Recording a rock band in a room?

[Variyen]

This is home-studio-ish, so I'll ask here.

My band and I want to record no-frills demos but don't have the money for a studio, so we'd like to record a session in a practice studio we go to (they don't have a recording choice). So the question is: what's the best way? It's a 17x17 room with good soundproofing and etc; here's there setup for the room from the site:

• Fender Blues Deluxe
• Fender DeVille
• Marshall JCM 800 amp
  (with 4x12 Celestion cabinet)
• Gallien-Krueger Goldline 500-watt head (with SVT 8x10 cabinet)
• DW PDP drums (24, 12, 13, 16; 14 x 6 1/2 snare)
• Behringer console
• JBL speakers and monitor

​
It's loud as hell in there. Can we cheaply hook a bunch of lines from the equipment to a laptop usb and record — can one line handle four sets of audio? Or is there a cheap mic we can get, tone down the sensitivity, and have it come out alright? Or anything else you guys can think of. We don't need anything fancy, just a generally clean, unmixed recording.

[Beat Poet]

You could make a multitrack recording by recording sequentially, or would you prefer to play all together? Have you got a preamp or interface of some sort?

[BobRogers]

1. Find out what a studio in your area would actually charge. You probably need quite a bit of equipment beyond what you have to get a multitrack demo. It will almost certainly cost more than a single demo session and it will be months or years before you get good enough at recording to produce anything "generally clean." (Rule of : it takes as long to learn to record as it does to learn an instrument.)

2. Give us more details about how you are set up. What goes through the console? Do you mic the amps and drums? How many microphones (what kind) do you have? etc.

3. Think seriously about getting a flash recorder like the Zoom 4N. This is a great device for recording practices. It can produce a good demo if you are in a good venue and can combine the sound of the internal mics with a FOH feed. It probably won't give the greatest results for a loud band in a 17x17 room, but it will give you some info on where you are.

4. I'm generally against the one-track-at-a-time method for most bands. Recording this way is a separate skill. Most people suck at it. Until you have practiced it a long time it produces lifeless, mechanical recordings. Some people spend a lot of time at it and get good. But for most bands the best advice is to mold yourself into a tight live unit, throw some mics up, and record your live act.

[RemyRAD]

There is a technique that has been used over the years. You set up your stereo flash recorder and you record the band, live. This generally requires more than just one take. You then find your best take. You transfer that best take into your computer and your multitrack software. Then with a simple 2 channel microphone interface, you start to recut everybody, one person, one instrument at a time to match your good take. This will require multiple takes to get it right. In the end, you'll have a superior recording of your original good take. Provided everybody has musical talent to accomplish this? Which might not be the case? And you might also be able to accomplish this with just two microphones over top of the drums. Then you go back and overdub the bass drum the second time. It'll melt in an ad with the bass drum from the overhead recording also à la 2 bass drums. And who wouldn't love that in rock 'n roll? And hey, the drummer doesn't need to shell out money for a second bass drum then. Woo hoo!

Now you're rocking. No, stop, stop rocking my truck back and forth.
Mx. Remy Ann David