Need Some Advice...

[Eupher]

...on putting together a small audio recording capability.

I've founded a brass quintet, which consists of two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba/bass trombone.

We rehearse in a horseshoe shape with the trumpets at the top of the "U"; the horn on the left leg; the trombone on the right leg; and the tuba/bass trombone at the bottom of the "U".

We have a book and we have ample rehearsal time scheduled in Jan. and Feb. Our goal is to put together a CD of no more than say 5 tunes of contrasting styles and tempi, all of which would be whittled down to "snippet" length. These will be posted on our web site, which is currently a one-pager here.

I have a small, hand-held Tascom digital recorder which is shown here.

Questions:

1.  The Tascom has two built-in microphones. These might work in a pinch, but I'm looking for a little more spatial quality. How many microphones would be suitable, and which type? Cost?

2.  Once the recording(s) are complete, what kind of mixing/editing equipment should I use?

I know next to nothing about this kind of stuff, especially since we're talking digital. My experience goes back to the DAT days and even then I was more an observer than actually putting stuff together.

Any and all comments welcome.

[Chris]

Used audio equipment is pretty cheap.  I picked up a 4-channel mixer a while back for under $100.  It had 1/4-inch and RCA connections and dials that let you move each channel left or right for stereo mixing.

[Eupher]

Used audio equipment is pretty cheap.  I picked up a 4-channel mixer a while back for under $100.  It had 1/4-inch and RCA connections and dials that let you move each channel left or right for stereo mixing.

Is there a distinction between analog and digital mixers? Can software do the same thing as an analog mixer?

[Chris]

I would suppose so.  If you had the right software, you can replicate a mixing panel with your computer.  There are a couple guys here at work that mess with that sort of thing in their spare time and do their mixing using PCs.  I can get you some information in a minute... we're kinda busy right now.