Hi guys and gals, my first time here, so please be gentle ;) I'd really really appreciate it if someone could help me out :)
I'm the singer/guitarist in a lo fi duo called le Chat Noir, I guess you could say we're a Black Keys/White Stripes-type band with a dash of good old-fashioned 50's rock'n'roll spirit. We've been knocking our some very basic demos of our stuff just using a really old, cheap mic stuck in the middle of the room (!) and it's been okay for our purposes because I've managed to make the recordings quite vibey and raw. You can see what i've been up to so far at http://www.myspace.com/chatnoirband
However, we've been getting some interest from labels as well as a lot of positive feedback from fans, and I'd really like to take our recordings up a notch. I want to achieve a much better initial recording, though of course we still want to keep a fairly lo-fi vibe overall (it's just our sound!). I've just ordered an AT2020 for vocals after reading some positive feedback, I think it'll suit my fairly trebly vocal, but I'd really like to now invest in some drum mics and a mixer of some sort.
We're on a really tight budget, say £200-300 ($600?) for the whole setup. I have a good PC with a Creative Audigy 2 sound card and Adobe Audition 2.0, so I'm not too bothered about upgrading that area - my plan was to get drum mics and run these (along with the AT2020 on my amp?) into a mini mixer for a basic mix, then into the sound card's line in. I was thinking perhaps to keep things simple two overheards and a kick mic would be the best setup, as perhaps for the budget 3 okay-ish mics would be better than a 7-piece set of rubbish.
Obviously I'm not expecting miraculous results from this setup, but remember it's a lo fi vibe anyway so I'm not after the unreasonable idea of a perfect sound for that kind of money!
Please, please, please, I'd be most appreciative if somebody could give me some advice! :)
-x-
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Thanks for the responses guys! A few people have said 'why not
Thanks for the responses guys!
A few people have said 'why not go to a proper studio?' I know that's probably the best way to get a good sound, but I'm determined to have a go at home anyway - I just really enjoy the process, I might not get such amazing results but hell, it's fun and good to learn :)
I decided to plump for a pair of Red5 RV85 Overhead Mics, which were 55GBP (about 100 bucks) - you guys in the States might not know the name, they're a company based up in Scotland who have been getting rave reviews for their Far East-made mics, apparently great value for money.
Still deciding on a kick mic - ideally I'd like to record the guitar and drums simultaneously, as I find it easier to get a good feel and vibe that way. I've been to plenty of studios in my time and find a 'live' recording with vocal overdub will suit this particular enterprise the best. Will perhaps take a guy on another forum's advice and use the AT2020 in front of the kick and buy a SM57 for the cab... so then we have the question of a mixer!
The idea of vintage equipment is nice, I'd love some old mics and suchlike and am watching a few on Ebay, but I think only a real purist would be mad enough to go for an all-analog steup these days, especially for the mixer - it seems decent entry level mixers with built-in preamps and USB connections are pretty affordable! A lot of people have said the Alesis Multimix is the best budget USB mini-mixer, I don't really need the 8 channels yet but it would at least not be obsolete if I decided to bring in more musicians. The firewire one also sounds very interesting, but twice the price! People have really been giving me mixed feedback on Behringer... value for money or not? I'm not sure!
Thanks again!
Hi, maybe you should record your songs in a proper studio instea
Hi,
maybe you should record your songs in a proper studio instead of buying low cost gear. You are just a duo, so it won't take much time in a studio to record your stuff and you can even do mixes by yourself to cut costs. If your songs are going to be released then it might be reasonable to do it well. There are lots of studios now that can do it for very little money. By the way, your music is great 8-) and I would be happy to record it in my studio.