My band recently acquired a really nice and big practice space where we can keep all of our stuff and I would really like to have my computer set up to record practices in the room. Right now we have a PA, drums, and a couple amps for guitars and bass. I use live 7 on a pc.
What would the first steps be to putting a recording rig together using the laptop and live?
Is it wishful thinking to hope to get a great recording using room mics? Ideally, I would probably use a combination of room mics and direct lines if I can find a fairly inexpensive audio interface that can handle a few lines at once. Any tips on quality audio interfaces that can handle several lines in at once, or at least enough to get a decent recording, would be appreciated. Thanks!
Home/band practice recording using Live
I use an Allen & Heath ZED14 to plug everything in (keyboard,Mics,Guitars,etc) and from it to a RME Multiface...then to the laptop (using Live,Logic,Wiretap studio or whatever)...all work nice. I can amplify with my P.A. or just my studio monitors as we don't need to play really loud (it's a practice...not to re-create The Who ) 
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Spend the most you can in very good interfaces (audiocard,mixer,etc) and you'll notice the difference.
.Spend the most you can in very good interfaces (audiocard,mixer,etc) and you'll notice the difference.
I have this usb mic http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod ... rodID=1810 and I like it a lot. It is pretty good to record pretty much everything that I do, but I don't really use it for more then one instrument at a time.
I often do sound for my mates band at gigs/rehearsals and got some excellent results recording them on my Presonus Firepod
Usually the vocals and guitars are going through the PA + maybe a mic on the bass drum. I record these direct from the desk using the individual channel sends. This uses up 5 channels (vocals, 2 guitars, bass guitar and bass drum) which leaves me 3 channels for extra mics on the drum kit.
The hardest part of live recording is getting a good mix-down when everyone's microphone picks up a bit of everything else. I find the best approach is to get the best sound I can from the drums, then add the vocals and finally the guitars and bass, but it's a hell of a balancing act to get the whole thing sounding sweet. A bit of overall reverb helps to tie the sounds together and restore a bit of the live 'feel'.
To avoid any glitches set the latency really high - no need for real time monitoring. Also I generally use 24 bit recording so I can work well below the clipping level and still get a good quality recording.
Usually the vocals and guitars are going through the PA + maybe a mic on the bass drum. I record these direct from the desk using the individual channel sends. This uses up 5 channels (vocals, 2 guitars, bass guitar and bass drum) which leaves me 3 channels for extra mics on the drum kit.
The hardest part of live recording is getting a good mix-down when everyone's microphone picks up a bit of everything else. I find the best approach is to get the best sound I can from the drums, then add the vocals and finally the guitars and bass, but it's a hell of a balancing act to get the whole thing sounding sweet. A bit of overall reverb helps to tie the sounds together and restore a bit of the live 'feel'.
To avoid any glitches set the latency really high - no need for real time monitoring. Also I generally use 24 bit recording so I can work well below the clipping level and still get a good quality recording.