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first off, i am close to a beginner when it come to recording drums. i did it a couple times before and it sounded great, but i had to pre-mix everything and there was no mastering involved.

lets say i want to be able to record each mic (around 6-8) separately into their own track so i can mix them later, and be able to edit them individually. what would i need? ive seen tons of videos on how to record but none of them show you what they use.

i want to use my macbook pro (15" 4g ram i7 with firewire 800 port) to record stuff and be able to take it anywhere to record. i use Cubase.

I'm looking at 8 track firewire interfaces, (namely PreSonus and other cheap brands) but it that what i need?

Comments

Boswell Fri, 04/01/2011 - 05:11

Well, a multi-channel interface is what you need, but I would choose carefully when it is specifically for recording drum tracks. Drums really show up the limitations of pre-amplifiers and converters.

You mentioned Presonus as a make you had considered, but which model? Other than "cheap", what is your actual budget?

By the way, recording multitrack and then mixing down to 2-track are stages in the process that precede "mastering".

Lavaxtris Fri, 04/01/2011 - 15:18

Boswell, post: 367753 wrote: Well, a multi-channel interface is what you need, but I would choose carefully when it is specifically for recording drum tracks. Drums really show up the limitations of pre-amplifiers and converters.

You mentioned Presonus as a make you had considered, but which model? Other than "cheap", what is your actual budget?

By the way, recording multitrack and then mixing down to 2-track are stages in the process that precede "mastering".

well, the PreSonus FP10 10x10 Firewire Interface looked good to me. the budget can be anything, as im not looking to buy anytime soon, but i just want to know what i would need. i understand the output on the presonus is FW 400. will this also work with 800?/can i get an adapter?

btw, what do you mean "recording multitrack then mixing down to 2-track"? wouldnt each mic have a separate track assigned to it?

Boswell Mon, 04/04/2011 - 05:53

Lavaxtris, post: 367802 wrote: well, the PreSonus FP10 10x10 Firewire Interface looked good to me. the budget can be anything, as im not looking to buy anytime soon, but i just want to know what i would need. i understand the output on the presonus is FW 400. will this also work with 800?/can i get an adapter?

btw, what do you mean "recording multitrack then mixing down to 2-track"? wouldnt each mic have a separate track assigned to it?

Yes, you can get FireWire 400-800 adaptors.

What I meant by "recording multitrack" was that after your recording session you would have in the computer separate tracks for each instrument (mic or direct inputs). When you have everything recorded, you use your audio software to mix this down to 2-track (stereo).