tracks from Audacity to MP3 format. Now with Lame all you do is have their files in their folder and point to the folder from within the preferences of Audacity. You don't install or do anything else with LAME but have it available.

    Once you have Audacity installed, obviously start the program. A little to right of mid point at the top is a dropdown for your input. Depending on what you want to record change your choices accordingly. If you are plugged into the mic jack of your sound card, use the mic input. If you are only using line in on your sound card choose line in with the dropdown option. (As a disclaimer, you may need to do some tweaking on your sound card settings within Windows. What and how, I don't know at this point not knowing what issues you are having.)

    Once you have a hot signal into Audacity, your line levels should be active. If you can hear through your PC what you want to record you should be seeing activity within the Audacity program or one or another setting isn't quite right. Again, not sure since I'm not sure you are having problems.

    Now the next big thing to know is that when you get something recorded it takes up a lot of space. Again through preferences find where your files are automatically being created and saved. I changed my location to a second harddrive in my PC so my data is separate from my OS.

    Ok so let's say you are seeing Audacity light up and detect your sound coming into the PC.

    In the upper left quadrant are the "tape" controls. Big round buttons. Use the record button to record. And funny as this may seem, use the play button to play back what you just recorded.

    Now if you start the recording again after one pass you'll notice a second track being created. You can record as many tracks (one at a time) as you want. No limit other than the visual on screen which you will notice once you've got 5 or 6 tracks in the same file.

    You can also save the file at anytime and go back to it later. You can edit the tracks, remove them, realign, mix, modify and all kinds of cool things.

    You have a goal so now you need to figure out how to get there. You are close. Good luck.
    thanks Bish, i'll be working on it.

    Ludwig Classic Maple Drums (22" x 14", 13" x 9", 16" x 16", 14" x 5")

    Zildjian A Armand Cymbals (14" hats, 20" ride, 16" thin crash, 16" medium-thin crash, 10" splash)

    Ludwig, Zildjian, Remo, Promark.

  13. #13

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    I'm not sure what you could do for cheap. My closest cheap/makeshift recorder was a high end tape recorder. But most people use mikes attached to their computers.

  14. #14

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    Default Re: Recording at home?

    Just remember good quality mics are just as important if not the most important aspect of getting a decent sound. Sure SM57's (not Beta type) are great and inexpensive for recording toms. AKG D 112 (the egg) is one of the most widely used for bass drum and floor toms. Next to the AKG would be the Sure Beta 52. I realize this starts to get quite costly however, if you know some one you can borrow from you will be surprised at the results even using a sound card of your choice.
    There are other mic choices as well and everyone has it's own characteristics. Good luck to you and your recordings!

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