Multitrack recording help

Hi all...I've just bought a new little 4 track digital recorder, with built in stereo mics, that can record 2 tracks at a time, bounce tracks, and mix down to a stereo master. I've been having fun playing with it, but have some questions about general best practice for handling recording of single or multiple instruments (all played by me, one at a time) during recording/mixdown...assume for the moment everything is done acoustically through the built in mics.

One instrument - solo guitar for example. Options are to record mono to one track or stereo to two tracks. It seems the best option would be to record to two tracks with the stereo mics...what do you do generally when mixing down? Pan left mic hard left and right mic hard right, pan them L/R to a narrower spread, or ??

Two instruments - guitar and mandolin for example. Options are to record either, or both, to one (mono) or two (stereo) tracks as above...how would you handle this case during recording and mixdown? One (mono) track for each instrument, panned more or less left and right? Two (stereo) tracks for each, panned in what manner?

Three instruments - guitar lead, guitar rhythm, mandolin for example...things get a lot more complicated. With 4 tracks one option would be recording to 3 tracks, one per instrument, and placing each somewhere in the stereo field during mixdown. Or, one instrument could be recorded to two tracks in stereo, and the other two assigned to the other 2 tracks - again, how would this be handled in mixdown? Or, 2 instruments could be recorded each in stereo, then bounced down to one (or two) tracks, and then the other could be recorded on one (or two) tracks and again the whole thing mixed down - is there a generally preferred way to go about this kind of thing?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

the options you've listed show you're thinking it through, but it's hard to generalize as to any preferred method — much depends on your gear and your individual approach to recording (what *you* think it sound like). try each one and see how you like it. it takes a little time, but it will enable you to home in on what works for you.

from a personal standpoint, i would definitely record solo guitar in stereo panned hard left/right. i wouldn't pan two instruments hard left/right; i'd start at 9 and 3 o'clock and work them toward the center until you have distinct separation but a nice blend at the center too. for three, it's hard for me to find any advantage in bouncing down stereo tracks; i'd probably track them all in mono, unless there's one featured instrument, in which case you could make a case for a stereo track on that ... the mixdown would be all about what sounds good to you.

but that's just my opinion, based on my rig and my taste. others on this board, many much more experienced than me, might have other ideas. the point is to experiment with as many ways as you can conceive and come up with your own individual preferred methods.

Thanks for the reply...I realize the answer is ultimately "whatever sounds best", and as I've been playing around I can see there are a number of ways to approach whatever you're trying to do.

I do find my ears get fatigued fairly easily though (especially just listening through headphones), and after a while it can be difficult to make objective judgements between similar sounding options.

It sounds like you're using tape.If so ,avoid bouncing tracks as much as possible.Too much deterioration in sound.
As to balance,I put the rhythm dead center, and slight L/R panning on lead insturments.
If you need to bounce ,with tape,do the bass and rhythm first and bounce them..The sound loss won't be as noticable..MO..

It is a digital unit, made by Tascam, but perhaps in the spirit of their old tape Portastudios.

It was only about $145 new, so I'm not expecting professional quality results or anything! - and I don't really have a need to record/bounce many tracks, just looking for ideas about the how to best capture one, two, or maybe three acoustic instruments given its abilities and limitations.

You say the recorder has built in mics so I'm not sure what the advantage would be in recording in stereo. Normal way to record accoustic guitar with two mics is to experiment with positioning of the mics. Eg one mic pointing at the soundhole or body of the instrument, one pointing at the neck or even over the player's shoulder. If you have a good sounding room to record in you could try moving back a little from the recorder to allow the mics to pick up a bit of the room ambience in stereo. Otherwise just record everything in mono and try different pannings on the playback till you find something that you like.

You say the recorder has built in mics so I'm not sure what the advantage would be in recording in stereo.

Well, there surely must be some advantage if devices with built in stereo mics can sell for $2K, like this one (http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-audio/cat-recorders/product-PCMD1/) does.