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Live Percussion Playing with Backing Tracks .. HELP


Rumorsband

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Thought I could get some insight from percussionists with a mix problem. I have a 4 pc that plays to backing tracks. Live guitar/keyboards and a percussionist. (The main drums are tracks). We run everything through front of house except for the percussionist because he is too loud to begin with. Recent attempts to record the band live from off stage have yielded unusable recordings. Basically all you hear is the vocals and percussionist and somewhere in the background the backing tracks and our live instruments. He has tried to hit them softer but his tambourine overshadows the mix. He is not part of the mix at all. He has congas, bogos, chimes, and a cymbal. What can we do to get him in the mix???

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A few thoughts: first off, if the mix is so low that hand drums are over-powering it, you either have A) an incredibly low mix of that backing track or B) a guy who plays hand percussion like Vin Diesel.

 

Since you're saying your live instruments aren't in the mix, either, I'd say to address your mix. Start with all the live instruments, get that balanced, and then finally add in the backing track.

 

This all seems a little fishy to me... what types of venues are you playing in? What is and isn't mic'd to become part of the mix?

 

I've never been in a situation with a band where the percussionist DIDN'T NEED to get mic'd because it's typically very quiet. Hand drums don't project a ton.

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Maybe I wasn't clear - Everyone except percussionist is in the mix - both tracks and live instruments as well as vocals are run FOH. We are not soft in volume - not at all - I perform as a duo where it is tracks/live keys and guitar ( everything but percussionist) and the mix is perfect. I record and its perfect...so I'm now looking at the actual placement of the recorder as the possible culprit.

 

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Ok. You mean the percussion is live and everything else is a recorded track. You can't get a mix like that. The percussion has to be properly miced and balanced in at the board. The percusser still has to learn to play inside the track or all you'll have to work with is his fader.

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The percussionist is in a spot. To properly 'slap' a conga, takes a little force. You can get this affect playing soft, but below a certain decibel you loose the proper playing in translation.

 

Perhaps he should move from congas to a cajon. You could then loose the backing tracks of the drum set as a cajon will give you everything you need. I will be publishing a Gon Bop Cajon review next Monday in our newsletter that explains not only this specific cajon but cajon use in general.

 

He could still keep the wind chimes and cymbal, although he may want to move to some of the new lower volume cymbals (Zildjian L80)

 

The bottom line is he is overpowering the gig. He needs to find a better mix of appropriate instrumentation unless he wants to carry an acrylic shield and be isolated from the mix.

 

Additionally, Roland just released at Winter NAMM an electronic cajon which I have inbound to review. This would give you even better control for live recording.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks

D

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