How do I improve my recording quality? *audio clip*

J

Jsn7821

New member


That is a 7 minute clip of my band just getting together and improv/jamming. It's actually pretty decent a ways into it as far as playing goes - but the recording quality, well thats another story.

I can't yet tell what is "good" recording but i know this is "bad" recording. Is anyone here good enough to give a analysis or what ever you might call it, to help improve the quality that we/I am getting? EQ settings maybe?

Here is my set up if it helps people diagnose the problem:
Guitar: Valvetronix Vox amp > Shure sm-57 > EuroRack (UB1832FX-Pro) > Delta 1010lt
Bass: Hartke 350 Watt head > Line out > EuroRack > Delta 1010lt
Drums:
1)Shure PG-48 1' in front of bass drum, 4" off the ground.
2)Shure PG-48 1-2' above drums near the center....
(into the eurorack and then delta)

All of this goes into cool edit pro on 4 different tracks. I know the drum mics suck.
 
Another issue is the drum mics bleed like crazy, it picks up the bass and guitar like none other. I'm talking so much to the point where you almost cant tell when I mute the other tracks.

I'm ready to spend money on a good over-head mic that is directional and reduces the bleeding. And I think I need a LD condeser mic for the bass drum to get a good "punch"?

I wouldn't want to spend too much more then about $200 (total) for a few mics. I don't have much money to throw around right now.
 
Have you thought of recording a track at a time instead of trying to capture the entire band at once? This should cut down on the mic bleed problems. Other than that, there isn't too much you can do eq-wise because it's going to affect everything.

I would do that: record on instrument at a time. Isolation is the key.
 
but individual tracking kinda kills the mood with jam bands. If you can get access to some monitors or PA speakers...there is an easy solution for getting clean guitar and bass tracks. Put the guitar amp and bass amp into seperate rooms...mic them...run them into the mixer and put the PA speakers into the room where you are playing...this way the amps will have their own seperate tracks. The drums now are a different story. You will have to work on placement of your mics to cut down on the bleed...maybe have to put your PA speakers as far from the drum mics as possible...and the drummer may want headphones so he can hear better.
 
that studio monitor suggestion is an interesting idea, definatly will look into that for the future (when I get the monitors). I know there are tons and tons of threads already asking about drum mics, but are there any that fit my budget? under $200 for one or two?

Also, how does the guitar sound to you guys? I have the sm-57 aimed to the outer part of the speaker if that makes sense... I slightly lowered 80hz and slightly boosted 500hz, for no reason really besides guessing.
 
Jsn7821 said:
I'm ready to spend money on a good over-head mic that is directional and reduces the bleeding. And I think I need a LD condeser mic for the bass drum to get a good "punch"?
Click to expand...
Oooooo if Harvey saw this he'd be pissed..... LDC's do not necessarily have better bass response than SDCs.

But I think the recording is fine, in general. You sped up about 10 BPM, though.
 
You're using the stock pre's in the behringer mixer? Some nice outboard preamps would do you well. And getting rid of the bleed. I think the guitar could come up in a few places and the bass down a tad. IMO the guitar could sound a tad fuller, maybe move the mic a tad closer to the cabinet if it was a little farther back, but just a little teeny bit fuller, not so much that it masks the bass.
 
Getting the amps in diiferent rooms is spot on. However, I'd get the band into HEADPHONES for monitoring. You'll have total isolation, the band can still play and groove together and you can tweek the mic placement for everthing for optimum results. Try to stay away from EQ to "fix" sound issues. Move the mics/change the source (adjust the amps/drums) to get it the way you want it to sound.
 
I wouldnt expect it to sound much better if any than the shure's (even though the shure's are the lower line). I think you would be better off to look around on ebay...by spending $10 to $20 more than that CAD, you can get an SM57. Not my personal fav, but highly reguarded among the members here.
 
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