Record Production

[NinMan]

Hi!

Tips for recording a band in a room (studio) playing live... à lá Daniel Lanois style!



Regards

[triplets]

It's all about mic placement. Experiment. There's a lot of options based on the amount of mics and channels you have.

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

The polar pattern of your mics is a very important consideration: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar07/a ... tterns.htm

The more you can isolate one source from another, the easier it will be to mix. Think about where mics and amps are pointed.

Here's a good introduction to recording guitars: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug05/a ... ictech.htm

[zakkleifeste]

Like Rev said get as much acoustic separation as possible. Turn amps around, put blankets over them, use drum shield/gobos, record the bass direct, etc... basically whatever you can do to reduce bleed. You probably wanna stay away from condensers except for the drum overheads.

[NinMan]

Yes, that was my idea...

In this process, if the band don't get the sound that i'm looking for.... record guitar and voice to make a follow track and than adding the others?

In this project the "vibe" is very important...

Another experiences that anyone want to share?

Regards

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

In this process, if the band don't get the sound that i'm looking for.... record guitar and voice to make a follow track and than adding the others?

Oh no!

I'd always start with the rhythm section. Almost impossible to get good drums when playing along to guitar. Drums and bass need to lead the rhythm.

[NinMan]

It's my rule to....

Do you like to pre-mix after the recording, one by one, or after a all session?

By the way, when you record the drums, they need to be -10db leveled in reference to all the other instruments to take a solid start or you bring down all the faders and start everything like it was transferred to Logic?

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about levels other than making sure nothing clips. Then mix it all at your leisure afterwards.

[NinMan]

I think the same!

I need tio test the band to see what happens...

Thank's for your time, i will post my experience later.

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

You're welcome, hope it goes well for you. Do lots of experimentation before you commit to anything.

[NinMan]

How to choose what do you want to ear when recording? Like, playing drums but only listen metronome and bass.

It's possible to ear the metronome and two tracks only? Or it's better to create a click track and use a bus to send monitor tracks?

Regards

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

Why bother with a click if you're all in a room live?

[NinMan]

To much bleed... we can't isolate very well the instruments.

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

Did you try mixing it with lots of bleed and it still sounded bad?

I still wouldn't bother with a click track and go for recording bass and drums first.

[NinMan]

The "bleed" session was rescheduled to September... tracked the drums, the bass, guitars... the voice will be record next week.

I will post the set of mic's used and the room dimensions.

The mix "nightmare" started last night... do you advice to normalize the tracks and than mix or mix first and, if need, normalize.

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

There is no need to normalize anything.

If something's quiet, raise the fader. If it needs more than +6dB gain, insert a Gain plug-in.

If the recording clipped and it sounds obvious, you're screwed!

[NinMan]

No clipped sounds, please... LOL

Any tip to make a bad BD sound nice and fat with the Snare?

[triplets]

No clipped sounds, please... LOL

Any tip to make a bad BD sound nice and fat with the Snare?

It's tough to polish a turd, but if you have no choice, use EQ and filter the bad frequencies

[NinMan]

Yep, that's right... two mic's on the BD, very tries/tests and still sound like... i think the drum kit was very bad, after all!

... and replace the BD from a good sample like the Battery 3 sample, per exemple?

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

No way to make a bad kit sound good...

Sample replacement could be the way to go.