recording real drums....

[mrjeff1s]

  Hello.  I just joined this group today.  I'm a drummer that is slowly turning into a guitarist.  So recording my real drums is as important as recording my guitar. 
  I really like the looks of the Boss br-900cd, but not so happy with it only having 2 inputs.  So is it possible to buy a seperate mixer...mic my drums and somehow send to the br-900 into the 2 ins?
Any specs I need to look for to do this with a seperate mixer?
  I've checked out the zoom hd16 with the 8 inputs but I like the cosm bass feature on the boss. (so I save money by not buying a bass gtr)
 Also on the br-900.  If I go with external mixer can I send signal from boss to the mixer for playing live with what I've recorded?
  Alot of questions and today is my first day, so I apologize in advance.     Jeff

[64Guitars]

I really like the looks of the Boss br-900cd, but not so happy with it only having 2 inputs.  So is it possible to buy a seperate mixer...mic my drums and somehow send to the br-900 into the 2 ins?
Any specs I need to look for to do this with a seperate mixer?

Yes. Any mixer will do the job. The Behringers are popular because they're inexpensive and fairly good value. But there are lots of other good mixers available for not much more than the Behringers. Run the mixer's Line Out pair to the BR-900's Line In and record to a pair of tracks for stereo.

The advantage of a recorder with multiple inputs is that you can send each drum mic to a separate track. This lets you fine-tune the sound of your drums later in the mix. For example, you could adjust the level of the kick drum or adjust its tone with the EQ controls.

I've checked out the zoom hd16 with the 8 inputs but I like the cosm bass feature on the boss. (so I save money by not buying a bass gtr)

The Zoom HD16 has a bass simulator too, with 5 preset patches. It also has a programmable bass machine with 11 bass sounds including electric bass, acoustic bass, and synth bass. Though I've not yet had the opportunity to check out an HD16 first hand, I suspect that its bass machine would be more useful than a bass simulator effect. A simulator is okay in a pinch, but you have to play slowly and carefully to avoid overlapping notes which will cause the simulator to produce horrible noises. On the other hand, learning to program the Zoom's bass machine will take a bit of time and effort. With a bass simulator, there's nothing to learn - just plug in a guitar and play (slowly and carefully; one note at a time).

Also on the br-900.  If I go with external mixer can I send signal from boss to the mixer for playing live with what I've recorded?

Yes.

[mrjeff1s]

Thanks for answering so quickly 64.  Right now I'm leaning towards the br-900.  Thanks again. 

[64Guitars]

The BR-900 is a good recorder. However, the Zoom HD16 is available for the same price ($599 US) and seems to be a much better recorder. It certainly has a lot more features than the BR-900.

[mrjeff1s]

Hmm  now leaning back towards the middle.  Friend of mine records with cubase computer program and firewire etc.  Would it be possible to load his songs that are sent to me in .wav and "tweak" or add things to it?  I noticed that the Zoom comes with cubase.

[64Guitars]

Yes. You can do that on either the HD16 or the BR-900. Although, it's a little more convenient on the HD16 because its tracks are stored in WAV format. The BR's tracks are stored in a proprietary format but Roland provides a free program to import and export WAV files.