I have a mobile recording rig and am going to record a rock band. I have two options for locations to record. One is a living room with vaulted ceilings, and the other is a large basement/garage. They want to record the bass and kit together which is already set up in their basement. The room itself is long. There is a garage portion with a car and some other stuff. Past that is where they play. A kit set-up facing a huge bass amp about 10-15 feet away. Past that is a big typical basement area with a bunch of storage type stuff all over the place (old recliners, tvs, etc). The floor is concrete and the ceiling is maybe a foot or so lower than a regular ceiling and there are wooden braces on it (ie not a flat ceiling, but braces about a foot or so apart). The other option is a regular living room of a dublex with vaulted ceilings. I haven't been there but from what I hear its just your standard room.
I was hesitant about the garage/basement because I assumed it would be a big square empty concrete space. Now that I've seen the space I think it may be alright because of the amount of stuff around to help kill the reflective sounds. I was leaning towards the living room because of the vaulted ceiling and hoped it would get a decent room sound for the kit. Upon thinking further it may be worse because there will be nothing to keep the sound from bouncing all over the place. I'm also probably not going to have a mic to use as a room mic to get the room sound anyway.
I'll be using limited mics, with even more limited stands, so the basement will be better suited for rigging up mics for the kit. Also, all of their gear is already set up there so instead of them moving everything out, and me moving my stuff in, I would just need to move my stuff in. They are also comfortable there (though they've played together quite a while and can probably play well anywhere). With the living room we also have to worry about neighbors (who are said to be cool but after hours of listening to a banging kit it can be assumed that coolness will wear off).
Am I right in assuming it would be best if recorded in the basement instead of a living room? How would be the best way to record the guitar and bass and keep the bleedthrough in tracks down? We can move stuff around in the basement and that should help with the recording. I'll turn the bass amp away from the kit, that should help. Should I build a wall or something between the two? I don't have any sound walls or anything or I could use that. I can also record the bass direct. If I do that the bass player will still need to hear the bass. I don't have any headphone distributers or anything, and was planning on using my headphones to listen to whats recording. Could I still have him playing the amp just not recording it (take bass into DI take HI Z output to amp, take the XLR out to interface) without bleeding into the kit too much?
Guitar and vocals we plan on doing seperate because their guitarist has a tight schedule (wife/kids) so my main focus is bass and kit.
Any advice?
I was hesitant about the garage/basement because I assumed it would be a big square empty concrete space. Now that I've seen the space I think it may be alright because of the amount of stuff around to help kill the reflective sounds. I was leaning towards the living room because of the vaulted ceiling and hoped it would get a decent room sound for the kit. Upon thinking further it may be worse because there will be nothing to keep the sound from bouncing all over the place. I'm also probably not going to have a mic to use as a room mic to get the room sound anyway.
I'll be using limited mics, with even more limited stands, so the basement will be better suited for rigging up mics for the kit. Also, all of their gear is already set up there so instead of them moving everything out, and me moving my stuff in, I would just need to move my stuff in. They are also comfortable there (though they've played together quite a while and can probably play well anywhere). With the living room we also have to worry about neighbors (who are said to be cool but after hours of listening to a banging kit it can be assumed that coolness will wear off).
Am I right in assuming it would be best if recorded in the basement instead of a living room? How would be the best way to record the guitar and bass and keep the bleedthrough in tracks down? We can move stuff around in the basement and that should help with the recording. I'll turn the bass amp away from the kit, that should help. Should I build a wall or something between the two? I don't have any sound walls or anything or I could use that. I can also record the bass direct. If I do that the bass player will still need to hear the bass. I don't have any headphone distributers or anything, and was planning on using my headphones to listen to whats recording. Could I still have him playing the amp just not recording it (take bass into DI take HI Z output to amp, take the XLR out to interface) without bleeding into the kit too much?
Guitar and vocals we plan on doing seperate because their guitarist has a tight schedule (wife/kids) so my main focus is bass and kit.
Any advice?
