Can I record live drums on Sonar X2 with a mic on each drum kit?

Hi,
 
I never used Sonar with live drums before and I am trying to figure out how to go about it. it's been so long since I have been in a studio with friends who had bands and recorded on analog recorders. If I recall, each drum kit had its own mic and the first 8 tracks were the drums. I created a new 24 track project in Sonar X2 just to see what it looked like and I was trying to figure out how to go about having an input for each drum kit. Is this possible with Sonar or is this something that needs to be done on a multitrack recorder? If it can be done in Sonar X2, do I need additional hardware with inputs for each drum kit, bass, guitar, mics, etc.?
 
Thanks,
Vito

First a drum kit is a whole set. You don't have to mike each component of the kit,  there are a few methods starting with just one mike and going up. A well placed $$$ condenser mike could do the job. But nice to have tracks for at least the Kick, Snare and hats. Then a pair of overheads,, then we go to the toms.     

The DAW software will not be the factor in how many inputs can be recorded at once as all DAWs can record at least 24 tracks and more, even free ones. 

It's you interface that determines inputs. If your audio interface has only 2 inputs then that's your limit. 


A good buy for an interface for recording drums is the Tascam us1800. 

  To elaborate on what Cactus said one way to do things if you are short on inputs (let's say you only have two as in Cactus' example) you can use the to monitor outs on your mixer to send the stereo signal to your interface. You then mic your drum kit up, send them each to their own channel on the board and mix them there (setting levels and EQ to get the best mix and input signal). This takes a bit of experimentation but once you get it set up you can just hammer away without worry. Then you apply effects and stuff on the stereo signal within the DAW.  

Nope. You got it. You'll definitely want a multi in interface. I'm using a Scarlett 18i6 which has two mic inputs but has 8 line ins total so I can hook a mixer up to it and do exactly what you are attempting. I can also rent or buy a mic pre and hook it up VIA the optical connector to get a full 8 mic inputs. It's nice unit and only cost $300. You can get better units with more mic inputs but they cost significatly more.

Cheers.

http://www.musiciansfrien...0-audio-midi-interface



This is what many of us use for recording live bands. There is a total of 14 inputs and the then SPDIF if you have a digital pre amp or mixer makes 16 tracks. I also record the keyboard player via MIDI so that's sort of the 17th track. 
I think I even have Beagle convinced that the drivers are just fine now in W7 64 bit, not stellar drivers but as good as anything else under $500. Latency does not matter when recording live. The audio interface is the heart of digital recording to a computer. 

great thread
 me
  i just did a 10 drum tracked song with
 bass snare hats crash 4 toms 2 overheads its good overheads are nice to have
but i did a new song lastnight with the same kit same room 4 mics
with the others for guitars bass vox
 and the drums sound 80% but with the tools in sonar its hard to tell the difference.
 i run a delta 1010 in our band studio a cheap card with 8 inputs 2 are XLR
 i mixed the song on sonar on the spot and never even fired up my home studio
i would if i could by that tascam above thought it would be perfect for my moble studio

One can get a perfectly good recording of drums w/ as few as 3 mics.  Look up Glyn johns method (hint, he did Zepplin among many others - of course it helps if you have a castle).

yes, a soundcard is first on your list of things to buy.  It needs mic preamps - one for each instrument you wish to record.  then the mics themselves- one for each drum element you want to record.  Figure $100 to $1000 for each one.  You can get a better sound w/ 3 or 4 decent mics than recording w/ one of those ENTRIE DRUM MIC KIT for $300.  Now that I think about it - I'd stick w/ a mono overhead.

Your best bet is to spend your money on less channels but better transducers. That way you won't be replacing it all next year. 

The tascam looks good.  I've just presonus which is fine.  Just be sure you can return an interface - not every one works w/o hassles on each system.  The difference in sound quality isn't so great between digital hardware until you start spending lots money.

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If you are short on cash, see if you can use a friends mixing board. you can then mic each drum/overheads/room (if the mixing board has enough channels), mix it properly on the mixer, and record the stereo output of the drums into your soundblaster. You can't do much to it once it's recorded, so you'll need to try several scrap takes and adjust the drum levels and any effects (reverb) on the mixing board until it sounds usable. I did this method for years recording mono drum tracks into a tascam 4-track cassette (but stereo is perfectly fine for what you are doing). Then once the drums are in the computer, you can then use the mixer to record additional tracks (example guitars or vocals) as overdubs.  This method takes a little while to dial in, but excellent demos cas be done this way if you have the patience. Once you start adding in other instruments you may find that the kick is too loud, or the toms are too quite, so you have to adjust the mix on the board and rerecord the drums. So just do a few quick takes and add a few instruments in to check your overall levels before commiting to a ton of time on a project.

But to agree with everyone else. multi-input interfaces are the way to go. (the more inputs the better, for tracking drums)

Yeah the PX64 Percussion Strip is pretty awesome at letting you tweak individual parts if you are stuck with a stereo track. It's a powerful beast to tame though. Too much sauce and it can really garble things up.

I have a collection of mics that I wanted to use for mic'ing up the drums but I was wondering if a pair of drum overheads mics are better than say the Rodes NT1?
 
This what I have
Audix D6 for Kick Drum
Audix i5 for Snare
Rodes NT1 which is my main vocal mic for right now but can be used for an Over Head
MXL900 which I dropped so I think it does not work properly but could be used for an over head
MXL991 which is an over head mic I think
My first mic and it has been with me for years Behringer XM8500 not sure what to use it for on the kit need help there
My kit setup is simple no middle tom 20' Ride in that spot , 16 and 18 crash and that's it, I am want a good quality sound of toms do I have the mics to achieve that?
If you suggested mics for over heads or toms what would you suggest?