Recording a Band...how do I?

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Mixteco

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Ok guys, I need your advise on this one...

Im mostly a hip hop/urban "musician"...but I got an offer to record a whole 6man band out here and the money sounds good.

Now my problem is that I don't have a mixer only a mbox mini and maudio tampa compressor for my inputs. I have only one mic: a Neumann 102. I have all acoustic treatment: bass traps and the rockwool.

My idea was too hook up their mixer up to my Mbox Mini and record them playing each song live all together and then go back and record each player individually. For their vocals, I would record them after everything was recorded and individually if their was more than one person. I would then mix each track individually like any other song.

Does this sound correct? or Should I just tell them that Im not up for the job yet? I need your help/input on this since the offer only stands til Christmas...thank you

 
Not to sound cynical, but you've only got one mic! It's a very nice mic, but still! What if they have drums?
 
Trying to record a 6 piece band with one mic will result in a lot of trial and error

................fify.

OP, you can record a six piece band at a go, but it will require moving the amps and drums around in the room and relative to one another to get a good mix with a single mic. Working with experienced musicians will help. Tip: you'll also need to place the mic in the room vertically to manage the ratio between drums and cymbals, especially if you're going to compress.

So long as the band isn't concerned about mono recordings, you should be fine. In any case, you'll learn whether your room treatment is up to the job or not.
 
I think you have a pretty nice setup for doing vocals, and you probably even have a nicely treated room for tracking and mixing... But, that really in no way translates to being setup to do a whole band (unless they don't actually have any instruments). IMO, knowing the setup you have, taking money from these guys would be a dick move.
 
Explain your situation up front and let them decide.

OR

Sell the Mbox and get yourself something with at least 4 inputs and 3 other mics.
 
From the little info we have, it appears you have a dearth of experience, and obviously you have little equipment suitable for recording a band. I see only a few good choices, and one horrible one:

GOOD CHOICE NUMBER ONE:
Forget about sleeping until the project is over. You won't have time, nor will you be able to, anyway.

Borrow money- up to the amount you would be paid for this gig. Then, SPEND EVERY WAKING MOMENT DOING THESE THINGS: Research your ass off as to the best, modest-priced gear you will need, then buy a recording-type mixer with at least 12 direct outs, a recording medium with the capability to record at least 12 tracks simultaneously, at least one SCD mic, several Shure SM-57's or 58's (yes, there are probably mics that may be better, but you don't have the time to mess around with that- go with an industry standard and keep moving.) You don't have the time to wait till good deals come up on Craigslist or whatever, so expect to buy it all new. Find a knowedgable, fair and helpful sales rep at Sam Ash, (IMO, you chances of that are much less at Guitar Center, where they are too prone to hiring people who are more interested in selling gear and making commissions than making sure you get what you need,) who can guide you through the purchases.

Set the stuff up, and again, SPEND EVERY WAKING MOMENT RESEARCHING HOW TO USE THE STUFF AND TRYING IT OUT. Expect your girlfriend/wife to leave you, at least temporarily,) your boss to threaten to fire you, your friends to wonder where the hell you dissapeared to, etc. If those things don't happen, YOU AREN'T SPENDING ENOUGH TIME ON THIS STEP.

Convince a good friend who is good at organization and detail to become your producer. Promise to pay him later. His job is to take care of ALL the non-technical details- and I do mean ALL- way to many to list here. If it does not include maniupulating the gear you just bought, HE does it, not you. Expect him to stop talking to you about half way through the project, and to not say two words to you until the day you pay him. That day, he will make up for all those months or years of silence by saying exactly two words to you- "Thank you." After that, he will never speak to you again. He will go on to get lots of tail from stupid girls who will gush all over him (figuratively and literally) when he puts on stupid fake gold chains and calls himself a "producer." Yeah, right- one of one thousand, just within a one-mile radius.

Buy a pair of large, dark sunglasses and a hat- wear them both during the entire recording session, so the band members can't see the abject fear on your face, as you realize you are in WAY over your head.

When it is all done, you will have a room full of gear you may never use again, major medical bills for everything from hand surgery (due to keeping your fingers crossed for months) to treatment for insomnia, depression and PTSD, no friends, no job, no girlfriend, and probably no place to live (you having been evicted for either noise or failure to pay the rent, or both.)

