# What You Get When You Only Have A Rockband Mic, Audacity, and Ezdrummer To Record



## The Beard (Apr 8, 2010)

(warning: This is my first song post, so I typed a lot, haha)

Well, as a result of my "ghetto-ish" methods of recording, here's something I came up with, haha.
I used a Rockband microphone I had laying around as a usb microphone to record my guitar, Ezdrummer (as you can probably tell from the stock drum sounds ), and good ol' Audacity as my recording interface  haha.

The guitar used was a Schecter C-7 Hellraiser and (regretfully) the amp that i used was a Line 6 Spider III 120 Watt 

The guitars were double-tracked, and since I do not currently own a bass, no bass track was laid down 

SoundClick artist: Spencer Collins - page with MP3 music downloads

Any tips on anything would be appreciated, because i probably need it, badly hahaha


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## gunshow86de (Apr 8, 2010)

I can't really offer much advice, but I will say this; I've heard worse tone from "real" equipment. It actually sounded pretty damn good. Well, you were clearly using EZDrummer, I'd recognize that sound anywhere since I've been using it for years.  If you want to get rid of the "stock" sounds, try messing around with the mixer a bit. You can also change a few of the hits by opening up the drum midi file. I like to change the volume on different hits, vary the type of hit (there are multiple kicks and snares, for example), and I also use the mixer to pan the different drums so that they sound more like a real kit (ie, place the toms to the left and right, depending on where they usually are in the kit). Hey, I actually did have some advice.


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## Arteriorrhexis (Apr 8, 2010)

Yeah I have nothing to add, I think it sounds great.

Better than what I get from as gunshow put it 'real' equipment.


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## David kirby (Apr 8, 2010)

dude i thought that was friggin good ! holy shit haha ill tell the truth i was expecting no quality near that, +1.


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## Ckackley (Apr 8, 2010)

Yeah man . Baaaaad ass. The only thing missing for me was the bass to tie the drums and guitars together a little more. Given the equipment that's really well done.


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## S-O (Apr 8, 2010)

It's like a "Mako" version of recording, except you are not in south america. Haha!

But really, in terms of going at it with what you have, sound impressive.

Just imagine what you could do with some nicer gear! (Not hating on what you got!)


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## IamOthello (Apr 8, 2010)

Honestly, you fucking blew me away. To get a sound that good with that low quality of gear is an art!


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## Swippity Swappity (Apr 8, 2010)

Dude, you did an amazing job for your level of equipment. Good job man. I'm very impressed.


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## The Beard (Apr 9, 2010)

Haha wow, thanks everybody!! 
I'm hoping to get some nicer gear in the future, I just need to aquire the money first


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## IconW (Apr 9, 2010)

Not bad. Mix is quite good considering what you used to record. But it's quite clear that rhythm guitars are mushy and lack impact (Maybe roll some gain off?)...and Ez drummer's stock sounds drop's the feel a bit. And naturally the lack of bass won't help. 

But anyways. Well done!


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## Valserp (Apr 9, 2010)

Man that was an awesome ghetto mix... do the full song 

Edit: Add bass, plx. There were some programs that simulate a bass, using guitar signal. Can't remember names...


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## The Beard (Apr 9, 2010)

Valserp said:


> Man that was an awesome ghetto mix... do the full song
> 
> Edit: Add bass, plx. There were some programs that simulate a bass, using guitar signal. Can't remember names...


 Thanks man! Me and my band are currently working on making a full song out of this, so I'll be sure to record it once it's fully written  (it'll probably be recorded with the same ghetto setup though ) 

And i have a friend's bass borrowed, so i may slap a bass track on there, no pun intended!


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## Stealthdjentstic (Apr 9, 2010)

FYI, Reaper is a good DAW that's basically free off their website. They give you a free trial thats FULLY functional. The "trial" also lasts forever and costs nothing. Occasionally you get the popup saying "please buy reaper", but you never actually have to.


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## Zami77 (Apr 11, 2010)

hey man not bad at all for what your working with! as recommended before, use reaper. Its a lot better than audacity (and althought the trial never ends, you really should buy it)


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## btnation (Apr 14, 2010)

Less gain and use a limiter/compress across the master channel to help glue things together. (I've never used Audacity so I dont know if it has any stock effects.) 

I loved it!


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## nbarts (Apr 20, 2010)

Let me tell you something, I've been myself sucked into it, buying a shitload of recording gear I didn't need. The truth is that it's really overrated, until you get 90% good & want to improve the last 10%, I wouldn't advice spending anything on equipment or blaming anything on not having it. I can do MUCH better work with shitty equipment today than hi end gear 2 years ago. I also think you did a great job so far!


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## Swippity Swappity (Apr 20, 2010)

nbarts said:


> Let me tell you something, I've been myself sucked into it, buying a shitload of recording gear I didn't need. The truth is that it's really overrated, until you get 90% good & want to improve the last 10%, I wouldn't advice spending anything on equipment or blaming anything on not having it. I can do MUCH better work with shitty equipment today than hi end gear 2 years ago. I also think you did a great job so far!



I gotta agree with this wholeheartedly. Don't ever forget what is most important.


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## c3llfi5h (Apr 20, 2010)

seriously you could do better....


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## Alex Aeolian (Aug 23, 2011)

Not bad, my friend. However, if you're using Audacity 1.3 or higher, I recommend the on board compressor and EQ. I use the same setup, (the EXACT same setup, Rock Band mic and all!) and I get a relatively good sound with those effects. Here's a link to an original that I recorded with good ol' Audacity + Rock Band + EZdrummer, except with EQ, compressor, and, of course, bass! 

Solfeggiesque by Alexx Aeolian on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


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## Devotion (Aug 23, 2011)

Some handy links for you:

Reaper: a powerful DAW with an unlimited trial period: REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits
4Front Bass: virtual bass which you can program using MIDI: yohng.com · 4Front Bass
GComp: a free compressor I really like: GVST - GComp

For eq etc. you can use Reaper's standard included vst's.


Just some head's up if you wanted to 'upgrade's some stuff cost-free


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## The Beard (Aug 23, 2011)

Thanks man! I'm definitely gonna make use of that bass program cuz I doubt my friend will let me borrow his bass for forever 

I totally forgot about this thread, it's so old! For recording I now use Reaper, a Line 6 UX2, and Ezdrummer (still, unfortunately )

I've improved a bit since this recording, i'm still not anywhere near where I want to be, but it's a little better XD Here's a more recent recording!

Beyond The Gates - Shaman King (Instrumental) by stc423 on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

I recently figured out how to make my drums sound a LOT better, so hopefully i'll have a better mix up soon!


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