Every time I've ever had mics on my kit, they were put there by someone else and owned by someone else.

Thing is - I'm really looking to do some DIY recording now, and I don't own any mics or even know where the hell to start. I've spent ages looking at eBay and various music shop and help sites, so I know pretty much what I'm looking for mic-wise, but what else is required? Do you mic'd up people have your own mixers/pre-amps/stage box/subs/etc etc etc? I'm as green as can be, so any help at all would be cool.

We've got our own P.A, but it's already got too much shit running through it and the vocals peak out and stuff as it is, so I'd think if it had to contend with me smashing the shit out of my drums (I'm a very big hitter) it's go into orbit.

what are you recording with? just go to a shop and ask about recording mics, there are kits you can get of ok condenser mics that seem constantly on sale at guitar center, clip on drum mics and all that stuff. the reason i ask what medium you're using is coz if you're using a 4-track a 500$ condenser isnt gonna do much more than a 50$ generic brand special. always cross check what stores have to craigs list and ebay

I'm going to record onto a PC, (or a laptop, in actual fact).

But again, it's not the actual mics themselves that bother me, it's pretty easy to look up other drummers' recommendations regarding those, and the prices of the stuff seems to refelct the quality. What I'm more interested to know is what happens after the mic cable; are you plugging into the band's main P.A or do you use your own; do you go through subs and mixers and.. blah blah blah.

Maybe if someone could just post the exact specs of their setup, from the mic right back to the speaker, that'd be a help.

Thanks.

the pc is out of my jurisdiction, ive only dabbled in protools and cubase. sounds like you need a mixer and one of those conversion boxes that will recieve everything into your computer<they usually come with the software>, a decent sound card would help. sorry i cant be of more help. maybe if you have this thread moved to the gear or guitar section someone there will notice and give you better advice

Yeah, thanks dude. I've got a converter thing that we bought for recording the guitars to the laptop, and I've had some more luck with research last night so it appears I do just need a mixer and some mics to record roughly.