recording tonight.. tips?

[emomusician]

we are recording 4 tracks tonight..

we set up the mics on the drums last night, using a pearl export series set with evans heads.. sounds good..

have 2 condensors as overheads, (the lipstick type)...

sm57 on the snare
d112 on the bass


going into a yamaha mixer with stereo outs going into a delta 66.

should we record a scratch guitar track to a metronome? or have the drummer play to a live guitar player through headphones?

how do we get the drummer to play to a metronome?

[BentRabbit]

Originally Posted by emomusician

we are recording 4 tracks tonight..

we set up the mics on the drums last night, using a pearl export series set with evans heads.. sounds good..

have 2 condensors as overheads, (the lipstick type)...

sm57 on the snare
d112 on the bass


going into a yamaha mixer with stereo outs going into a delta 66.

should we record a scratch guitar track to a metronome? or have the drummer play to a live guitar player through headphones?

how do we get the drummer to play to a metronome?

Really, it depends on the chemistry of the players...

How is the drummer's meter? Do the guitar player and the drummer play well off each other?

Sometimes it's best to let the guitar player put down the scratch track to a click and then the drummer can come in and play along to the track (and click, to make sure breaks stay tight).

If the drummer and guitar player can hold it down and keep a pretty good meter, then have them don their cans and hit 'record'... Sometimes it's better to capture the live magic and let the meter drift slightly... ('slightly' being the key word here)

In one of my bands, I'll record to a click and have the guitar and/or singer in my headphones just enough to remind me where I am in the song... In another band, the guitar player and I record together sans click-track and the meter stays solid (the fact that he and I both practice religously with metronomes helps in this... as well as our playing chemistry together.)

I am curious about your "how do we get the drummer to play to a metronome" question... Do you mean what's the easiest way to have him hear the click while he's recording, or how do you get him to stop treating a metronome like kryptonite?

If it's the latter... I would look for another drummer

[BushmasterM4]

How did you do the animation at the bottom. I would love to make something.

[mrface2112]

Originally Posted by emomusician

how do we get the drummer to play to a metronome?

you don't, unless he already is quite practiced at playing to a click/metronome.

one of the worst things you can do to a drummer that's not used to playing to a click is try to make him play to one for the very first time at the studio session. nothing good can come of that--at worst, you could make the drummer realise that he can't hold a beat for shit and that could crush the mood of the whole session. likewise it could inspire him to practice.....anyway....

if the band is used to playing live, have them do that. just mic everything up and record live to two-track. have them bang out 3-5 takes of each song and choose the best one. i'd almost guarantee you'll get a better performance than trying to do it piecemeal. and honestly, it's always song and performance over sonics.

if the drummer is any good at playing the same song at the same tempo, you should be able to splice in (of another take) during any minor "oopses" in an otherwise great take.

in this case, i would give the drummer 4, 8, 12, etc, beats worth from the click to start the song and then turn it off and let them take it from there. this will (hopefully!) start the takes off at a consistent tempo--where it goes from there is up to the band.

good luck, and let us know how it went!


cheers,
wade