So, how "rigged" is my setup???AKA: Low budget recording newbie questions.

[S.Filpansick]

I posted this in the "So much gear..." forum, but it wasn't getting much action, so I thought this might be a better place. I've included the two replies that I got over there...
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Hey guys, I'm a newb to recording, so I'd like some input... BUT please keep in mind that I have virtually NO money to upgrade anything at this time; I'd just like to know if there's a better way to use what I currently have, as well as what the most cost effective/highest priority upgrades for the future would be.

This is all taking place in my band's "practice space", which I'm currently in the process of treating (adding more traps/panels as money allows), but it sounds pretty good so far.

The recording started just as way to document "jams" so we could go back through them later to see if there were any riffs/grooves worth building on. The "live" recordings we were getting sounded surprisingly good... so we started screwing around with trying to lay down some tracks.


So... here's what we've got going on:

A pretty typical garage band setup; everything goes into a Yamaha MG166CX. We're using the pres on the board for the vocals, The guitars and bass are DI'd, and the drum mics are summed in an old Peavey 8ch mixer and into one channel on the Yamaha.
The MAIN outs of the MG go to the amp for the mains, the AUX outs go to the amp for the monitors, and the group outs 1&2 (L&R) run out to the interface (a Lexicon Alpha) which goes ITB with Cubase Le4.

So, with the current setup, we're recording two tracks at a time; a left and a right to create a stereo mix (the Alpha only has two ins).
We run through a song once "live", and then play that back and lay down a new guitar track, and then a new bass track, etc... and then eventually dump the "live" track, to end up with 6 or 8 individual tracks that make up a good mix.

So far, we're SUPER happy with how everything's turning out (actually,after hearing it, a few different friends bands want to come over to record some stuff), but I know that this is SUPER low end, and is certainly not the "ideal" rig...

How "rigged" is this setup?
Is there any reason I wouldn't be able to get solid recordings using this stuff?
What should I be doing differently?
Is there any gear that I absolutely NEED to to accomplish what I'm attempting?
What budget friendly gear should I be looking at to make this easier/better/more efficient?

Originally Posted by DCtoDaylight

Hey, if you're super happy, keep doing what you're doing! Seriously, the vibe and a happy creative process are really the most important things, so the procedure you're using (cutting the phantom tracks together and then replacing them) sounds spot on. Your situation is very similar to how I cut my teeth in the recording world; the difference is that WE had to use a 4-track cassette machine instead of (*@#&!(*# Cubase!

I wouldn't say you "need" anything, really - just record everything you possibly can with what you have, cultivate your skills and keep the mojo flowing. Almost anyone would take that over high-end hardware six ways from Sunday.

That said....you don't mention what kind of mics you're using, but very often one upgrade there can help move your sound forward, especially on vocals. And some better preamps would give you less noise and more detail, although Yamaha stuff generally holds up pretty well in its price range. You might keep an eye out for a deal on a used interface with 4 or 8 inputs - that would give you some more flexibility.

And, oh, one thing that really might be a "need" - you probably won't have decent monitors or a nice acoustic space for mixing, so pop for a good set of headphones, like in the $100 or $150 range (you can search around here for recommendations). You can't totally mix on them, especially if you're collaborating with people, but they'll give you WAY more visibility into what you're doing that any other investment at that level.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by MsM

Sounds like you guys are having fun WHAT and HOW you record is IMNSHO far more important than focusing on the tools of recording (even if this is a tools site ), and it doesn't cost much money.

What you could do is to experiment with mic placement and how you use the mics. See how that changes the sound character, and see what you like (i.e. the usage of the tools). Doesn't cost much more than a decent book. One that comes to mind is "Recording Great Audio Tracks" by Bill Gibson, many others are also great, do a search on Gearsluz for other recommendations.

Good luck, keep having fun, and start playing with miking

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Yeah, so far, I've been doing a lot of "screwing around" with mics, and placements, and eq'ing, etc... just to see how changes affect the sound we get.

As for mics, I've got a few sm58's, a couple sm57's, an om2, the drums are mic'd with a cheap Audio Technica set, and then I've got a bunch of lower end Shure PG's, AKG's, etc. (and I also have an I5 on the way).

As you can see, all I have are dynamics; I'd really like to get a few condensers, and I've been doing a ton of reading on here to figure out which way I want to go on those.

As for headphones, I'm using some low end ($40-$50) stuff now, but I've already asked my wife for a set of HD280's for Xmas. I know they're not super high end, but they get pretty amazing reviews, especially at that price point, and the isolation is a definite plus.


Thanks!
Steve

[lobsty]

I don't even know what "rigged" means...

[S.Filpansick]

Originally Posted by lobsty

I don't even know what "rigged" means...

Sorry, I didn't think about our international reach...

It's slang/short for "Jerry rigged": Organized or constructed in a crude or improvised fashion.

A combination of "jury rigged" and "jerry built".