stands, gobos, and headphone mix

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partonkevin

New member
I'm about to embark on some new recording projects and need some advice/suggestions.
First, I need some new mic stands. Most of mine are pretty worn and have cast iron round bases. I also have some "claws" and other little drum clamps. My space is a pretty good size garage with concrete floors. The cast iron bases are okay I suppose. They suck onstage if the stage is a bit hollow. You know how it is...where you can hear walking and thumping and stuff. My drum clamps work well live, but the last time I tried them for recording they caused some nasty overtones on the toms. I'm looking for CHEAP tripod types, but I don't want complete crap. Any ideas or experiences?
Second, I'm thinking about some type of portable gobos. I've recorded a few practices with close miced drums and things went pretty well. I couldn't get a good overhead balance though. I had them high and sounding good, but then when we cranked up the guitars there was too much bleed. Then I moved the overheads closer to get lees guitar and the cymbals started sounding worse, too splashy. Does anyone have any designs or ides that have worked well? This is also my rehearsal space, so I don't want anything too big and bulky.
Third. What to do about monitoring? Recording practice is a no brainer, we just use our wedges. I may want a little less chance of leakage for a "proper" recording. I have a little 4 channel headphone amp I built from a PAIA schematic. It works pretty well, actually. However the drummer always wants some blaring headphones. Anyone ever use a PA head to push headphones? Any ideas? I really would like a situation where the guys could adjust overall volume for themselves. And I like to spread out and my little box in the middle of the floor may not be so good for that.
I would really appreciate any responses or ideas. It's been a while for me to do recording and I hope to have a relatively stress free go of it. I remember years ago trying to get a headphone mix...I was going around trying to take care of everyone. I kept telling the bass player that I would get to him soon enough. Every 30 seconds he would tell me one side of his cans were dead, and I'd tell him that I would get to him soon. After about his thirtieth complaint, I stopped what I was doing and yanked the phones off his head and threw them across the room. I yelled at him that he should take back his $300 Tommy Hillfiger jersey and get his own headphones. He was quite for the rest of the session. Turns out that the cheap plug from Dalbani had a dent in it and it would cause a poor connection...killing one side. BASS PLAYERS...Argh...wait...I'm one too.
 
Try placing the amps next to the kit aimed 180° from the overheads. Small goboes between the amps and drums may help, but if they're near a wall you will get bleed from the reflections, so treating the wall would also help. If you use wedges put them around the kit facing out and have the players stand around in a semicircle facing the kit. Get some rugs or carpet scraps for the concrete floor.

Get on Craigslist and look for stands. There's somebody in Murfreesboro selling a boom stand. You live close enough to Nashville to exploit all those singers with dashed hopes of stardom trying to sell off their gear for a bus ticket back to East Texas.
 
In our current practice setup the drums are in the center of the room pretty much. My room is approx. 24x35 with 9' walls vaulted to the peak, maybe 14' or so. We have the group on rugs. Wedges are lined up in front of the kit facing out and the musicians face the drummer. Our amps line the wall behind us facing back at the drummer. He has an elevated monitor facing from the hi-hat side toward him with his own volume control. It works very well for practice. It sounds good. The walls are covered with amps and guitars, no absorption of any kind. Honestly, the last time I recorded our practice was right before I moved into my new room. Before I was in the garage with 8' plywood ceilings.
I'm an hour from Murfreesboro and almost two from Nashville. I used to shop around quiet a bit, but now it's easier to hit the internet and have the stuff delivered to my door. I figure my time at $25 per hour. A trip to Nashville with the cost of gas ends up costing a bit. $30+ in the tank and $100 of my time adds up quick. "Deals" are actually hard to find in Nashville because everyone is looking. Bargains are scooped up fast. And pawn shops are ridiculous, but that may be everywhere. I've been looking for a mid 90s MIM strat for a while. $250-$350 is average with some asking over $400. I could by them brand new for under $300 back in the day. They'll even ask $250 for a Squier! But I've picked up five lately for $50-$80.
 
You get what you pay for with stands. Musicians Friend has cheap boom stands with tripod base for $19 - but the tighteners are all plastic - easy to strip out if you are not careful.
 
partonkevin said:
In our current practice setup the drums are in the center of the room pretty much. My room is approx. 24x35 with 9' walls vaulted to the peak, maybe 14' or so. We have the group on rugs. Wedges are lined up in front of the kit facing out and the musicians face the drummer. Our amps line the wall behind us facing back at the drummer. He has an elevated monitor facing from the hi-hat side toward him with his own volume control. It works very well for practice. It sounds good. The walls are covered with amps and guitars, no absorption of any kind. Honestly, the last time I recorded our practice was right before I moved into my new room. Before I was in the garage with 8' plywood ceilings.
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I'd consider moving the drums back against one wall and the amps around to the sides of the drums facing back at you. The drummer will play a little quieter if the amps aren't aimed at him, and it will help keep them out of the vocal mics and overheads.

partonkevin said:
"Deals" are actually hard to find in Nashville because everyone is looking. Bargains are scooped up fast.
Click to expand...

Bummer. I guess there's always a fresh crop of hopeful superstars to snap up the gear that the last batch sold off.
 
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