Recording for practice/writing purposes

Hey everyone,

Owner of a 2010 beautiful blue G&L legacy here, I’ve been lurking around this board for the past year ever since I was looking at getting a Legacy. I’ve got a recording-based question:

I am looking for a way to record myself and my drummer together (and the rest of the band all together if possible). This is not for the purpose of making a record, but rather for recording parts and songs in order to add solos, additional parts, and sculpt our vocals. I guess I am looking for some information on what my options are when it comes to recording a basement track with ease. Sound quality is not paramount, but I need better quality than what I get from the “voice memo” app on my iphone, lol.

I recently got a new computer – a high quality HP laptop that should be more than capable of handling any lowish-quality recordings I want to put on there – so getting software and a recorder that plugs directly into the computer is an option, if that is a good way to go.

Really I’m just looking for some “search terms” or types of products that will allow me to get started researching this. Does anyone have any good advice on where to start? I’ve read about the H2Zoom and the Sony M10 as stand alone recorders, but I’m not sure if that is the best option?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Joe

I guess I should mention as well...we play a range of music but definitely cross into loud, distorted, banging loudly on the drums territory, and we don't have a huge practice space. It would be nice to have a high-enough quality recorder to be able to play reasonably loud without it sounding like death on the recorder.

Thanks

Zom should work well for you. I had a friend send me some clips of a full band he recorded on a zoom and it was surprisingly good sounding. I could hear all 5 instruments clearly. Just place it away from drums though.

Your options as far as I can see are a standalone recorder, or a recording interface plugged into your laptop (via USB2 or Firewire) coupled with recording/editing software.

The main advantage of the standalone recorder is that it is built for purpose, and is likely to work flawlessly straight out of the box. Something like this is a really good unit and they can be found relatively cheaply on EBay.

The laptop/recording interface/software option can be a little more invloved to set up as there are more variables to consider, but once you've got it going it is more flexible than the standalone option since each component can be upgraded independently. Audio is MUCH easier to edit from a computer than a standalone unit with a little LCD screen. I run a setup like this at home and it does a great job once configured. You've already got the laptop so you'll need something like this and this. I'd recommend a USB2 recording device for a laptop as the on-board Firewire ports are usually flakey and the internet abounds with stories of firewire interfaces that won't work with various laptops. Be sure to turn off services like your wireless adapter and firewall while recording as these interfere with the stream of audio going to your hard disk.

Of course you'll also need some microphones to get underway with either option. Good luck, it's a lot of fun once you get going

Don't forget to post a picture of your Legacy. I love blue guitars .

If you have a computer handy, try out Audacity. It's a free multi-track recording program, I usually plug a SM57 mic directly into the mic port on my laptop, you'll need a xlr -> 1/4" cable then a 1/4"->mini adapter. If you want to mic up the band all you'd need is a mixer with a line/Aux out, plug the mics into the mixer and run the line out into your mic port. Only problem with that is if you were all playing it would record onto one track, you could add additional tracks still for solo or vocals, but it would be that way with a stand alone recorder anyway, and this is free

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

-Dave

I use audacity as well, I have a Fostex digital recorder, that I highly don't recommend. The UI is so arcane it makes me nuts, it is so maddening to feel like you got a good track down only to discover that you have recorded over a previous track. Then you may throw your G&L and everything else near by out the window.

At practice, we do the same thing Dave suggested, and record it on the other guitar players Mac. This works to get idea's down quick and dirty, and really allows us to maximize our precious practice time.

I use audacity as well, I have a Fostex digital recorder, that I highly don't recommend. The UI is so arcane it makes me nuts, it is so maddening to feel like you got a good track down only to discover that you have recorded over a previous track. Then you may throw your G&L and everything else near by out the window.

Which Fostex digital recorder do you have? I have an MR8 from around 1992 and I found it pretty easy to use. In fact I found a little secret/bug with it that turned out to be of great use. I can select one of eight tracks to record to. Once I record to a certain track, if I leave the same track selected but reset to the beginning I can 'record over' the current track, but what actually happens is that it records a fresh track without destroying the old one. I use this bug to do multiple takes and then I can pick which one I like best (or with the least number of flubs). One thing I have to point out is that the only way to get to these multiple tracks is to put the SD card on my PC and view the contents, then I can see all the individual takes and copy them off. If I just use the machine and 'play' the selected track the only one I can listen to is the last one recorded.

If you have a similar machine, next time you believe you have recorded over something you need, check the SD card before you chuck anything out the window.

Kit

I use audacity as well, I have a Fostex digital recorder, that I highly don't recommend. The UI is so arcane it makes me nuts, it is so maddening to feel like you got a good track down only to discover that you have recorded over a previous track. Then you may throw your G&L and everything else near by out the window.

Which Fostex digital recorder do you have? I have an MR8 from around 1992 and I found it pretty easy to use. In fact I found a little secret/bug with it that turned out to be of great use. I can select one of eight tracks to record to. Once I record to a certain track, if I leave the same track selected but reset to the beginning I can 'record over' the current track, but what actually happens is that it records a fresh track without destroying the old one. I use this bug to do multiple takes and then I can pick which one I like best (or with the least number of flubs). One thing I have to point out is that the only way to get to these multiple tracks is to put the SD card on my PC and view the contents, then I can see all the individual takes and copy them off. If I just use the machine and 'play' the selected track the only one I can listen to is the last one recorded.

If you have a similar machine, next time you believe you have recorded over something you need, check the SD card before you chuck anything out the window.

Kit

I do have the MR-8hd, and i think you have nailed my issue. i think i would like the one with SD better, the interface is not great and for project recording SD is very adequate. I will work with the MR8 a little more...thanks very much!

I have been very happy with the Cakewalk V-Studio 20. It comes with Guitar Tracks software and a host of built in Boss effects and amps - pretty cool for recording on the fly. The effects and amp models actually sound very good. Of cpurse, you can also mic your amp, drumset, etc... if you want to steer clear of the built-in effects. 8 tracks (or 32 virtual tracks), xlr input plus an on-board mic, guitar/bass input, backing tracks, etc... Check it out if you are interested in a really functional interface for your laptop. Best of all, I got it shipped for like $270 on Ebay with free M-Audio monitors that sound really good.

-Adam