I have a pretty specific project studio in mind for 2010. I wanted to get some advice so I have written a fairly detailed description of what I want to accomplish. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this very long post and respond to it….
The studio will be recording mostly blues, blues rock and “roots” type music. The emphasis will be on obtaining excellent guitar tone as well as being able to record a live band. The instruments we are dealing with are primarily vocal, guitar, bass, drums. We will also have to record horns, Hammond organ and harmonica.
This is a tracking studio only. We plan on doing live band recording or even guitar only overdubs that a player brings in. Mixing will be done by a professional engineer but not at our facility. The same engineer will be present during the recording sessions. We also have two national names that will produce for us (for a fee obviously)
The room is not ideal (low ceilings). However, we are working on solot of DIY sound treatments and believe we will tune the room to sound as good as it can. I have learned a ton on gearslutz re: how to treat the room.
I will end up with more questions, but for now, I want to focus on our guitar signal since it’s our flagship offering.
Let me go through the chain…
The Players
Most of the players are very high caliber local musicians. They excel at mostly guitar or harp based music, have recorded before and have professional ability. My business partner is very plugged into both the local and national scene so he is the one that will recruit these type of clients
The second player is the advanced hobbiest with disposable income to put into a CD. I know tons of guys like this (in fact, I am one of them). In this case, we will have a very capable band available to help them achieve their goals. This will most likely be an average to very good guitarist doing originals or blues covers.
Bottom line is that the rhythm section will always be tight.
The Instruments
We have a significant amount of killer sounding guitars and amps. Some of these pieces are in the top of what I have ever heard and played. Live, these instruments can cause a jaw dropping effect when played by a capable player.
The guitars available are mostly 50’s Gibsons including ES-175, 1959 ES-335, 1959 ES-330, Les Paul Jrs, Specials, etc. There are also some vintage teles and quiky Danelectro, Silvertone, Kay, etc.
Amplifiers include a fine collection of Fender Tweed, Brown, and Blackface amps. In addition, we have a serious collection of some of the best sounding vintage Gibson and Ampeg amps. All maintained by a local amp tech legend. The tweed amps include ’55 Princeton, ’55 Tweed Deluxe, ’59 Tremolux, ’59 Bassman, ’59 Super, ’57 Pro . Blackface includes ’64 DR, ’65 Super Reverb., ’67 Pro Reverb, ’66 Vibrolux Reverb. There are great Ampegs like the Super Echo Twin, Reverbrocket and VT-40. There are fantastic Gibsons including GA-20, GA-40, GA-55. Also, some typical off brand, Supro, Valco, Oahu stuff that is used in a lot of Blues circles.
Drums are vintage Ludwig, bass amp is classic Ampeg and we have a Hammond C1 with Leslie.
So now we are coming to where I need to complete this signal chain.
Mics. (here is where questions start)
Currently, I have a pretty bare bones mic collection including a few Neumann TLM103’s and KM184s. I have a Cascade Fathead, SM57’s, Sennheisser e906.
I want to get a few more mics that will excel at capturing the wonderful tone of these players, guitars and amps. Maybe a few various mics or maybe one killer mic.
I love vintage gear and would like to spend more money on mics, pres than I do on computer do-dads and DAW stuff.
I thought about maybe a Royer 121 ribbon or some other better ribbon than my Cascade which sounds really dark to me. I also thought about going with some old vintage mics like Shure 330 or SM33. These were recommended to me by a great blues guitarist.
On the most expensive side, I read so many wonderful things about something like a U67. They are expensive for sure but what does it take to really keep an amazing signal chain going here…. Since I know I can probably get most of my money back on something like that, the idea intrigues me.
But I don’t want to buy some crazy expensive mic just because it’s expensive. I want to buy the right mics for the job. I have to assume that there are better/worse mics depending on the guitar/amp combo used. Also, buying a mic like that will require me to really scrimp in other areas….
Preamps.
I don’t want to invest a ton in preamps right now and I am even wiling to rent them for awhile to better understand the flavors. However, I think at least one decent pre is required for this chain.
