Small Changes - HUGE EFFECT - Recording "Live"

B

BeagleFaceHenry

Member
I'm so thrilled with the effect that I thought I'd share....
We made a few changes to our recording space. I replaced two passive Peavy PR12s/Old crappy (VERY beat up) amp with a ONE QSC K-12. Then we made 4 panels of Owens Corning 703, 4" thick (2'x4') and created a barrier around the drum kit.
We record "live" and suffered from excessive vocal bleed in the overheads, and excessive drum bleed in the vocal mic. The new, tighter, neater PA speaker allows us to hear vocals clearly without nearly as much sound and MUCH less bleed into the overheads. The gobos around the drum kit are absorbing enough sound that the 58 on the vocals barely picked up the kit.

We play rock in a smallish room. These changes made a measurable difference. I wanted to post this info because we encountered so much negativity along the way. So few people offered advice on how to best record "live", most people acted like it's a futile venture, not worthwhile, and a waste of time/effort.
So, for those of you out there that love the "live" feeling, stay strong! You CAN record live.
 
We've talked about headphones. There's obvious advantages.

We really enjoy the comfort and freedom of the PA. We like to feel unencumbered. Eventually we'll invest in headphones, mixer, and enough cabling to make it comfortable, but right now we're content with the PA.

Believe me, we understand the challenges of recording "live", and with a PA. I've noticed that a major theme of this forum is amateur's ability to replicate professional results. That is not our goal (sure, it would be nice if it happened). We understand our method has limitations and we don't expect commercial studio results.

We do, however, really really enjoy our process. We get together, we drink some beer, they some cigarettes (NEVER in the studio) and we write tunes. Our method is very organic. We all work well together. It always feels like play, never feels like work. We have a comfortable practice/recording space. We can hit Record at any time and capture a tune in development, a finished tune, or just a jam. We LOVE that freedom, the freedom to capture anything at anytime without compromising our vibe.

I too grew up in the age of the Tascam 4-track cassette recorder. I'm AMAZED at what we can accomplish in our home studios these days, not discouraged by the lack of "professional" results. We have a Yamaha O2R, Tascam DP-24, and Cakewalk. We can write, record, produce, mix, master, and print our own tunes all by ourselves!
When its time, we'll head to SoundCity or Muscle Shoals, or wherever and record the greatest album of our generation. But until that time, we want to give our tunes the best treatement our limited budget and experience will allow (without compromising our vibe).
Sorry, that got a little long winded...I got excited.
 
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