Can you resolve my garage band's sound recording desires?

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:31 pm

I want to record my garage band's practice sessions. But not in a position to spend so much. Using windows XP-SP2. I just want to know how will I record with two or more mics simultaneously into my laptop's sound recorder . I do have Audacity software, that facilitates numerous sound processing capabilities.

Putting one mic for singing and one for guitar and the other for keyboard/drumset, is it possible to record all three of them at a time coz I know multi-track recording feature is there in Audacity. Don't know how to use it ;0(

Though I can use 3 mics but my laptop has only 1 mic-in port and 1 audio port. Now how could I combine all the three mic output coming from 3 different instruments to Audacity.In-short, how will I let in all the outputs from 2/3 mics into a single mic-in port of my laptop? Or do u have some other solution for it? Any other recommendations for software or not-so-expensive hardware is highly appreciated.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:55 pm

You need an interface.

What kind of budget do you have?

I use an Edirol UA-25. It was cheap and I love it.
But it only has 2 mic pres.

You may need something with four.

What's your idea of "not-so-expensive"?

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:11 am

Thanks for considering my worry.........
Ya definetly I will need something for 4 mics.......but still I can manage....
Now my doubt is how will I configure in audacity that the input from 1 particular mic should record into one particular track....and input from other to the next track???? Multitrack recording is possible.

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:01 am

Audacity only records 1 or 2 tracks at a time, so for true multitrack recording, you will need a different program. Kristal Engine is free and will run to 16 tracks, or many multitrack interfaces come bundled with suitable software.

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:22 pm

Boswell....
Check the settings. I was surprised when I found it too.
Edit, Preferences, Audio I/O - you can set it to record as many channels as the selected interface has (drawback:you can only select one, which is why it's basically limited to 2).

Kristal is fine for multitrack recording, yeah. But if your interface comes with anything, use it.
Kristal is like mixer preamps: fine until you realise there are other options almost all of which are better.

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:48 am

Codemonkey wrote:

Boswell....
Check the settings. I was surprised when I found it too.
Edit, Preferences, Audio I/O - you can set it to record as many channels as the selected interface has (drawback:you can only select one, which is why it's basically limited to 2).

Get a multitrack interface and try it - with Audacity you can select any odd-even pair of tracks.

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:00 pm

"Get a multitrack interface and try it"

Believe me, I'm trying Wink

TBH I hate Audacity anyway, and I would use Kristal to record given a choice.

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:19 pm

I have a Behringer ADA8000 that has 8 mic pre's. Something like that might work for you.

Now that I think of it, it connects via optical (ADAT) so you'd need to find a way to connect that. I got it to add 8 more ins to my Project Mix.

I'll see what I can find for ADAT interfaces. These are dirt cheap and work quite well.

I've also seen used Presonus Firepods for $250-$300. Very nice units and 8 pre's.

Mike

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