Clearing the Home

[pauly615]

Hey Guys,
I have a dilemma that I'm sure many of you face too, which is: how to clear the house of family to provide a quiet recording environment? I can only send them shopping for so long! How do you deal with this?

 

[mjbphotos]

Send them out to see a movie. To the beach (in the summer). Call in sick to work when they're all out at work/school!
Yes, its a challenge. I try to get all my non-mic-ed stuff recorded, then wait for the opportunity when the house is quiet. If its an acoustic guitar song, I'll record the scratch track and not worry about the house noise, knowing I'll go back and record that track again.

 

[Garf Richards]

Best way to deal with this, if possible, is to remove yourself. What i mean by that is, build a shed in the garden, add a room to your exsiting property or convert the loft (attic). This solution may not be vialbe for some, but it is what I had to do in the past.

Hope that helps

 

[miroslav]

Visa or Mastercard and a ride to the mall always works.....but yeah, it's only for a few hours.

Not that it's going to help you immediately...but having your own space/room is key.
I can go into my studio and record all day and into the night without care about what goes on in the rest of the house.

 

[RAMI]

Aren't hand guns legal in the U.S.?

 

[miroslav]

Another option is to just play LOUD....REALLY LOUD....that should clear the house, and then you can turn down for optimal recordinmg levels.

 

[JimmyS1969]

Poltergeist.

 

[Lt. Bob]

get divorced

 

[Armistice]

Live alone....

 

[JimmyS1969]

Eat lots of beans.

 

[pauly615]

Send them out to see a movie. To the beach (in the summer). Call in sick to work when they're all out at work/school!
Yes, its a challenge. I try to get all my non-mic-ed stuff recorded, then wait for the opportunity when the house is quiet. If its an acoustic guitar song, I'll record the scratch track and not worry about the house noise, knowing I'll go back and record that track again.

Yeah, I usually lay scratches down when they are around, then go back. It's just aggravating when you're in the mood to track, and "SpongeBob Squarepants is blaring
Unfortunately, right now I live in an apartment so an external building is not an option, either. I can make it work, but I have to plan a bit. I was just curious how you guys dealt with this, if you had a regular "go-to."

 

[pauly615]

Well, I've already been divorced once, so I had better hang on to this one she's really supportive of my music. It's just that we slipped up and had three kids! They are oblivious to Daddy's aspirations and are more focused on renacting Dragonball Z episodes... And you can't kill your kids, cause who will take care of you when you're old and crapping yourself?!

 

[Hakea]

I general rely on drugging the drinks, gagging the children, or locking everybody in the shed. But love can be a powerful persuader with the wife too. I only have to say "If you don't give me a couple of free hours to record I'm going to start wanting it again..." and she's off out like a greyhound...

Well, not really. They're very good about it, I have a whole attic room to muck around in and they're very supportive if I ask. I play directly into the box much of the time, and if I do need to use a mic I sing and play louder than they talk anyway....

 

[John Willett]

Visa or Mastercard and a ride to the mall always works.....but yeah, it's only for a few hours.

And - it's also very expensive and probably cheaper, in the long run, to build a custom studio.

 

[grimtraveller]

I just say "I'm recording - can you keep the noise down !". There are always means and ways. Having both upstairs and downstairs and being accustomed to recording anywhere helps. Having musically enthusiastic and understanding kids helps too. And if all else should fail, then there's the good old threat of a right hook !! In all seriousness though, I've never found it a problem. It's generally known in these parts that if acoustic stuff, bass or vocals are being recorded, there needs to be a level of quiet. Or shall we say, an absence of loud noise.

 

[dreib]

My house can be dead quiet right until i hit record then all hell will break loose! Im not sure how old your kids are but sometimes it helps me to get my kids involved with what im doing. They usually get bored and then leave me alone, as far as the noise problems...tv, fighting , stomping around, I just deal with it or wait until the house is empty to do the live micing.

 

[Music-Junkie]

As has been said a few times in the thread so far, it seems the only way to deal with it is to... well, deal with it! Sadly there's little that can be done.

Luckily I've only got a girlfriend and a cat who doesn't meow.

 

[pauly615]

My house can be dead quiet right until i hit record then all hell will break loose! Im not sure how old your kids are but sometimes it helps me to get my kids involved with what im doing.

That sounds about right, dreib! My kids are 17 (step-daughter), 13 (son), 11 (son), and 9 (daughter). Those are the ones still at home... I had a daughter when I was 17 who is now 20, and another step-daughter who is going to turn 20 later this month. The last one I mentioned has a one yr old daughter herself. All this, in addition to the wifee. When everyone's over here, forgetaboutit.

As far as helping me out, my 13 yr. old plays trumpet, and just last night I got the idea of using him on a song I'm doing pre-production on. I'm thinking a melody line in the ballpark of Blondie's "The Tide is High" would work nicely.

 

[Music-Junkie]

That sounds about right, dreib! My kids are 17 (step-daughter), 13 (son), 11 (son), and 9 (daughter). Those are the ones still at home... I had a daughter when I was 17 who is now 20, and another step-daughter who is going to turn 20 later this month. The last one I mentioned has a one yr old daughter herself. All this, in addition to the wifee. When everyone's over here, forgetaboutit.

As far as helping me out, my 13 yr. old plays trumpet, and just last night I got the idea of using him on a song I'm doing pre-production on. I'm thinking a melody line in the ballpark of Blondie's "The Tide is High" would work nicely.

Good idea! Everyone loves a bit of trumpet, too. Ooh ooh, cover some Cake!

 

[Blue Jinn]

How often do you really need absolute quiet really? 5 minutes 10 minutes? Even recording to tape, you can go-back, edit, and/or punch in and not run out of tape. ask for some quiet, record, and punch in and fix the part when silence gets broken?

What style of music are you doing? Guitar and vocal Acoustic folk? You can't record *anything* direct in?

You live in an apartment? How much noise can you make and not annoy your neighbors?

Have you tried other techniques to minimize outside noise?

e.g. use a pickup and a DI on acoustic guitar, or a very directional mic/close or hole mounted mic. Use a preamp and record electric guitar direct in. Drum machine/Synth? Direct. Record in the bathroom and use some blankets on the door for some isolation.

Rehearse at home, and go somewhere else to record. Find out if you can e.g. take a music class at a community college and take a laptop and interface to a practice room and record there, or maybe your workplace when it's closed.