GOOD CHOICE NUMBER TWO: Be honest, tell them you have no experience recording a band, and pass on the opportunity.

HORRIBLE CHOICE NUMBER ONE: Record them with what you have. They will walk out of the session after a few days (or, if you are very unlucky, half way through,) threatening to sue you for everything you've got (and they will have a darn good case.) Spend every cent on attorney's fees. When it is all done, you will have an empty room where you gear used to be, major medical bills for everything from hand surgery (due to keeping your fingers crossed for months) to treatment for insomnia, depression and PTSD, no friends, no job, no girlfriend, and probably no place to live (you having been evicted for either noise or failure to pay the rent, or both.)

If you go with either GC1 or HC1, by all means, report back here (using a computer at the library, as you will no longer own one) about how it went.
 
Even if you had sufficient gear, it would be very unlikely to turn out a decent recording on your first attempt. Maybe...if you had several weeks or months to experiment and learn on the fly, and the musicians were willing to keep doing retakes until you understood mic placement...

But you don't have sufficient gear.

Don't take their money, but offer to let them be your guinea pigs for a free recording with no guarantees of how it will sound. Then you'll learn something and not piss anyone off.
 
When I first started recording, I was doing it to record my own band. As I became (slightly) more confident and proficient, I'd record friends bands and barter for services- I had a band do some painting, another did some work in our garden- no cash. I'm just now to the point where I'm doing bands (rarely) for (little) cash.

On the one hand, my time is worth a certain amount of money. On the other, I couldn't guaranty a product worthy of what I'd have to charge to to cover my time. The barter thing was a nice trade off. Besides most bands arent sitting on a pile of cash any way.
 
When I first started recording, I was doing it to record my own band. As I became (slightly) more confident and proficient, I'd record friends bands and barter for services- I had a band do some painting, another did some work in our garden- no cash. I'm just now to the point where I'm doing bands (rarely) for (little) cash.

On the one hand, my time is worth a certain amount of money. On the other, I couldn't guaranty a product worthy of what I'd have to charge to to cover my time. The barter thing was a nice trade off. Besides most bands arent sitting on a pile of cash any way.

I would be shocked if this was not how 99.9% of decent recording guys started.

I bought a 4-track 20 years ago or so. Built up mics and better gear over the years. Played in a band with a guy who had his own studio where I learned more. Etc. Etc. I've recorded literally thousands of hours of music (gigs, rehersals, sessions). If I wasn't playing in the bands, I would not have been able to do it, since I only lost the suck factor gradually over time.

Now, I can bring something to the table that you can't go to guitar center and buy. But since everyone thinks you can, my skills are worth zero money to most people (except other musicians that I play with - same as day one).

Hopefully my kids will get decent money for my gear at some estate sale when I'm dead. That's about all that will come of it.
 
................fify.

OP, you can record a six piece band at a go, but it will require moving the amps and drums around in the room and relative to one another to get a good mix with a single mic. Working with experienced musicians will help. Tip: you'll also need to place the mic in the room vertically to manage the ratio between drums and cymbals, especially if you're going to compress.

So long as the band isn't concerned about mono recordings, you should be fine. In any case, you'll learn whether your room treatment is up to the job or not.

Good advice, but you missed the second part!

My idea was too hook up their mixer up to my Mbox Mini and record them playing each song live all together and then go back and record each player individually.
 
How we did it in a professional studio 20 years ago. Recorded very much live, called bed tracks. Lots of mics on the drums, seems 8 is standard, I dunno, we had a professional engineer doing that. 1 mic on each of the 2 guitar amps, DI for bass, and the singer in a booth, live take for the beds. Got the drums, bass, rhythm guits and vocals in 1 go. Then leads, backup vocals. That sorta thing. Best song we ever got was Holy One, nailed in less than an hour.
 

Ok, I forgot to mention, they would provide their own drum mics...I would use the Neumann for strictly vocals only.

Now, could I still use the mixer into the Mbox method or is that a stupid idea? They just want to record a demo...

 
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