Making Your Own Demo At Home
It is possible to record your own demo at home, using a 4-track cassette recorder or one of the cheaper 8 track recorders, either cassette, reel to reel, or digital. Keep in mind there are limitations with each format, but you can still wind up with a pretty good finished product - if you use your head and pay attention to details. You won't be able to compete with a good, well-equipped studio, but you can still do a good job for not much money.
Minimum Equipment You'll Need
If you're limited to a 4-track recorder, I'd strongly recommend you keep it a mono recording. Stereo puts large limitations on your flexibility with just 4 tracks to work with. If you do it right, you can end up with 10 separate tracks of information on a four track recorder, with no track being "bounced" (copied) more than one time. Bouncing tracks increase the noise level and dulls the sound with each bounce - something to definitly avoid. If you use a reel to reel or a digital 8 track, you'll also need a mixer. In addition, you'll need a cassette or DAT recorder to make your final master mix tape. If you're going to use a cassette recorder as your two track mastering machine, make sure it's a good machine in good condition, and that it has at least HX-Pro built in.
In addition to the recorder, you'll need some decent mics, access to a compressor (or two), and a reverb unit. Some of your guitar pedals and rack effects can be used if you're on a tight (or non-existant) budget. A 10 band, stereo graphic equalizer would also be helpful. And you'll need a good set of headphones.
Microphones
Here are a few basic microphone makes and models to consider:
* Shure SM57 - the most basic pro microphone you can buy. Okay for just about everything from drums to guitar to vocals. Should cost about $50 used - any more than that and you're getting screwed. You could easily do the whole thing with just these mics and one or two cheap condensor mics.
* Sennheiser 421 - Great for kick, floor toms, guitar, and vocals. A step up from the SM57 but it's gonna cost more, about $150 to $175 used (although I once picked one up for $60 at a garage sale). The 421 adds a whole bunch of warmth and bottom to the sound.
* One or two decent condensor mics - The Shure SM81 is a great workhorse mic for vocals, guitar, and as a drum overhead mic. Used prices vary from around $175 to $225. Two other good mics are the Radio Shack PZM, with modifications you can make (the mod locations are at the bottom of this page), and some of the Radio Shack Condensor Mics, like the new 33-3017 (about $60), or an old Radio Shack 33-1080 (at pawn shops for around $20 to $30). Both these R/S mics will do great if you use a 6 to 12 volt battery instead of the 1½ volt recommended battery.
Compressors and Noise Gates
Tape has a lot of self noise and the available dynamic range is limited, compared to live signals. Too low a signal in will result in lots of hiss, too high a signal will overload and distort. To make the live signal fit on the tape, you have to squeeze the live signal range down, compress it. You raise the volume of the soft sounds and lower the volume of the loud sounds - a compressor does that automatically for you. You use the compessor to get the hottest signal the tape can handle. Even a foot pedal compressors is usually better than no compressor at all.
A noise gate shuts off the channel if the signal falls below the level you choose. Use it to shut off the microphone in front of the guitar amp when you're not playing, to eliminate hum during quiet parts, and in general to turn off the microphone when no desirable signal is present.
Reverb, Chorus, Effects
Moderation is the keyword here. Too much of any effect will result in a muddy recording that can't be fixed latter. Try to avoid using them during recording unless they absolutely have to be there, like a timed repeat. You can always add them during mixdown. If each instrument has it's own reverb, the recording will sound like the musicians are in different rooms. Always use a little less reverb than you think you need - same goes for chorusing. If you can, don't use any during the recording - you can always add it later.
Equalizers
A fancy name for tone controls, but very important for controlling where the instrument sits in the mix. Always add any treble you need during the recording, add bass during playback. Adding treble afterwards will boost the tape noise as well, so do it while you're recording. A 10 band graphic equalizer will give you more flexibility than the built-in EQ. A good rule of thumb is to add a little more treble than you think you'll need (you can always cut it back later). You can also use a 10 band graphic equalizer to lower hum and soften some harsh frequencies.
Headphones
Get the best pair you can afford. Try listening to your favorite CDs at the place that has the headphones you're interested in. Can you hear everything clearly, is the bass well defined, the highs sharp but not screechy, the vocals clear and full? Do you hear any peaks or resonances in the sound? Accuracy (very even response) and isolation (blockage of outside sounds) are your two guidelines here.
Where To Find Equipment Cheap
Before you start, make sure you know the current value of the equipment you're looking for. Here are some major sources for finding cheap equipment:
* Pawn Shops
Try offering 60% to 80% of the tagged price. Check every pawn shop you can find. Best times to buy are the middle of the week, early or late in the day. Avoid the weekends. Most pawn shops will deal best when it's a slow day. Don't be afraid to walk out if they won't drop their price. Use cash and make sure they see it. Bluntly ask, "How much will you take for cash money, right now?". Don't try to come off as an expert or that you really want it badly - make them think it's a "spur of the moment" kind of deal.
