Software to Record Drums with 1 Mic?

[Darren]

I've been playing drums for 3 years now and I'd like to get into recording some drum covers. I've done a few but it's always been with the integrated mic of a digital camera which is terrible.

Now I have one CAD microphone that is a USB condenser mic.

http://www.amazon.com/CAD-U37-Conde...QGUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327375646&sr=8-1

I'd like to find a software that would allow me to record with some decent settings that I can play with.

I want to turn to be able to turn down the gain/trim a lot because right now it just sounds like I ran over a trashcan in a metal truck when I hit even my small little splash cymbal.

It doesn't help that I'm tied to a desktop computer that I can't really move and I'm recording in a pretty small room.

I tried Audacity but I couldn't find the settings I wanted.

Any other tips about placement of mic and that kind of thing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[User0one]

Audacity is a nice freeware app.

In preferences you need to find the Sound In setting that the mic would be hooked to.

 

[Darren]

I tried Audacity and it recognized my mic with no problems. I just couldn't figure out how to get the settings I wanted. I was hoping for a software more geared toward music but if I could get Audacity to cooperate that would be great.

 

[NyxCharon]

If you want something a lot more professional and free, use reaper. It's what i used when I was recording my own music.

 

[Zeno]

I tried Audacity and it recognized my mic with no problems. I just couldn't figure out how to get the settings I wanted. I was hoping for a software more geared toward music but if I could get Audacity to cooperate that would be great.

Have you tried the equalizer from the Effects menu?

I record drums all the time using Audacity and two condenser mics. I've been able to get a sound I'm happy with using the equalizer feature of audacity.

However I do "cheat" a little bit using two mikes. I take in a stereo recording of the drums, then pass each channel through a different equalizer to enhance different parts of the kit. Then I usually mix the final result back into mono.

It's a little bit of work since you need to pass these through the equalizer after they've been recorded. But it works quite well, and you can save your specific equalizer settings by name and just choose them from a menu.

I have one for "Drums" and one for "Cymbals". The drum equalizer enhances the drums but knocks out the cymbals. The Cymbal equalizer enhances the cymbals, but knocks out the drums. Thus it works best if the original signal was taking in as stereo.

However, the stereo input isn't really necessary. You can still do this with a single mic. Just make a duplicate of the track after you record it. Then pass one though your "drum equalizer" and one through your "cymbal equalizer" and then mix them back together again.

It takes a little time, but the result is well worth the effort.

Another free option is a program called "Krystal" which has a lot of live effects that are applied as you record. I have a copy of Krystal too but I'm so used to Audacity that I'm stuck in my old ways.

Here's a view of the audacity equalizer:

 

[Darren]

Thank you for your response. Zeno that actually is a really good idea. I don't mind it taking time. I'm very interested in audio and mixing anyway so any practice I can get it great.

I may come back with more mixing questions though.