Keep in mind I need probably 16 channels to record a band. I want to get something decent to record drums, bass, etc but I am limited to maybe one good $1000-$2500 pre for the guitar mics. I love buying stuff that holds value (ie vintage amps over boutique amps)
Also, what’s “good enough” for drums, bass, etc….. And what are some suggestions for the “golden” signal chain.
DAW/Interface
Because we have an engineer that will mix in his studio, we have decided on ProTools. I am not sure if we really need an HD system but I am hoping no. If I did need HD, it would really cramp my budget for mics and pres. I was planning on starting with the 003 rack or control interface.
Should I consider an older PCI (used) HD version as well?
Converters
I have almost zero knowledge here. Are the converters in the 003 good enough or do I have to somehow bypass them and use something better. I hope not but I can use some help here. I am not even sure of the signal flow using converters not part of the interface
Computer.
I’ll probably wait for the new Mac Pros (if I decide to buy a new mac). For starters, I have a decent 4 year old PC that was configured as a mobile workstation for my big number crunching and CAD needs.
It’s a dual core AMD with 4GB RAM. Nothing special but a capable machine (4 years ago). I hope it’s good enough to get rolling.
If really needed I can buy a new mac or PC now but I’d rather not try and buy everything new right off the bat and I’d rather wait for the new macs if we decide to go that route.
Monitors
I don’t know much about them. I have a basic set of Yamaha’sHS50m’s at home but I only mess around. Ideally a $1K budget since I am not mixing on these. But I do need to know our recording is good. There will not be a separate monitoring or mixing room. The DAW, computers, monitors, etc will be in the tracking room.
Summary
So, the studio goals are…..
Tracking of guitar centric blues/roots
Emphasis on our great collection of musicians and great sounding instruments.
Professional engineer at the sessions.
Professional engineer for mixing
ProTools (LE) for compatibility with our engineers mixing system (ProTools HD)
My Requirements/Desires
16 channels for full band recording.
Great Mic/Pre’s for the “golden chain” (guitar amps)
Very Good mics/pres for the rest of the channels.
Good monitors to insure our tracking is good (but not mixing on them).
Need help deciding on interface/converters
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
The studio will be recording mostly blues, blues rock and “roots” type music. The emphasis will be on obtaining excellent guitar tone as well as being able to record a live band. The instruments we are dealing with are primarily vocal, guitar, bass, drums. We will also have to record horns, Hammond organ and harmonica.
This is a tracking studio only. We plan on doing live band recording or even guitar only overdubs that a player brings in. Mixing will be done by a professional engineer but not at our facility. The same engineer will be present during the recording sessions. We also have two national names that will produce for us (for a fee obviously)
The room is not ideal (low ceilings). However, we are working on solot of DIY sound treatments and believe we will tune the room to sound as good as it can. I have learned a ton on gearslutz re: how to treat the room.
I will end up with more questions, but for now, I want to focus on our guitar signal since it’s our flagship offering.
Let me go through the chain…
The Players
Most of the players are very high caliber local musicians. They excel at mostly guitar or harp based music, have recorded before and have professional ability. My business partner is very plugged into both the local and national scene so he is the one that will recruit these type of clients
The second player is the advanced hobbiest with disposable income to put into a CD. I know tons of guys like this (in fact, I am one of them). In this case, we will have a very capable band available to help them achieve their goals. This will most likely be an average to very good guitarist doing originals or blues covers.
Bottom line is that the rhythm section will always be tight.
The Instruments
We have a significant amount of killer sounding guitars and amps. Some of these pieces are in the top of what I have ever heard and played. Live, these instruments can cause a jaw dropping effect when played by a capable player.
The guitars available are mostly 50’s Gibsons including ES-175, 1959 ES-335, 1959 ES-330, Les Paul Jrs, Specials, etc. There are also some vintage teles and quiky Danelectro, Silvertone, Kay, etc.
