>is it possible to record drums with an mbox?

Yes, but only with two mics.

>i know that some sort of external i/o device would be required to have enough inputs for all the drums mics, since the mbox only has two, but is there a device that does this?

Yes, it's called a mixer. It will mix it down to two channels to go into the mbox.

>if this wouldnt work, is drum triggering an alternative? what equipment would i need to purchase to make this happen?

A bunch of midi stuff. try the drum forum, or the unique and amazing search feature.

>in either instance, id definitely want each drum (kick, snare, hats, etc) on their own separate channels for mixing purposes

Not gonna happen on an mbox.

>if there is another alternative that im not aware of, then please let me know!

Get an interface with more inputs.

i did try the search function, and couldn't come up with any results pertaining to my specific question. however, thanks for your input. are there any devices that you would recommend for more inputs? even the digi002 only has 4 mic inputs. i was looking at some of the new m-audio interfaces that use lightpipe outputs, would something like that work?

The 002 has 4 mic pres (with line in capability), and 4 dedicated line ins, for a total of 8 inputs. It also has ADAT in, which will give you 8 more inputs for a total of 16 if you get one of the many 8-pack pres with built in converters, or seperate pre/converter setups. Mackie, Presonus and a few other companies make some of the all-in-one setups that would give you 8 channels.

thanks a lot for the help. ill do some more research and decide what will be best for me. i appreciate the replies.

Yes u can,

as far as I know mbox has midi in. You need to buy a ROLOAND TMC-6 trigger to midi converter. I actually own this. It will be a little slow, but with firewire or pci ure fine. I have DDrum Triggers and the roland converter. Any specific questions ask me.

Mbox does not have a midi in.

thanks crimson,

i was in the store looking at the roland tmc-6 just today. it doesnt need to run through the mbox, i can plug it directly via midi. that way, i can trigger the kit, mic the cymbals with two overheads using the mbox pre's, and have a great drum recording. thanks a lot!

brandon

NP, just that i dont understand why are you going to trigger and mic. Can you please tell me? maybe it will help me record too

ive been lucky enough to have worked with some really talented local engineers/producers in the seattle area and have learned a lot. when it comes down to it, i like the sound of drum triggering 100 times better than normal micing the drums. with mic'ing a whole kit, a lot of equipment is necessary, and to make it sound good you have to have a lot of great gear and a greatly tuned drum kit. in my experience, triggering the kit (snare, kick, toms) gives you the option to select any pre-recorded drum sounds. there's no need to have a $5000 drum kit, because you have many $5000 drum kits within your sample collection of drum sounds. you can make it sound however you want. but you still retain a natural drum sound because the midi triggers record and show velocity, etc etc. then you record the cymbals as regular audio. i would do this because to trigger the cymbals, especially the hi-hat, would take a lot out of the drumming. by using normal mic'ing techniques it is possible to maintain a more natural feeling and makes the rest of the already triggered kit sound more realistic.

now, that's a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. i tried my best to word it properly, but any feedback would be great. let me know if this makes sense, if you've tried it and had success of failure, or if you have any other questions. thanks,

brandon

Ok, I understand, but if u record both at the same time, triggers will take more time to record, what i mean is that trigger is much slower, (usb)

hmm.. i see how latency could be an issue. im going to head over to the drum forum and see what they have to say there. thank you, as always,

brandon

what drum forum?

p.s I guess that if you use firewire or a pci card latency will not affect as much as with usb.

the drum forum is called "Sound and Rhythm" - it's in the "recording musicians" category.