Bluegrass On The Cheap

H

Harvey Gerst

New member
Here's a song "Cricket", written by an old friend of mine, Byron Berline.

The mics on the Guitar, Banjo, and Madolin are all Niant Omnis, made by HR member mshilarious.

The Fender bass was run through an old 15 Watt Ross amplifier, and the bass mic was a Soundstar MkII.

All done in one take.
View attachment 11-Cricket.mp3
 
NO WAY!!!
whats the chances.....honest to god...I literally just walked in the door not more then 30 minutes ago, from watching a bluegrass band...anyway, honest to god, I just got done telling the ole lady about this guy who`s a member of a music forum I joined, and how I was tempted to ask him what the easiest way to get atleast a "decent" recording of a bluegrass band would be..(I`m an absolute newbie to recording..nothing like jumping in the fire right off the bat ehh....LOL)
see.. my elderly father is pretty sick, and really wanting me to get some decent footage, and also some recordings of his friends bluegrass band...it certainly does`nt have to be the quality of what I`m listenning to right now..which is your link, cause that just ain`t gona happen..LOL..but rather, just get a half way decent sounding something for my dad to listen to at home, who most defiantly does`nt know anything about recording etc..I could probley just get away with what I got on video tape tonight LOL, but I would like to try and do a little better..I know the band members pretty good, and have an open invite to their practices..so setting something up, would`nt be that big of a deal to them..
anyway, sorry to drag this on..but oddley enough, the first post I seen after hitting "new post" was by you, and about a bluegrass band..
Excellent!!

I was going to post a link to some of the video I took tonght, but I`m having technical issue`s doing so right now..
anyway, the band basically stood around an AGK condensor mic, except for the bass player who had a mic mounted under the bottom bridge, and ran off to a small board..
tonight they were just having a good time (and a few cold one`s also..LOL) so it`s not the best sound they`ve ever produced..LOL
I`ll see if i can get the video figured out later and post..
in the mean time, here`s a pic..this is not how they typically stood during the jam session, because the guy in the center, was just a patron that wanted to get up and sing one, so they backed away from the mic a bit, also the bass player in the pic, is the regular bass players daughter who sat in for a minute..
https://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9697/pb190004g.jpg

I`m thinking screw it, throw a condensor in the middle of the group, and just b line it..LOL..

at any rate, thanks for the post/link!!
 
Beautifully done, Harvey. Had to listen at low volume cause the family is asleep, and my headphones died last week, but from what I heard, it was captured beautifully! The performances were stellar - unbelievable for one take. Kudos for the band!
 
Love it!. Sounds huge...maybe my favorite sounding bluegrass track ever with electric bass guitar. Was this captured in your 11x11 room with the cubicle dividers as treatment? How much "processing" did you do to the tracks during mixdown? Thank you for making my morning.

By the way, it sounds good in the car stereo, too.
 
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I`m thinking screw it, throw a condensor in the middle of the group, and just b line it..LOL..
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I can't count how many country and bluegrass videos I've been watching lately from the 60s through the 70s that have the band gathering around one or two EV 635a omni dynamics and another mic on the upright bass (or not)...and the sound is great.
 
wretchasketch said:
Love it!. Sounds huge...maybe my favorite sounding bluegrass track ever with electric bass guitar. Was this captured in your 11x11 room with the cubicle dividers as treatment? How much "processing" did you do to the tracks during mixdown? Thank you for making my morning.

By the way, it sounds good in the car stereo, too.
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Yup, it's the small room. I had one extra divider on its side to isolate Joe Hood's banjo a bit. I cranked Glen's mandolin solos up 6 dB, and Brian's guitar solos up about 4 dB, and that was all the "fixin' during the mixin." Glen's mandolin panned at 50% Left, Brian's guitar at 50% at Right, and Joe's banjo and Gene's bass straight down the middle. I ran through Izotope's new Ozone 5 (with about 18% added room reverb, 3 dB of maximizer, and a little stereo widener).

I only posted "Cricket" because it was the shortest song on the album. They practiced for around 35 minutes on Thursday (without Brian), and we cut all 11 songs on Friday - in about 5 hours (including a lunch break). Mixed and mastered on Sunday.
 
