Recording/Mixing for Dummies?

Hey all

I'm relatively new to recording and mixing and it'd be awesome if someone could give me some basic 101 guidelines to producing and mixing one's own music. I'm working on a cello cover of the Maiden song 2 A.M (Keyboard intro, Cello, Electric Cello) and the result is pretty cringeworthy. I'm usually not keen hearing myself recorded, but I'm a very good musician, so I was kind of taken aback at the really bad output from the cello. In addition, during the verse, two separately recording tracks of the plucking line and the bowed melody are out of sync. In addition, the mixing is really uneven and awkward.

If someone could point out what's screwing this up and what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it, it would be much appreciated. :)

Except for the blatant copy-paste editing in the middle, I already know that's bad, it's just fillabuster until I've recorded the final version.

Link to Recording: http://chirb.it/NFDJzL
 
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What are you recording with? And yes, it's heavily out of sync. For it to be in sync, you have to play near-perfectly timed (which I don't think is where you go wrong) and move the different tracks on whatever-program-your-using's timeline very precisely in sync with each other.

Going to sleep, can post again tomorrow.
 
USB Mic, looks kinda like this guy:

sc_b000ulqte0-01product.jpg
 
Try and get yourself a pickup. They shouldn't be too expensive and will get you the best sound out of an acoustic instrument. Attach the pickup to the bridge of the cello (below where you would bow) and plug that into an amplifier. Then put the mic in front of the amp and record! USB mics aren't going to get a great quality, so if you want a better mic, there are plenty of (cheap) options out there.

As far as timing goes, record to a click track/metronome. Make sure your AI isn't recording delayed too, sometimes that happens. As far as mixing goes, I usually like to pan two tracks of the same instrument to the left and right. It usually gives the music space to breathe. Then just mess with the volumes/equalizers/compressors until you get a sound you like.
 
The position of the mic does matter a lot, as does the quality of the mic itself.
A metronome is a must, you cannot record without it. http://www.metronomeonline.com/ this is one I used to use, its only downside is that it doesn't have every BPM between 40 to 208, there are slight gaps (...104, 108, 112... and so on).
 
Most audio interfaces should have their own click track built in, those are usually more flexible too.
 
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