Members conquerorworm Posted September 20, 2005 Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 my band has an 8-in Aardvark recording interface and we're planning to use this, plus a left/right stereo into the computer sound card. we basically aren't going to use this as a "scratchpad" at first, and if the recordings sound decent we'll put clips on our website or burn stuff onto CD's to give out at shows and stuff. i have kinda taken over the "producer" role and here's my idea as far as what and how to mic, i'd like some feedback please... we're looking at three joined rooms in a basement, the biggest room for drums, on the other side of one wall the guitar cab with a close mic, and one a few feet back, and the room on the other side of the drummer, the bass, mic'd cab with a kick drum mic. we're going to put the singer upstairs in another room. drums, 2 overheads, kick, snare, 4 toms with two mics, two toms per mic. the main purpose of all this is just for us to have a way to remember what we played last practice, but if we can avoid enough bleed from track to track and still get a "live" basic sound, that would be awesome. suggestions for things i should change? THANKS EVERYONE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Funk Posted September 20, 2005 Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 Theoretically it will work fine. Just don't use that stereo soundcard. Use the aardvark for everything. It will work a lot better. try this though... Record the bass and the drums in different rooms monitoring each other on headphones. JUST THE BASS AND DRUMS. Do what you can to minimize bleed. Overdub the guitars one at a time. Then vocals. Walla!!!! Live sounding (becuase the rhythm section played live) but clean because you tracked individually with no bleed. With a couple of plugins and careful micing and room treatment (need not be expensive, just start throwing things into the room until it sounds nice), you should have a fine recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted September 20, 2005 Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 In your situation, you could place the amps in ajoining rooms but have the band members in the same room. Vocalist records in the same room as well and over dub if the bleed really gets to you. On the other hand, if you're recording rehersals, why worry about bleed? The purpose of rehersal is to tighten up your songs in anticipation of either recording or performance. Bleed won't affect having a copy to reveiw to remember your parts. Who says bleed is such a bad thing anyway, especially if your going for a live sound. There have been tons of albums recorded live in one room, you just have to plan ahead and place instruments/amps in a fashion to minimize bleed as much as you can. In fact in the beginning that's the way everything used to be done. Maybe you'll start a new trend... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members conquerorworm Posted September 20, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 Originally posted by The Funk JUST THE BASS AND DRUMS. this is actually how in my mind, i would do everything. however, our bass player is one of those that his playing changes DRAMATICALLY depending on what's going on around him. meaning to sound his best he needs to be in a live situation. same thing with our singer. Originally posted by wbcsound In your situation, you could place the amps in ajoining rooms but have the band members in the same room. this is very close to what i'm trying to get done. i guess mostly my original question is is there anything more i can do to minimize bleed while still, in essence, capture a live performance? i know we're going to get some bleed, but i just want it to a manageable level where we can use the recordings and mix them so they sound presentable enough to not be embarassed by them. i don't want to sound like a garage band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members where02190 Posted September 20, 2005 Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 Go DI only with the bass, eliminating bleed. Iso the guitars and the vocalist, but set them so there's still eye contact. It's just a rehearsal tape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members conquerorworm Posted September 20, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 Originally posted by where02190 Go DI only with the bass, eliminating bleed. Iso the guitars and the vocalist, but set them so there's still eye contact. It's just a rehearsal tape. never gotten a sound we like with DI bass. if this ends up sucking we may go that route, depending on which sound sucks less. i think it also deals with the "live" sound that he's not getting, so he doesn't play up to snuff, he stands there and plunks the notes instead of really feeling the music. it might end up being only a rehearsal tape, but i'd like to have a good enough product to make it into something more if possible. i really do appreciate everyone's responses. thanks so much. keep 'em coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted September 20, 2005 Moderators Share Posted September 20, 2005 OK then... Use the Aardvark only as suggested Drums in largest room Guitar amp in another Bass amp in another All band members in the drum room with headphones. Singer in there too, using a 58. Re-do the vocals if you need/want later with a LD condensor. 1 K2 S 3 OH L4 OH R5 Guitar close6 Guitar distant7 Bass8 Scratch Vox (58) Now you can spread the guitar with the room on one side and the close mic on the other. Now go back and overdub your backups, additional guitar, lead vocal doubles, tamborine, shakers, subliminal keys... Now it's not just a rehearsal recording, it's a frickin' album! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members where02190 Posted September 20, 2005 Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 You can reamp the bass when you mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members conquerorworm Posted September 20, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 Originally posted by Lee Knight Use the Aardvark only as suggested excuse my n00bness at this, everyone seems pretty insistent that i should avoid the sound card, why is that? i'm just curious. i haven't done any "real" recordings, just played around with stuff at home, and i haven't used the aardvark enough yet to notice if there's any huge difference in quality. where02190, i hadn't actually thought about re-amping anything. good call, it might be something we have to consider. again, thanks everyone for replying and helping me out, and apologies for being so stubborn at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eric Dahlberg Posted September 21, 2005 Members Share Posted September 21, 2005 What other equipment are you using aside from the Aardvark? btw, as important as doing live takes is to you, I'm surprised the whole separate rooms thing isn't bothering you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members conquerorworm Posted September 21, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 21, 2005 Originally posted by Eric Dahlberg What other equipment are you using aside from the Aardvark? btw, as important as doing live takes is to you, I'm surprised the whole separate rooms thing isn't bothering you. i'm not sure what equipment you're asking about, but i'll assume equipment we'd be using to record... we have a handful of mics: a few 57s a few 58s a shure drum mic set with 3 drum mics, two condensers for overheads (the long skinny kind... as i said before, excuse my ignorance, i'm a n00b at this... ), and a kick drum mic sennheiser kick drum mic, not sure of model the seperate rooms thing... the amps being in a different room really just amounts to it being on the other side of a wall, the rooms are kinda open. so (hopefully and theoretically) i'll be able to walk from the drum room where we'll all be standing, into the room with my guitar cab, and hear more guitar. but i should be able to stand between the two rooms and be able to see everyone. i know, definitely NOT the "textbook" way to do things, but this is ROCK AND ROLL, textbook is out the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eric Dahlberg Posted September 21, 2005 Members Share Posted September 21, 2005 What are you using for preamps, gates & compressors? It sounds like the vocalist will still have to be in a separate room. The others' suggestions regarding having him record in the same room as everybody else (in the drum room) & re-doing his takes later were sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members conquerorworm Posted September 22, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 22, 2005 Originally posted by Eric Dahlberg What are you using for preamps, gates & compressors? nothing. we'll actually be doing that stuff with software, not hardware, I was given a disk with a bunch of plugins and stuff, but I haven't even looked what's on it yet. right now i'm just trying to get a workable sound, and i'm sure i'll be back with LOTS more questions when it comes time to process all of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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