Re:Need some help setting up
2013/05/22 09:23:17
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The Tascam has 8 mic inputs and 6 line inputs, more than enough to track everybody separately and leave plenty of options for subsequent mixing. How fancy you get comes down to how many mics you want to use on drums.
Take the vocal straight from an aux send on the PA mixer into a line input. Make sure the send is pre-FX, so it's completely dry. It's better to add effects after the fact.
If the bass head has a line output, run a cable straight from there into the TASCAM if possible. Best to use no mic for bass, and no effects. But if the bass amp has no line out, a dynamic mic close to a speaker is the next-best thing.
Use dynamic microphones on the guitar cabinets, up close to a speaker. Shure SM-57 or SM-58 are inexpensive but effective. Run these mics directly into 2 of the mic inputs on the Tascam.
That leaves the drums, which you can use 3, 4, 5 or 6 microphones on. The easiest setup would be a dynamic mic in the bass drum and 2 overheads, ideally condensers. If you have enough mics and stands, you could add 1 or 2 mics for the rack toms, and optionally 1 aimed at the bottom of the snare. These can all be inexpensive dynamic mics.
After you've set it all up, do a run-through at full volume playing your loudest song. Have someone watch the levels to make sure you never go above 6db below clipping even on the loudest hits. Don't worry if the levels are much lower than that on the quiet parts; if the meter's reading -30db or higher you're good. You can fix almost anything in the mix except clipping, so avoidance of clipping is your prime directive.
If you can have someone monitoring levels while you record that would be good, but if it's your sound man be sure to instruct him to NOT make level changes unless a channel is clipping. Just get clean sound onto the disk, and don't worry about levels.
All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to.
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