Help with live recording mix

Bill L

Bill L

Massivdonian
So I've been multi tracking my band when we play gigs and I'm seeking some guidance on the mix. Let me know what you think.
 

Attachments

  • 15 Cissy Strut Mix 6 Edited Not Mastered.mp3
    6.4 MB · Views: 10
Wish I could give you some. If this is really live, it is damn good. Next time I record live I will be asking you questions. :eek:
 
Yeah, it's live. You can hear people talking in the background (especially during the drum solo). I'll put up another with vocals in a few mins (and you can hear someone whistling in the background). Thanks man. Got it most of my tricks from this very site.
 
Here's another from the same gig (Good Times Bad Times cover, it's real short) and one from a different gig with a different band (Dead cover)
 

Attachments

  • 07 Good Times Bad Times Mix 6 Edited Not Mastered.mp3
    2.6 MB · Views: 1
  • 09 Mr Charlie Told Me So Mix 2-1 Delay Edited.mp3
    4.8 MB · Views: 2
On Good Times, I can hear the vocals not blending as well as when it just the instrumental recording. Still a fine recording, just sounds like the mix could use tweaking. I think once vocals comes in for this type of recording, everything changes a lot.

I would be interested in your approach. Maybe post something in Recording Techniques? Good stuff, lots people like me could learn from.
 
Suggestions on the vocals? I only used a tiny bit of delay and reverb. How about Mr. Charlie? If you think it might be helpful, I'd gladly start a thread on how I do this. Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment.
 
Bill L said:
Suggestions on the vocals? I only used a tiny bit of delay and reverb. How about Mr. Charlie? If you think it might be helpful, I'd gladly start a thread on how I do this. Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment.
Click to expand...

My only comment is bring them down closer to the rest of the band. They seemed a little too out front. You may have to do some fader control since it varies in loudness, which is to be expected when playing live.
 
This is really good. The separation of your instruments is great! There is an irritating buzz on the right-hand guitar that could do with being gated or edited out. It's really obvious when the other instruments are doing their solos. I've been trying to mix songs from a live multitrack of my band that I DIDN'T record and that's been very hard. I'm assuming your band was close-miked and wasn't using a fully-miked PA rig? One problem with my multitrack is that there is massive low-end bleed into all the mics because we were playing through a loud concert rig at the time! You don't seem to have that, which makes it almost studio clean. :D

Good stuff.
 
Here's how I did it. I use 2 Zoom R24's (bought for $200 each on craigslist) linked. The preamps kinda stink* on the R24's so I take direct out from an Allen and Heath Mixwizard 2 (you can do the same thing if you inserts on each channel on your board). Everything is close mic'd and goes through board (only vocals and very little guitar, and maybe some kick, go through the mains) so:
Kick Drum - Beta 52
Snare - SM57
2 Toms - Digital reference kit mics
2 over heads - Oktava MK-012s

Guitars
Senn E609 (the buzz in the right is from the amp. He never has had a buzz until we played this place. Oddly enough, the PA was as quiet as I've ever heard (no electrical noise)). I'm the guitar on the left channel and I mix in a signal from my pedal (it's a stereo output pedal, one goes to the amp, the other goes straight into the board).

Bass and vocals are direct.

All EQ is flat except for whatever I need to adjust the vocals for the room (it is a live gig after all). Vocal mics are SM 58**. I EQ almost every channel when it hits the DAW (I've been using Presonus Studio One V1 Artist, fwiw)

Compression on everything in the DAW and then mix to taste.

*When I record a practice I use the built in pres just for ease. Much easier to carry an R24 than an Allen and Heath Mixwizard.
** Way too much bleed on these mics. I have a Senn E 895 that's just as bad. There is a Samson mic that looks like a 58 that has excellent bleed cancellation. Can any recommend anything else here? Thanks again everyone!
 
Bill L said:
Here's another from the same gig (Good Times Bad Times cover, it's real short) and one from a different gig with a different band (Dead cover)
Click to expand...

On Mr. Charlie I think you need to dial back some of the edge of the right guitar to make it sit with the rest of the band a little better, maybe in the 4k-6k range. And the guitars and vocals seem a lot dryer than the drums. It's live music so people expect to hear some space. I would eq the vocals some, a wide/shallow cut centered somewhere in the 250Hz range and a high shelf boost for some air.
 
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