Hey, my band just bought the MRS-1608 multi track recorder from ZOOM and i am the drummer and i have not recorded with one of these b4 and i do no want to screw with the drum machine and not record my own stuff so i wuz wondering if anyone knew how to mic and record the drums with a 7 piece drum mic kit simultaneously and then add teh guitar and bass and vocals to the music, bcuz i tried the 8 track recording, but i am already using 7 of those for the drums and i need two for guitar, one for bass, and 3 for vocals, 13 total, and idk how to do it, so that we can record seperatlely, but get it all on one track, is this not possible, idk i am just rele rele confused and would rele rele appreciate help if anyone could tell me wut to do it wuld be very appreciated. thanks. keaton.
Colin
Well-known member
Why don't you record the drums as a stereo track (2 tracks 2 overhead mics) so you can get the other instruments as well. then after your happy with the guitars etc then bounce those tracks down then redo your drums again. Use compression wisely and a click track is also advisable
Colin
Colin
Hey bro,
You have 8 inputs into that machine, and 16 total tracks. You should be able to assign the inputs on to any of the tracks. In other words, record your drums to 1 through 7, then assign the vocals to 8, bass to 9, etc. Read the manual and experiment a bit.
Also, you should be able to export the tracks to a pc, so theoretically you should have an unlimited amount of tracks.
As far as recording drums...trying to mic each drum individually is a recipe for assy sounding drums unless you know what you're doing and have a crapload of decent mics. Most people in your situation, myself included, would use 4 mics. 1 on the snare, one on the kick, and 2 as overheads. It was good enough for Led Zep...and lots of othe bands. It also makes things much easier to mix. It's also less expensive to buy 4 good mics than 7, and 4 good mics will sound better then 7 crappy ones.
Anyway, a good place to research this stuff and ask questions is over here -
www.homerecording.com
Good luck, keep us posted.
tv
You have 8 inputs into that machine, and 16 total tracks. You should be able to assign the inputs on to any of the tracks. In other words, record your drums to 1 through 7, then assign the vocals to 8, bass to 9, etc. Read the manual and experiment a bit.
Also, you should be able to export the tracks to a pc, so theoretically you should have an unlimited amount of tracks.
As far as recording drums...trying to mic each drum individually is a recipe for assy sounding drums unless you know what you're doing and have a crapload of decent mics. Most people in your situation, myself included, would use 4 mics. 1 on the snare, one on the kick, and 2 as overheads. It was good enough for Led Zep...and lots of othe bands. It also makes things much easier to mix. It's also less expensive to buy 4 good mics than 7, and 4 good mics will sound better then 7 crappy ones.
Anyway, a good place to research this stuff and ask questions is over here -
www.homerecording.com
Good luck, keep us posted.
tv
Colin
Well-known member
Don't forget once you get addicted to recording invest in a pro tools system. Thats what I have and I love it.
Colin
Colin
SteveB
Well-known member
RipTide,
This requires another mixer in the chain before your recorder, but you can do as Colin mentioned. You'd mic all your drums and those mics would be connected to a mixer. You would then 'mix' your drums down to 2 tracks (stereo) and send the main outputs from the mixer to two channels on your recorder.
The down side to this approach is that you lose control over the individual drum sounds that were mic'ed when you're mixing the whole band. You are pretty much stuck with the 'mix' of the drums (relative to each other) as they were when recorded. All you can do in the final mix is raise or lower the volume of the entire kit (same for EQ'ing etc).
If you have enough virtual tracks on the machine to do what tvanveen is describing, that will probably yield better results in the end. You'd record your drums on 7 tracks, and then move them to 'virtual' tracks (9-16) so that the other instruments can be recorded on 1-8.
8 or 9 tracks for the rest of the band may not be enough, depending on what you're trying to do. For example, I've known some really heavy groups who will use 3 tracks for the same rhythm guitar part just to fatten the sound. If you record guitars or keys in stereo, that's two channels per track per stereo instrument.
Let us know what you end up doing and how it turns out!
This requires another mixer in the chain before your recorder, but you can do as Colin mentioned. You'd mic all your drums and those mics would be connected to a mixer. You would then 'mix' your drums down to 2 tracks (stereo) and send the main outputs from the mixer to two channels on your recorder.
The down side to this approach is that you lose control over the individual drum sounds that were mic'ed when you're mixing the whole band. You are pretty much stuck with the 'mix' of the drums (relative to each other) as they were when recorded. All you can do in the final mix is raise or lower the volume of the entire kit (same for EQ'ing etc).
If you have enough virtual tracks on the machine to do what tvanveen is describing, that will probably yield better results in the end. You'd record your drums on 7 tracks, and then move them to 'virtual' tracks (9-16) so that the other instruments can be recorded on 1-8.
8 or 9 tracks for the rest of the band may not be enough, depending on what you're trying to do. For example, I've known some really heavy groups who will use 3 tracks for the same rhythm guitar part just to fatten the sound. If you record guitars or keys in stereo, that's two channels per track per stereo instrument.
Let us know what you end up doing and how it turns out!
ok i would do like u said evan record all 7 at once but the machine has two ways of recording, 8 track which records 8 lines at once, but says it doesnt involve the other9-16 tracks, or a way that can use either 1 or 2 lines to record, so if i mic all seven, i onli have one more left, is there any way to mic all seven on 8 track recording and then transfer that all onto like 1 or 2 tracks??? still confused, sorry, help please, thanks, Keaton.
SteveB
Well-known member
RipTide,
After you've recorded on several tracks, you *could* "bounce" them, which means you'd combine them, onto a smaller number of tracks (1 or 2 ideally).
The down side is that you again lose the ability to mix the 7 individual drum tracks at the final mixdown. Otherwise, it's a very common technique, especially among folks with 4-track recorders.
After you've recorded on several tracks, you *could* "bounce" them, which means you'd combine them, onto a smaller number of tracks (1 or 2 ideally).
The down side is that you again lose the ability to mix the 7 individual drum tracks at the final mixdown. Otherwise, it's a very common technique, especially among folks with 4-track recorders.
