Recording a full band

Hi there I’m in a band with five members and we are trying to record a demo inside our practice room it’s very good sound acoustics has carpeted walls with the carpeted stage and carpet on the floor. Really good sound but all we have to record with is either a instrument Mic a Condensor Mic or really cheap $10 karaoke mic and I’m trying to record through Audacity. We don’t have any of our amps micd my drum set is not micd our vocals are coming through a Bose system. And when we record and playback it sounds like the sound is looping around the mic and then goes flat or is trying to pick up each instrument individually. Could you please help me out not very savy when comes to recording thanks.

I expect that to work far better than it does. You may have Windows “helping” you.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/faq_recording_troubleshooting.html#enhancements

Windows is trying really hard to filter out all the “noise” and preserve your speaking voice.

I’d start there.

Koz

After you get Windows “enhancements” turned off, you’ll find that bass and drums are going to take over the performance. This is the same problem that live concerts have. I don’t know any way to prevent that. Everybody’s in love with the bass notes making their shirt vibrate, but you should take care not to overload anything. You can sometimes recover from high volume bass, but you can’t recover from overload.

Koz

Check if you’re mixing cardioid and omnidirectional mics. See here for simple explanation… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2vY8wwArHE

You should resolve the Windows problems. That will mess up both kinds of microphones.

Koz

Hello,

Are you still trying to record a “demo”?

If so, that means you are still “in a band”.

Let me ask you a question, if yes, to the first two questions - If you want to record a demo, that means you are confident about the “song / music” you want to record? Or, is the “demo” just to provide a listening illustratiion of your band’s sound to bookers, venue operators, fans ?

I recorded my first band in 1959 on a stage at the Paseo Theatre located in the Paseo Shopping District of Kansas City Mo. The sound engineer used a mobile sound board, and placed a mic on each instrument of the band members. He mixed each mic to get the sound he wanted over all, and mixed with the vocal mic.

As you know, the means to a professional sound is not a new technolgy…there are many sound engineers who use their own adaptations to get a sound they want, but generally speaking all of them apply the same principles to recording a band / singer to achieve a professional recording.

I don’t know your motivation as a band…but I can tell you … for certain based upon my many years of business experience that success in any effort, especially in the entertainment business is not achieved easily, but it is achieved obviously…so what is the common denominator? I can tell you what that is. Acquiring a positive mental attitude, and then applying personal persistence. You must “never stop” apply positive thinking to your goals, whatever your goals you’ve set for yourself / band; you have set goals have’nt you?

So, what about your recording; what does all this have to do with that? Well, if you want to record, then many other’s do also eh? Sure. You know that. Well, why do so many settle for “diy”? We both know the reason for that question, don’t we.

So, the answer is to create your own professional recording studio. Hire a professional sound engineer to reun it for you. Turn your goals into a “business project”…and provide a needed service to the many bands who need that service, but can not pay what the so called “professional recording studios charge”. One recording studio is no different than another, if comparably constructed, and uses comparable recording equipment, and is operated by an experienced sound engineer.

So, how do you start your own recording studio. That’s the easy part. You and your band, do not need money to invest…what you need is a Business Plan to Develop a New Recording Studio In Your City USA TM

You see, there are many bands, musicians, entertainment performers, vocalists, composers, lyricists, in every city of any size, and many more within driving distance of those cities. That my friend is referred to as “a market”. Anytime there is " a market" that market is open to competition. That my friend is what makes the world go around.