Amplifiers include a fine collection of Fender Tweed, Brown, and Blackface amps. In addition, we have a serious collection of some of the best sounding vintage Gibson and Ampeg amps. All maintained by a local amp tech legend. The tweed amps include ’55 Princeton, ’55 Tweed Deluxe, ’59 Tremolux, ’59 Bassman, ’59 Super, ’57 Pro . Blackface includes ’64 DR, ’65 Super Reverb., ’67 Pro Reverb, ’66 Vibrolux Reverb. There are great Ampegs like the Super Echo Twin, Reverbrocket and VT-40. There are fantastic Gibsons including GA-20, GA-40, GA-55. Also, some typical off brand, Supro, Valco, Oahu stuff that is used in a lot of Blues circles.
Drums are vintage Ludwig, bass amp is classic Ampeg and we have a Hammond C1 with Leslie.
So now we are coming to where I need to complete this signal chain.
Mics. (here is where questions start)
Currently, I have a pretty bare bones mic collection including a few Neumann TLM103’s and KM184s. I have a Cascade Fathead, SM57’s, Sennheisser e906.
I want to get a few more mics that will excel at capturing the wonderful tone of these players, guitars and amps. Maybe a few various mics or maybe one killer mic.
I love vintage gear and would like to spend more money on mics, pres than I do on computer do-dads and DAW stuff.
I thought about maybe a Royer 121 ribbon or some other better ribbon than my Cascade which sounds really dark to me. I also thought about going with some old vintage mics like Shure 330 or SM33. These were recommended to me by a great blues guitarist.
On the most expensive side, I read so many wonderful things about something like a U67. They are expensive for sure but what does it take to really keep an amazing signal chain going here…. Since I know I can probably get most of my money back on something like that, the idea intrigues me.
But I don’t want to buy some crazy expensive mic just because it’s expensive. I want to buy the right mics for the job. I have to assume that there are better/worse mics depending on the guitar/amp combo used. Also, buying a mic like that will require me to really scrimp in other areas….
Preamps.
I don’t want to invest a ton in preamps right now and I am even wiling to rent them for awhile to better understand the flavors. However, I think at least one decent pre is required for this chain.
Keep in mind I need probably 16 channels to record a band. I want to get something decent to record drums, bass, etc but I am limited to maybe one good $1000-$2500 pre for the guitar mics. I love buying stuff that holds value (ie vintage amps over boutique amps)
Also, what’s “good enough” for drums, bass, etc….. And what are some suggestions for the “golden” signal chain.
DAW/Interface
Because we have an engineer that will mix in his studio, we have decided on ProTools. I am not sure if we really need an HD system but I am hoping no. If I did need HD, it would really cramp my budget for mics and pres. I was planning on starting with the 003 rack or control interface.
Should I consider an older PCI (used) HD version as well?
Converters
I have almost zero knowledge here. Are the converters in the 003 good enough or do I have to somehow bypass them and use something better. I hope not but I can use some help here. I am not even sure of the signal flow using converters not part of the interface
Computer.
I’ll probably wait for the new Mac Pros (if I decide to buy a new mac). For starters, I have a decent 4 year old PC that was configured as a mobile workstation for my big number crunching and CAD needs.
It’s a dual core AMD with 4GB RAM. Nothing special but a capable machine (4 years ago). I hope it’s good enough to get rolling.
If really needed I can buy a new mac or PC now but I’d rather not try and buy everything new right off the bat and I’d rather wait for the new macs if we decide to go that route.
Monitors
I don’t know much about them. I have a basic set of Yamaha’sHS50m’s at home but I only mess around. Ideally a $1K budget since I am not mixing on these. But I do need to know our recording is good. There will not be a separate monitoring or mixing room. The DAW, computers, monitors, etc will be in the tracking room.
Summary
So, the studio goals are…..
Tracking of guitar centric blues/roots
Emphasis on our great collection of musicians and great sounding instruments.
Professional engineer at the sessions.
Professional engineer for mixing
ProTools (LE) for compatibility with our engineers mixing system (ProTools HD)
My Requirements/Desires
16 channels for full band recording.
Great Mic/Pre’s for the “golden chain” (guitar amps)
Very Good mics/pres for the rest of the channels.
Good monitors to insure our tracking is good (but not mixing on them).
Need help deciding on interface/converters
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
