Best Method Of Recording Taking into Account My Equipment

[ckyphil]

I will be multi-tracking my band in the coming weeks and just wanted to check what you guys thought would be the best the way of doing it in order to get the most prosessional results considering my equipment.

I will be using Cubase. The audio interface will be the Presonus Firepod, http://www.presonus.com/firepod.html.

I have a quite a few mics to choose from as I am using the equipment from my Student Union where we frequently put on live bands.
I also have quite a lot of rack units that I plan to use during the mix. These include Gates, Compressors and FX units.

My main question is how I should record the drums. Currently I am planning on using 8 Mics, getting the best levels I can into the multitrack software, without running though any processors first, and then creating the desired sound during the mix. If you don't think this is the best way of doing things or just know of a better way of doing it with my equipment please let me know.

Also, what is the most common vocal set-up in common recordings. By this I mean:
a) What kind of mic is used?
b) What is the mic run through before it reaches the interface? (Comps) etc
c) What work is most commonly done to the vocal in the mix stage.
Alternatively just state the way you like to record vocals to give me some ideas.

Basically I have been a sound engineer for a year and have a lot of equipment at my disposal due to my job, but this is my first major recording project so I'd like some tips.

Thanks..

 

[Middleman]

Strictly my opinion here but 8 mics is excessive unless it is a huge double kick drum set in a really nice room.

A standard set is easily captured with 4-5 mics in a bad room, 7 at most in a good room. These are Kick, Snare, 2 Overheads and maybe a second snare mic. If you have a really nice space then you could add a couple of room mics about 6 feet out in front of the set. Beyond this you have to deal with phasing issues based on mic positions. Even with this, phasing is an issue if your mic distances are not correct.

Common mics are AKG D112 or Shure Beta 52 on kick inside or just outside the kick drum with a U47 about 4 feet out, possibly at the end of a cloth tent with the mic at one end and wrapping the kick drum at the other end.

Snare top (bottom optional) SM57 is common but there are many options.

Sennheiser 421 on toms (this is optional and usually only required if there is a critical tom fill)

For Overheads L & R - small pencil condensor like a KM154 on the high end or on the low end Oktava MC012 or the MXL 603. Optionally I have heard of using large condensors L & R but have not tried this. The AT 4051s are another pencil condensor choice.

If you are going for the room sound then two of your best large condensers out about 6 feet and at chest level L & R.

These are general recommendations that you hear about time and again, there are many options.

Two sources I found great for learning to mic drums were "The Recording Engineers Handbook, by Bobby Owsinski and Russell Long's Guide to Nashville Recording Video.

Just capture them naturally, almost no compression and maybe some EQ at good levels. Get them to sound good in the room by reducing excessive ring with towels or other soft items taped to the skins, as well tune them. If the set is on carpeting then you might try a sheet of 4x8 plywood underneath the set to get some nice bounceback going.

Compression should be applied in the mix along with other effects.

Vocals - try out your best large diaphram mics until one sounds the best. Stick it in the preamp, add a nice compressor with 4:1 or less ratio to just knock off any peaks and you are good to go. Don't overcompress the vocal just very lightly on the loudest parts.

Make sure the vocalist is singing with a cloth or blanket behind them to keep room bounce out of their mic. A big open space works better than a small room with no treatment.

 

[ckyphil]

This has been really helpful. Would it help if I told you about where we are recording the drums? We will be doing it in a live venue, obviously not at a live gig. It is an empty 1000 capacity hall and we will be recording on the stage. Would you recommend doing anything soundproofing wise?

For added help so that you can offer specific ideas, these are the mics I have available:
D112, SM56, SM57s SM58s B56s, C3000Bs and Beta 58s. I also have a large condenser microphone that my friend bought for vocals.

I guess my next question is where to start during the mixing stage with the drums. EQ first or run it through some gates? Where would you start?

 

[Middleman]

Sounds like you are tracking a live performance not session recording. If this is the case then here are general EQ recommendations. Also forget the room mics and tent outlined above. I would go with 4 mics max maybe a 5th mic between the toms, unless you are recording a drum solo.

Not sure of your mixer but cut everything below 500Hz on the OH mics. Roll off everything below 100Hz on the snare. If your snare sounds thin, boost it at around 200Hz. Cut everything above 1500Hz on the kick. This way you have a nice general framework prior to mixing and this will keep some of the other live instruments like guitars out of the drum tracks. Low pass the toms at around 1500Hz and highpass them at 100Hz. Not much above or below this you will need.

Every drum set is different so you may find you need to tweak my numbers a bit.

Take a direct on the bass amp and push it away from the drum kit, as far as you can. Bass notes are on average about 16 feet long so the farther you can get it away from the drum mics, the better. Mic it too.

Do the same with the guitar amps, line and direct mic combination. Use your SM58 on the guitars.

Keyboards, direct line them. If you have a piano, whole different beast, let me know.

Use another SM58 on the vocal along with the AKG. One will have a nice rock and roll sound; the other will be more detailed and pleasant. I would record them both at the same time and combine the two later in the mix.

If this is live, I hope you have some a decent headphone amp and headphones. If not then track the vocal with the instruments and then make another pass later without them.

Best I can advise assuming this is a live recording.

 

[ckyphil]

It is a session recording, just that the location is somewhere where you would expect a live recording to happen. Hope thats clear.

How come you wouldn't suggest using SM57s on the guitars.

Here are some live vids of our band. They may give you an idea of our style so that you can make suggestions on how we record.
http://www.wide-eye-media.co.uk/content/stevessong.wmv
http://www.wide-eye-media.co.uk/content/sackattack.wmv
http://www.wide-eye-media.co.uk/content/reflexaction.wmv
http://www.wide-eye-media.co.uk/content/theend.wmv
http://www.wide-eye-media.co.uk/content/elnino.wmv
http://www.wide-eye-media.co.uk/content/everything.wmv

Basically I'm am looking to create a collection of our songs that is punchy and loud like a good rock CD, and where each song has its own personality.

Thanks for all your help so far by the way.

 

[Middleman]

No problem.

The 57s primary use in almost every studio is snare and guitar. You can also do some distance micing with the AKG for a little room sound. This can be mixed with the 57 and you can lower the 57 during the verse/chorus and then bring it back up for the solo or bridge.

I would do everything the same except you are going to need some seperation on the reference vocal first pass to keep the instruments out of the vocal track.

If you can borrow an acrylic wall or at least surround the drums with sound wall it could work to your advantage. I would do the first pass with drums and at least bass, guitar if you have the channels and also a ref vocal. Then come back for guitar overdubs and the primary vocal. Don't forget to get the guitarist to do a clean feed of his guitar part on one of the passes and the distorted version on another pass. Vice versa is fine but the large wall of sound guitars you hear on albums used a distorted and clean feed to create definition. You can save time in the mix by rolling all the guitars off below 125 Hz or even 150. You can trim these back to almost 250 in the mix, depends on what you are going for.

Gonna have to run a seperate feed for headphones by the way or all the musicians get testy. Good Luck.

 

[ckyphil]

We are recording everything seperately so there shouldn't be too many problems as far as sound leakage goes.