It had been many years since I did radio spot production and studio sound on analog Neve consoles and Ampex multi-track tape drives, so it was with some worry and excitement I agreed to record my son's 5-piece metal band totally digitally. After researching a bit I bought a used ProjectMix IO since it had both 8 inputs as well a control surface that worked with Logic Studio (I can't really mix with a mouse, and was spoiled by those nice old consoles...).
To get beyond the 8 tracks a rented a Motu 896 from L&M and spent a few hours reconfiguring its MOTU Audio Setup app to send all 8 channels separately through a beautifully thin piece of glass optical ADAT into the ProjectMix to give me all 16 separate input channels into Logic. With that many channels available, I could run 7 mics on the drums, and paralleled DI with mics on the guitars, plus one vocal.
So armed with a few SM57's, an AudioTechnica AT2020 for vocals, a couple DIs, an Apex kit and pencil condensor overheads, I ventured into the practice space. (The Apex DP2 drum mics are just ok, but I was really impressed with the Apex 185 pencil pair for the price)
To say that I was impressed is an understatement. The sound quality I could get from a couple $G's of equipment is amazing, and it all fits in the back of the Volvo (wagon). I didn't imagine I could carry around a 16-track studio in my car and record 13 channels of 24-bit audio onto a Mac laptop.
Having fun, but wonder if I am a n00b or a seasoned amateur now. This stuff was pretty hard to figure out, so even as an electrical engineer with some years of experience it took some effort to get all this to work together - is it easy for other people or hard?
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