* Flea markets and yard/garage sales
Same rules, ask how much they want, then ask (very nicely) if they'll "consider" less than that, or whatever you feel it's worth. Don't insult them by saying it's a piece of crap or overpriced. If the price is too high, just thank them, pause a few seconds, then walk away, and come back later. The best times to buy are when they're first setting up, or right at the end of the day when they're tearing down. Another great time to buy is when they have a lot of people there - pull out the exact amount of cash you want to pay and offer it to them in plain sight of everybody. Sometimes, pretending to not even know what it is, will work well. Say that your girlfriend or boyfriend might like it and you're buying it as a surprise for them.
* Music Store Trade-Ins
Many music stores carry used equipment that they've taken in trade. A store will generally pay about 10% to 25% of the old retail price, then try to charge about 50% of the retail price. Offer about 10 to 20% less than their price tag shows. Avoid the busy days or when the store has a lot of customers. Again, use cash and make sure they know you're serious and ready to buy right now.
* Newspaper Ads And Buying On The Internet
In general, start by offering 70% to 80% of the asking price. If the amount of the item is $50 or more, call and talk to the person on the phone. Listen to their voice carefully. Do they sound like someone you'd like to do business with? Do they sound like they're being honest about the merchandise? They are more afraid of getting ripped off than you are, so don't come off sounding sleazy.
The Actual Recording Session
Most of the concepts I talked about in my "Studio Tips" web page and the "A Typical Session" web page also apply here. They're even more important when you have these track and format limitations, so make sure you've read and understand both those pages fully. I'm going to assume you'll be using a 4-track cassette, and that it's capable of recording all four tracks at once, and that it has a built-in 4-channel mixer. A separate mixer increase your options and I'll cover that as we go.
You Always Start With The Drums
If your mixer has 4 channels that can record to 3 tracks at once, here is the setup:
Track 1 will be the Kick Drum mic, Track 2 will be the snare mic, Channels 3 and 4 will record the overhead mics to Track 3 (use Channel/Track 3 if you have one mic). DON'T use Track 4. If you have a mixer, keep the Kick on Track 1 (don't use the mixer), Snare on Track 2 (don't use the mixer), and all the rest of the drums through your mixer to Track 3.
Place the Kick drum mic inside the drum, pointing at the spot where the beater contacts the head and about 4" away from the head. Place the Snare mic so that it's about 1" above the rim and 1" in, pointing at the center of the Snare. Place the overhead mic above the drummer's head, as high as possible and angled toward the tops of the front cymbals.
If you have a mixer (and more mics), you can assign the mics as follows: Use two overhead mics instead of one. Space them high and wide. Roll off the deep bass to pick up just the cymbals, toms and some snare sound. If you have more mics, mic the two rack toms (separate mics for each, or just one in between them), and a mic for the floor tom. If it's a big set and your mic supply is limited, just use a Kick mic, Snare mic, and one or two overhead mics. The Radio Shack PZMs will work great as cheap overheads. Use Duct Tape to tape them to the ceiling about 8 feet apart and lined up even with (or slightly in front of) the toms.
Listen carefully to the sound of the drums, especially the snare. Use the headphones to hear just the drum sound coming thru the recorder. If the snare is ringing, try using a damping ring, cut from an old snare head, about 1½" wide, laying on the snare. If that doesn't eliminate the ringing, lightly touch the head while it's being played. Move your finger around till it damps one of the ringing points. Place a piece of duct tape at that point, and continue searching and placing duct tape until the sound is acceptable.
Setting The Mic Levels And Tone
You adjust levels by setting the sliders to about 70% percent of their travel, and then use the channel trim pot to set the final level. The bass drum track should be just hitting zero on the meter. The snare should be peaking at about -6 dB, since the snare peaks won't show up on a slow meter. The overheads and/or tom mics should peak out at around -3 dB.
Boost the Kick drum around 2 to 3kHz (about 3 to 6 dB) to pick up more beater sound and boost the highs (4kHz to 12kHz @ about 3 to 6 dB) on the Snare mic to pick up the snare snap and some of the high hat. A little extra boost at 12kHz (about 3 DB) won't hurt on the overhead channels, either. At this point, you can add some reverb to the Snare mic by using your channel send/return to patch in an reverb unit. Adjust the reverb till you get a nice fat snare sound (large room settings work best). This is the one exception to using effects during recording.
Bouncing The Drums Tracks
Once you have the three drum tracks recorded, it's time to bounce them down (in other words, copy them) to Track 4. You'll add another instrument at the same time (usually the bass). This will leave you with the 3 drum tracks and the bass all on Track 4, and the first 3 tracks can now be written over with new parts. The same procedure will work for the remaining three tracks - Record on Tracks 1 & 2, then bounce to Track 3 while adding another part. Then you'll record on Tracks 1, then bounce to Track 2 while adding another part. Finally you'll record on Track 1. Here's how the tracks might look when you're finished:
* Track 4 - 3 drum parts + a bass line
* Track 3 - 2 rhythm guitar parts + a guitar solo
* Track 2 - 1 vocal harmony + a keyboard part
* Track 1 - final vocal
There you have it - 10 tracks of information - each track no more than 1 generation away from the original.
More as I get to it.
PZM Microphone Modifications
or those of you seeking information on PZM microphone modifications, I have included all of the articles in one 28k text file called "PZM.TXT" located here: PZM Mods. There is also a smaller (10.5k) zipped file there as well.