Lets say I wanted to record the sound of an electronic guitar, so I can edit it on a computer. I thought of just putting a mic by the amplifier, or directly connecting the guitar to the computer as if it were a mic(haven't tested it out cause I have no idea if this is even safe, it worked on a stereo, so I guess it should work on a computer). What should I do?

Also, there are these drums I want to record. Is there a better way than just recording them on a mic from a distance?

Whats a good mic for drums and voice recording (within a 50 dollar budget)?

Any tips of advice that I can take before I try this?

For guitars you ideally want something similar to a Toneport, and you'll need actual performance/recording microphones for drums.

If you plug a guitar straight into your soundcard it's going to be weak and toneless, since it didn't go through some sort of amplifier, such as a standalone guitar amplifier, or a preamp like toneport or something.

IMO, buy an SM57 (there is a chinese copy the ES57 that is sonically VERY similar, but with a somewhat cheaper build) and you will be set for just getting things on tape. Don't expect radio quality vocals from that mic though.

the drumset is the hardest thing to record. Most recordings use no less than three microphones on the drums, and almost always more. They are usually mostly expensive condenser microphones as well.

Your best bet is probably hanging a microphone overhead to record it, I think, if you are just demoing things. You could always use a drum machine instead.

In short:SM57, hardest working mic in the business. Some people use it for vocals, but it's used widely in guitars, snare drums, and basically everything else.

Have fun.

^ I second that post. Good info in there.

+1 (except if your guitar/bass has a preamp built in - but it still doesn't sound as good)

And to make the drums sound good, you need more than one mike. Unless you like lots of crash and not much kick in your mix.

Also, I wouldn't place the mic's right in front of the drums/on drums/whatever. You need to give it a certain distance (short mind you) for the waves to expand enough to develop.

At least that's my understanding. I never recorded drums -> computer before.

You'd need condenser mics of some sort to get a good quality for the drum recording too. Otherwise I'd say Spook is right, guitar -> soundcard sounds like ***.

though it does technically work..

>.>

Anyway, Spook wins the thread.

(particularily for the SM57 reference. Amazing mics.. and fairly reasonably priced too, if I remember correctly.)

You should position the mic about 6-10" from the speaker of your amp, and about 2/3 of the way from the middle of the speaker cone to the outer rim. You don't want it facing the center of the speaker because the sound will be washed out with your high-end. Keep your amp a few feet from walls, and tinker with the angle of your mic until you get a decent balance, somewhere around a 15 degree angle tends to be ideal.

[Edit - miking drums is a completely different beast all together, and one of the main things beginning techs at recording studios have to practice, so unless you absolutely need something that sounds great, I'd go with the "hang a mic from above" idea, or else you're going to need to go into everything from recording specific drums separately of the rest, and looking into triggers.]

SM57

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Shure-SM57-InstrumentVocal-Mic?sku=270102

ES57

http://cgi.ebay.com/GLS-Audio-ES-57-ES57-Pro-Mic-Instr-Microphone-P-37-206_W0QQitemZ190152051758QQihZ009QQcategoryZ15198QQcmdZViewItem

The ES will not last you as long, but it really does sound amazing considering the price. A LOT of great rebadges gear is coming out of china. The 57 style mic also has a bass proximity effect, which boils down to making a weak vocalist sound better (oversimplification, but partly true). Use a windscreen if the person singing doesn't have amazing diction though, or you will get pops and hisses.

Anyway, Roach has probably given the best basic advice for recording a guitar amp. You can get more complex, but from the sound of what you're doing, do what he said.



Just glancing at this picture, you can see at least six mics, I think.

Two overheads, a kick, one (two?) rack tom mics, two on the snare I think.

And you also are going to be ****ing with phase problems with that, not to mention that you need multiple inputs or a way to mix all those mics down to something that you can get into your PC. In addition to that, they still have to go through preamps of some sort. And the condensors need 48v power so it's really not practical to engineer a home solution. In short;

Hang a 57 about two feet above the drummer's head and play with it, and maybe dub in the kick drum on a seperate track...

or else



Get yo MPC on home dawg.

Umm this is all good and great... but its a little bit out of budget. Still I appreciate the help. This has really helped me out, time to start saving money.

The es57 plus micstand and cable is within your budget. Don't forget to get an XLR to 1/4" stereo piece.

What equipment do you actually have at the moment? And are you planning on really getting into making music?

I'm not getting into music, I'm just helping my friends record some of their songs. They just got their instruments, a couple of mics, amplifiers, some adapters and some guitar/sound distortion things (pedal?). Thats what they have.

So use. The mics. They have.

I haven't seen their mics, but I am sure they are not good enough for what they want to do.

In terms of cheaply recording to computer just get a toneport since it's a fairly handy piece of kit and gives you the choice between plugging straight in from the guitar, using line-out on an amp or using a proper microphone. It also acts as an independent soundcard just for recording so it doesn't matter if your onboard soundcard is terrible.