They practiced for around 35 minutes on Thursday (without Brian), and we cut all 11 songs on Friday - in about 5 hours (including a lunch break). Mixed and mastered on Sunday.
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Lolol! Now that's how it's done! I wish I could get my trio over to your studio. It's taking forever to record the guys and me over here and play and sing too. I need to bribe an engineer to come over. Got any vocal numbers from that project you'd like to share?
 
Great sound, great playing, well balanced. Would have liked the guitar between 1.21 - 1.37 to be a little louder, but that's because I'm a guitarist and wanted to steal his chops :guitar:
 
I like "Buck's Run" because of the groove/tempo...I tend to like hoedowns like "Katy Hill" and "Fire on the Mountain" that really get you moving. The band is really firing it in there. I've not heard the tune before, but I would guess it might have originated with mandolinist Buck White?

I'll keep a watch on this topic. Maybe you could let us know if the band makes it available for download. I'd pony up $ for it.
 
Hey Harvey. I just ordered a bucket-load of headphones from ya. Thanks for posting the link in your signature! Been looking for headphones like the ones you're selling for a long time.
 
wretchasketch said:
I like "Buck's Run" because of the groove/tempo...I tend to like hoedowns like "Katy Hill" and "Fire on the Mountain" that really get you moving. The band is really firing it in there. I've not heard the tune before, but I would guess it might have originated with mandolinist Buck White?

I'll keep a watch on this topic. Maybe you could let us know if the band makes it available for download. I'd pony up $ for it.
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Yup. it's a Buck White tune. Buck is still going strong - at 85 years old! And I just found out Glen learned the song from Buck White himself.
 
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This particular group of musicians would sound good recorded anywhere on the planet.

I followed the old Hippocratic doctor's oath: "First, do no harm." I wanted everybody feeling comfortable, and I just tried to stay out of their way. Only Joe Hood used headphones so we could talk between the studio and the control room. They choose where they wanted to sit so that they could hear each other.

Keep in mind that these were $30 Naiant omni mics that were used on the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. While omnis mics may seem like a weird first choice, I wanted fidelity over isolation, and the Naiants really let me get in close without any proximity buildup.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
This particular group of musicians would sound good recorded anywhere on the planet.

I followed the old Hippocratic doctor's oath: "First, do no harm." I wanted everybody feeling comfortable, and I just tried to stay out of their way. Only Joe Hood used headphones so we could talk between the studio and the control room. They choose where they wanted to sit so that they could hear each other.

Keep in mind that these were $30 Naiant omni mics that were used on the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. While omnis mics may seem like a weird first choice, I wanted fidelity over isolation, and the Naiants really let me get in close without any proximity buildup.
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Harvey....if you don`t mind me asking..and speaking of very inexpensive mics....
have you ever used, or heard any opinnions on these mics?

GLS Audio ES-57 ES57 Professional Microphone Mic

like I mentioned earlier in this thread, I`m considering recording a friends bluegrass band, and just looking to atleast get a half way decent result..I`m trying to do this for my very sick elderly father, so I really don`t have alot of time to save $$ and get a more expensive set of mics etc...so I`m pretty much thinking about either just throwing a L/D condensor in the middle of the group (which I have now, not a high/end brand, but does seam to work good)..or trying to get each musician via indevidual mics..
anyway, I know internet reviews should be taken with a grain of salt...but they do seam to have alot of very positive reviews..(I`ve read reviews on several different web sites, and out of probley 40+ reviews, I have`nt read a single bad one for the most part)..

at any rate, what would be my best route do ya think, to try and get the band recorded for my dad to hear as soon as posible (his health is very bad, so I`m really wanting to pull this off as soon as posible, so he can listen to them at home)..

Thanks.....and sorry if this is a hijack??

AL
thanks..
 
AL,

It would really help if I knew a little bit more about what you have available to use. As Wretchasketch pointed out, two mics are all you really need - one high for vocals, fiddles, and mandolins, and one low for guitars and banjos (plus a bass mic). The ES-57's will probably work ok if you're just looking to get a decent record of the music. I'd go with the Naiants for the same money, but you'll need phantom power for them.

Try to record a practice first to learn how to do this kind of recording.
 
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