nate_dennis
Well-known member
A lot of people post gear stories on here, and they are fun to read. I thought I would post an account of my first real and in depth project using my analog gear. So here you go...
Almost a year after purchasing my 488mkII, mics, PPS 100 synchronizer, drum machine, etc I finally had the opportunity to work with it for a week straight. On Monday I packed all my gear up and went to my church building to work (I went there since it's quiet and I don't have to kick my wife and kids out!) On Monday I had gear issues all day. I forgot some key pieces and had to make several trips. My JL Cooper PPS-100 was plugged into a "noisy AC outlet" so it was spuratic. I honestly think it has multiple personalities or is possesed.
After I got it all working I set up a basic drum groove on my DR-660 and recorded a scratch take of both accoustic and vocals on one mic (just to get the outline.) I laid down an electric guitar part then a bass (the bass being played through a DI box.) Then I set to working on the drum parts. This took me forever!!! I'm a guitarist and have a hard time thinking like a drummer. I don't want it to sound like Shiva is playing and using all of her six hands to make insane beats!!! So Monday ended with drums unfinished and Nate being tired and a bit frustrated.
I finished drums early on Tuesday and decided to try Micing them. This didn't work like I thought it would, but the project was just for friends and family so I moved on. The rest of this piece went without much incident. I started another song in much the same way. Except that I decided to count measures to make the drum programming and planning easier. This song was simplier than the first so it was nice. My sister came out to work on some stuff she was doing for her husband and the day ended with the second song unfinished.
Wednesday was optimistic. Drums didn't take that long to finish and the rest of the song was close. Over the last few days I learned that at low volumes there is no reason that a condensor mic can't be used for recording electric guitars/amps. I don't have a 57 or anything and I don't have the money to buy one right now. So I used what I had and it worked well. With the second song getting close my cell rang.
Nate: "Hello"
Wife: "Connor fell down the stairs and hit his head, he has an egg sized bump on it. The nurse on the phone said to take him in because of his stroke. We're going to the ER." (Connor is my almost 3 year old son)
Wednesday ended early. (Note: Connor is fine and everything is well.)
Thursday saw me finishing the second piece relatively early. These two pieces were/are for a christmas CD my family likes to do each year for our grandparents ETC. Now it's time to move on to my stuff. I again set up a basic drum groove and recorded my scratch take, counted my measures, and started work on drums. I had to restart a few times, but the day ended with drums programmed and ready to go for Friday.
Friday opened with an exceptional bang. After reading your responses to my phasing question I oriented my monitors (KRK RP6s) at an inward angle and set my two Naint XQ SDC's in, basically, an XY setup. I checked for phasing issues by monitoring in mono and they were set! I recorded the drums through the mics and they sounded GREAT (IMHO) I recorded my accoustic in stereo using the same two mics and same orientation. I added my bass part and it was time to bounce to stereo to open up tracks. I was really stoked with the way this was all going and moved on to the electric guitar part. The song is based on the acoustic, so my electric wasn't as important, so I only played on part and used one mic. I ran my strat through a Roland Cube 30 (it's actually a nice little recording amp and I was really happy with my sound.) After this I started work on vocals which got the better of me. It was late, I was tired and frustrated, so I threw down some rough mixes of the first two pieces for my family to practice with. I was done.
My impression? HOLY SHIT!!! even with just my basic little set up this took a whole lot longer than I expected it to. I was thinking I could get 10-15 songs done. I got less than 3!! Was it worth it? YES!!! I'm so happy with my results. I know that my ears are untrained, but to me cassette is a viable option for more than just demos. I learned a lot through the week and I believe you can hear it by listening to the three songs back to back to back. As soon as I finsih my vocals for the piece I wrote I will mix it (to VHS then dump that into my computer) and post it for you all to hear and critique.
I know this was long but after all this time picking your brains I thought you may be interested to know that I'm finally putting it all to use. Thank you so much for all the information!
-Nate
Almost a year after purchasing my 488mkII, mics, PPS 100 synchronizer, drum machine, etc I finally had the opportunity to work with it for a week straight. On Monday I packed all my gear up and went to my church building to work (I went there since it's quiet and I don't have to kick my wife and kids out!) On Monday I had gear issues all day. I forgot some key pieces and had to make several trips. My JL Cooper PPS-100 was plugged into a "noisy AC outlet" so it was spuratic. I honestly think it has multiple personalities or is possesed.
After I got it all working I set up a basic drum groove on my DR-660 and recorded a scratch take of both accoustic and vocals on one mic (just to get the outline.) I laid down an electric guitar part then a bass (the bass being played through a DI box.) Then I set to working on the drum parts. This took me forever!!! I'm a guitarist and have a hard time thinking like a drummer. I don't want it to sound like Shiva is playing and using all of her six hands to make insane beats!!! So Monday ended with drums unfinished and Nate being tired and a bit frustrated.
I finished drums early on Tuesday and decided to try Micing them. This didn't work like I thought it would, but the project was just for friends and family so I moved on. The rest of this piece went without much incident. I started another song in much the same way. Except that I decided to count measures to make the drum programming and planning easier. This song was simplier than the first so it was nice. My sister came out to work on some stuff she was doing for her husband and the day ended with the second song unfinished.
Wednesday was optimistic. Drums didn't take that long to finish and the rest of the song was close. Over the last few days I learned that at low volumes there is no reason that a condensor mic can't be used for recording electric guitars/amps. I don't have a 57 or anything and I don't have the money to buy one right now. So I used what I had and it worked well. With the second song getting close my cell rang.
Nate: "Hello"
Wife: "Connor fell down the stairs and hit his head, he has an egg sized bump on it. The nurse on the phone said to take him in because of his stroke. We're going to the ER." (Connor is my almost 3 year old son)
Wednesday ended early. (Note: Connor is fine and everything is well.)
Thursday saw me finishing the second piece relatively early. These two pieces were/are for a christmas CD my family likes to do each year for our grandparents ETC. Now it's time to move on to my stuff. I again set up a basic drum groove and recorded my scratch take, counted my measures, and started work on drums. I had to restart a few times, but the day ended with drums programmed and ready to go for Friday.
Friday opened with an exceptional bang. After reading your responses to my phasing question I oriented my monitors (KRK RP6s) at an inward angle and set my two Naint XQ SDC's in, basically, an XY setup. I checked for phasing issues by monitoring in mono and they were set! I recorded the drums through the mics and they sounded GREAT (IMHO) I recorded my accoustic in stereo using the same two mics and same orientation. I added my bass part and it was time to bounce to stereo to open up tracks. I was really stoked with the way this was all going and moved on to the electric guitar part. The song is based on the acoustic, so my electric wasn't as important, so I only played on part and used one mic. I ran my strat through a Roland Cube 30 (it's actually a nice little recording amp and I was really happy with my sound.) After this I started work on vocals which got the better of me. It was late, I was tired and frustrated, so I threw down some rough mixes of the first two pieces for my family to practice with. I was done.
My impression? HOLY SHIT!!! even with just my basic little set up this took a whole lot longer than I expected it to. I was thinking I could get 10-15 songs done. I got less than 3!! Was it worth it? YES!!! I'm so happy with my results. I know that my ears are untrained, but to me cassette is a viable option for more than just demos. I learned a lot through the week and I believe you can hear it by listening to the three songs back to back to back. As soon as I finsih my vocals for the piece I wrote I will mix it (to VHS then dump that into my computer) and post it for you all to hear and critique.
I know this was long but after all this time picking your brains I thought you may be interested to know that I'm finally putting it all to use. Thank you so much for all the information!
-Nate
