it sounds as though you might be getting in over your head.

have you looked into taking your band into a local recording studio? i'm sure that you could find a reasonably priced private/project studio in your area who could handle the recording aspect. it's tough for even the most experienced audio pro to wear both the hat of the engineer as well as the musician. your project might benefit from hiring someone instead of you trying to tackle both.

if you are really set on producing/recording/playing for this project...there are MANY different "simple" recording pieces out there. you might check into a small Yamaha/Korg/Tascam/Roland unit which has a built-in hard drive it records to. Some will even come with a built-in CD-Burner so you can mix the project direct to CD.

One of the more important things to consider is how many tracks will you be recording at once (ie: will you have the entire band tracking at the same time or will you be recording only drums/bass...then overdubbing guitars and then vocals)? Pre-production (ie: planning the recording process) will give you a better idea of what you might need to conquer your project. Some ideas you might consider:

• What is the main goal for recording?
>Demo for local gigs? Label interest? Memorabilia? Ie: if you are just trying to get local gigs at this point...you might only need to record a few of your best songs, and only setup a few mics as the sound should feel "live" (kick/snare/bass di/guitar/guitar/vox/bg vox/room mic)
• Number of Songs you plan on recording.
• Rough number of tracks you think you will need per song
>standard drum setup (5pc) can take as few as 2 or as many as 12 depending on how involved you want to get
>bass should take 2 at most (DI and Cab)
>guitars should be maybe 2-3 per guitar player (allows for different mics to be used or different cabs to be used - only if you feel like the guitars need to be "thicker")
>lead vox should have maybe 2 tracks (again...to thicken up the sound)
>bg vox should only need 1 track per bg vocal
• Resolution at which you plan on recording (this will affect the amount of storage space on the internal hard drive, which could also determine the number of songs you record (unless you connect an external HD).

There are many other details such as mic selection, etc...but you should tackle these questions only after you have established a game plan. If the above suggestions seem too overbearing...take your band/project to someone who specializes in this field on a daily basis - a local studio. They can help you create your game plan and will produce a much more professional recording while you can focus your energy on what you do best...playing your music.

Hope that this small bit of info helps. Best of luck to you with your recording endevours!

Cheers!

-Jon-
sweetspot sound
http://www.sweetspotsound.com

I couldn't agree more with the above statement. If the terms parametric equalizer, dither, sample rate, proximity effect, phase, and a whole text book of other terms are very foreign to you at this point you are gonna have a lot of trouble turning your recordings into a polished professional product. Here is a great option though that wasn't mentioned. If you really want to have some creative control or experience in the recording of your music - while learning how to do things. Get a small roland 8 track recorder or whatever and record your tracks. Then give those recorded tracks to a seasoned engineer to be mixed. He can point out what you did wrong and what you did right and he will be much better at making your average-sounding tracks shine than any novice, like yourself, could.

BassAce wrote: I am in a rock band and I am totally confused on what I need for recording please someone help me....Our band consistes of a bass player/vocals, 2 guitars,1 drummer. I need help or suggestions on any great equipment I should get...I'm looking at a 4-8 track recorder but, will that work...

Yes it will work. Whether or not it will be to your liking is another question. Care to elaborate on your goals, like, what you will want the final product to sound like? That will help us all out considerably.

BassAce wrote: where do the cords go?

Mine are usually on the floor, but some fancy studios have built-in 'tracks' in the floor for the cords to go in so you don't have to worry about stepping or tripping on them.

Or, if you mean what connections to make, well, that's really dependant on the equipment you'll be dealing with.

BassAce wrote: Do I need any extra equipment?

You'll need more then a recorder and some cords, if that's what you mean. You'll need mics and mic stands more then likely. Though, who knows, maybe you should just get one of those recorders with a built-in mic and just set it up in the middle of the room. Try to find a spot where all instruments are picked up equally, it could be anywhere really, it just takes some trial-and-error.

BassAce wrote: ...please help me and tell me everything you know...thanks!!!

Nobody will be able to tell you everything they know, it will involve alot of research on your part in these forums for example. We'll definately try and help you get started or walk you through some stuff, but it's not likely someone here will come over and hold your hand through the entire process. Just warning you! :)