Does it matter if you can hear the other instruments on a track?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jowlander
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Jowlander

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Hi.

I am recording my band with pro tools. I have mic'ed up my guitar amps, and two overheads on the drumset (plus a beta 91 in the bass drum).

Now every time i record, the overheads on the drum set picks up some of the guitar amps, and the guitar-amp-mic picks up some of the drum set.

Does theis really matter, and is there anyway to avoid this?
 
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You could try to filter the other sounds out.

Sounds like you're doing some live recording. In which case I don't really see why it would be much of a problem.
 
If you are recording live like that, there is bound to be some spill.

It should not cause you too many headaches.
 
The alternative, of course, is to record each instrument separately. Use the original recording as a guide, then go back and record the drums by themselves, then each guitar/bass by itself, all onto separate tracks.
 
It also depends how much bleed. Like Greg said, if it doesn't matter to you, then it's not too much bleed. But usually when people record "live" like that, there are measures they will take to reduce the bleed, like putting gobos between the instruments, or moving amps so that they're further away and/or pointing away from the drum mics, etc.....But, in the end, it all comes down to how much bleed you consider too much.
 
i'm also just starting out recording using homestudio 2004 from cakewalk. When i record a track, say a rhythm track, and then record the vocals next, a portion of the rhythm track is heard on the vocal recording as well. I too dont know how to fix this, when i try to record say, 5 tracks, it creates an echo-ey feeling to the recording.
 
eberones said:
i'm also just starting out recording using homestudio 2004 from cakewalk. When i record a track, say a rhythm track, and then record the vocals next, a portion of the rhythm track is heard on the vocal recording as well. I too dont know how to fix this, when i try to record say, 5 tracks, it creates an echo-ey feeling to the recording.
Click to expand...
Are you using headphones when you record? Or are your monitors on?
 
RAMI said:
Are you using headphones when you record? Or are your monitors on?
Click to expand...

Yes I am using my headphones when recording. What happens when recording is that the track playing which accompanies my vocal recording is also recorded while i'm laying a vocal track.
 
I'm not quite sure, but it could have something to do with your sound-setting on you PC (i do not know about mac). Sometimes listening is activated on the sound-settings, and you can hear the input in the ouput. Like a windows monitoring feature i guess.
 
Didn't finish the thread before posting ... my original post was not to the point. Bad habit of mine ... grin!
 
A mic rarely pics up what we hear with our ears and when recording in a confined place it can be difficult to adjust the mic and mic placement.. Its more of a matter of trial and error.. You record and playback, adjust, and repeat until its what you want... This is due to not being able to monitor the signal without the original sound in the same room...

When just starting this live recording method mentioned above is a good way to get a reasonable signal because you can then blend all the mics together to taste and get somewhere in the ballpark of the original sound... You could as mentioned earlier use that as a bed to then lay down additional tracks and get more creative from there.... One disclaimer is that it can be very hard to figure out which mics are which when editing a track done this way.. You find that something is too loud or quiet and can't find which mic is the offender without much trial and error... I didn't explain all of this well and I'm sorry for that, but did the best i could...

After a while you will want seperation, but it can be a good way to get a natural reproduction of a sound as well...
 
This thread went off the rails a bit and I'm confused now!

OP - Is your problem that your mic is picking up sound from the headphones when you record the next track? Or is there sound coming out of your monitors/speakers in the room when you play your project to record another track?

If it's the former, turn your headphones down or consider getting closed back headphones.

If it's the latter, you need to turn your monitors off when you're recording. Are you using an audio interface or your internal soundcard?
 
I'm not sure what OS you are using but in Windows you should go to the Audio Input/Output mixer (the little speaker icon on the bottom right of your screen, beside the clock) and set windows to only record the mic input. This will mean it doesn't matter what else you are playing on the computer, it will ONLY record the mic input.
 
I don't think he's using the mic input of his PC. If he is, he has much bigger problems to deal with than bleed. :eek:
 
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