field recording

larryo wrote on 3/27/2004, 1:01 PM
Just wondering what other folks do and use when they can't bring mohammed to the mountain and need to record outside the studio. I would very much like to enhance my home studio from a Delta 44 to an 8 input, but think I might look at getting something like a Tascam 2488 first. That way I can drive 2 hours to my drummers house, set up and grab 8 tracks of drums, etc., then dump it into Vegas back at the ranch. I'm a little apprehensive about the porta studio concept due to the fact that most of these units seem to be jack of all trades, master of none. The new 2488 boasts 24 tracks, 8 at a time @24/44. From a practical stand point, I know I would be doing more recording if I were mobil.

Anyone out there wish to opine??

Comments

Cold wrote on 3/28/2004, 7:40 AM
Really depends on how good you wish the drums to sound. How much budget do you have? What sort of mics do you own? Do you already own a preamp or two? Do you already own a small console?
Personally drums are the instrument I'm least likely to record in the field. They take the most time and equipment to track properly. If you're looking for 8 drum tracks you'll need 8 mics, 8 mic stands, 8 mic cables etc. If you buy a stand alone unit will this incorporate well into your home rig? Have you thought about a laptop solution? Perhaps a laptop with an adat interface (usb2 or firewire) and an 8 preamp digital converter box? This gear would incorporate into your home system, be portable, plus you could do vegas drum edits on location.......
My 2cents.
Steve S.
Rahman wrote on 3/28/2004, 12:13 PM
Hi:

I would agree with Cold on the "it really depends on what you're after".
But there are some thoughts I'd maybe like to add based on my experiance
with live drums. (keep in mind I'm no expert. and when I was doing this
I barely had a clue what I was doing compared to now).

However,

1) I think you could get away with some really good drum traks by directly
miking the 1-kick, 1-snare, 1-hat, 1-hi toms, 1-floor tom. 1-overhead for
symbols. optionally 1-distance mike to get ambiance of the kit.

2) EQ will be your biggest challange in trying to prevent mike bleed
(I found out about that one the hard way).

3) Mikes I used were all pretty cheep low Z stuff. unless you're doing
jazz or some other style acoustic stuff where you really need the
clarity and detail. But the kick and snare mic need to be pretty decent.
Shure Beta 52 on kick, and SM57 or similar for your snare.

4) This might seem obvious, but make sure the damn drummer tunes his
kit BEFORE you come to record him. Mine just started banging away
with his headphone feed and effects and never carred that the dry
signal to tape sounded like sh...t ! (yeah i know it was my fault as
the engineer-to-be).

5) Lots of people use a Layla 2496 for tracking to Vegas as I do now.
But for the old live setup I used, I had a drum sub-mixer. so that the final
actual recorded drums, took up only 4 tracks. (You can double and copy
traks to thicken if needed later).

these are just a few suggestions. As Cold mentioned, there are lots of good
things available these days. And a Laptop solution, (I would seriously look
at firewire stuff) would be the way to go.

Just my .02 worth.


Peace

Rahman


4 traks anyway.



larryo wrote on 3/28/2004, 3:18 PM
Right now my current setup for recording drums(and other tracks) is a couple of cheapo Behringer mixers. I've had luck getting a decent recording (not pro by no means) using a Sm57 on snare, a couple of beta 58's, a pair of shure condensor mics overhead, Cad and a C2000b, etc. I currently do not have a dedicated kick mic, but access to a beta 52 (I believe). I record things relatively flat and work the tracks using Ozone. The type of music is primarily blues oriented, with ventures into country/pop. My method is to provide the drummer a drum machine driven reference track with other instrumentation/vocals, get the drums down and rebuild to the newly recorded drums. This system has worked for me previously in other recording situations, even producing results that impressed (a little) a few reputable engineers in local pro studios.

My drummer has as decent of an enviroment, if not better, than I do. He's got a good ear for tuning-that has never been a problem.

My objective is to be able to record off-site, but to be able to import all the tracks back home into Vegas and get the same results (at least) that I do at my home studio. I haven't looked into or priced the laptop route only because I sort of anticipated the cost being more than the Tascam 2488 ($1200.00). I'm kinda guessing that a suitable laptop plus something like a Layla or Delta 1010 will far exceed that cost.

This is probably opening up old debates, but any recommendations on a good route to go with a laptop?

Thanks for the feedback

Larry