Re: [LAU] A short story: from zero to recording the drums in a budget

On 07/16/2014 08:10 PM, Carlo Ascani wrote:
> Hi guys,
> I own an acoustic drum, and I wanted to record it.
> My set looks like this [1], and I wanted 8 mics to record it.
> So, starting from *just* the drums, I bought everything I needed:
>
> 1. The Mixer
> I got a second hand Soundtracs Topaz Micro (I used its Inserts as Direct Outs)
> for 220 euros
>
> 2. The PC
> I got an IBM Thinkcentre 8215 for 50 euros
>
> 3. The converters
> I got an Echo Layla 20 for 50 euros, it has 8 analog ins and it is
> really well supported by alsa.
>
> 4. The Monitors
> I got a pair of second hand KRK Rockit 5 for 150 euros
>
> 5. Cables and mic stands
> Got them for around 250 euros
>
> 6. The mics
> I got an Audix D6 and a Sennheiser e609 for kick,
> a Revox m3500 and a Beyer m610 for the snare,
> two Sennheiser e609 for the floor toms
> and a pair of Sennheiser e614 as overheads.
> The total cost of those mics (second hand) is 600 euros.
>
> So, the total price of the whole thing was around 1320 euros!
> Here are some audio clip of the result, dry recording [2] and processed
> with some eq, compressor and reverb [3]

Thanks for sharing. That's good info.

What software and plugins did you use to record and mix?

> So guys, what do you think?

Sounds very good to me. I've heard pro studios do worse with much more
expensive equipment. I prefer the dry raw sound [2] here for the demo.
Though things will be different in mix with other instruments.

> If I would improve the quality of my recordings, where should I spend
> more money?

I don't think you have to. Tweaking mic positions and adjusting the mix
will have greater impact in this stage.

If you really really want to waste some cash: one can never have good
enough Mics and analog preamps :) but you'll have to go up an order of
magnitude on the price-list for it to make a significant difference - if
any.

You're fine on the digital side. the Echo Layla has only 20 bits but
that's plenty here. Don't worry about this.

The weakest part of your setup are probably the KRK Rokit 5 monitors.
I've heard those in comparison and was not convinced for
mixing/mastering in general, but I cannot judge them for drum mixing on
a budget.

Note however, that this directly affects the processing
(compression/eq/etc) that you'll be doing and it may or may not be
possible to 'get used' to these monitors and learn how to properly tweak
details of the mix with them.

best,
robin

> PS: I suck at playing

No, you don't. but it's all relative. One can always suck less :)

> [1] http://carlorat.me/drumset.jpg
> [2] http://carlorat.me/noproc_session.ogg
> [3] http://carlorat.me/proc_session.ogg
>

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Received on Tue Jul 22 00:15:01 2014