D
Dizzy991
New member
I'll be recording my first band in a few weeks and have been trying to come up with some ideas to implement when working with these guys. I'm throwing this out here with the hopes that maybe some people may be able to critique/commend my plan of attack. First the band is a four piece rock band and I am recording them at their rehearsal space, we plan on doing five songs. As for gear, I have a Fostex FD8, Alesis 3630, Joe Meek VC2, ART FX9 (? can't remember, 1/3 rack effects processor), 2 SM57s and a CAD condenser mic.
No headphone amp/distribution, I''ll be monitoring them through a $40 pair of headphones.
I plan to mic the kick and snare/hi-hat with my SM-57s and then throw the condenser over the center of the drums, diagonally facing out. The drum set is a five piece and I hope to capture the toms overhead cymbals through the condenser. Obviously I'll have to go with what sounds best as far as directing the mics but this is my current thinking of getting the drums down. I'll have the bassist go direct into the Meek and then into the FD8 and plan to record the drummer and bassist together (2 tracks for drums, 1 for bass). I used to record my old band with my 424MKII but I used to really go overboard on compression so I'm trying to scale back considerably and work on getting a sound down to my FD8 w/limited (if any) compression.
After I get the five songs down with the bassist and drummer I plan on recording the guitarist to one track. I don't know what rig he has but I've volunteered my 50 watt JCM 800 2x12 (Celestions) and would like to mic both speakers w/the SM-57s and then use the CAD about 6-whatever ft away and attempt to blend it on to one track (i'm a guitarist myself so I might be going overboard). Then I'll have the
guitarist run through his rig with another guitar and mic it the same way to another track. Finally I'll do the same thing for his leads.
Once the rhythms are down I'll record the vocals which is where I've always struggled. With my old band and the 424 I could make pretty good mixes sans vocals but once we got the singer down I had a lot of trouble getting a healthy sound to tape. So I'm pretty concerned here. All I plan to do is use the SM-57 and have him sing through it and use the Meek with some light compression. I can double him with one extra track I'll have (2 drum, 1 bass, 3 guitar, 2 vocals) for harmony parts.
I guess I'm going with recording 101 but this is what I think is the safest way to get sound down when you're not used to working with another band. Oh yeah, what about monitoring through crappy headphones? Anything to look/listen for when working on getting the initial sounds down since headphones sound better than normal speakers?
If any of you have any suggestions for me I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
No headphone amp/distribution, I''ll be monitoring them through a $40 pair of headphones.
I plan to mic the kick and snare/hi-hat with my SM-57s and then throw the condenser over the center of the drums, diagonally facing out. The drum set is a five piece and I hope to capture the toms overhead cymbals through the condenser. Obviously I'll have to go with what sounds best as far as directing the mics but this is my current thinking of getting the drums down. I'll have the bassist go direct into the Meek and then into the FD8 and plan to record the drummer and bassist together (2 tracks for drums, 1 for bass). I used to record my old band with my 424MKII but I used to really go overboard on compression so I'm trying to scale back considerably and work on getting a sound down to my FD8 w/limited (if any) compression.
After I get the five songs down with the bassist and drummer I plan on recording the guitarist to one track. I don't know what rig he has but I've volunteered my 50 watt JCM 800 2x12 (Celestions) and would like to mic both speakers w/the SM-57s and then use the CAD about 6-whatever ft away and attempt to blend it on to one track (i'm a guitarist myself so I might be going overboard). Then I'll have the
guitarist run through his rig with another guitar and mic it the same way to another track. Finally I'll do the same thing for his leads.
Once the rhythms are down I'll record the vocals which is where I've always struggled. With my old band and the 424 I could make pretty good mixes sans vocals but once we got the singer down I had a lot of trouble getting a healthy sound to tape. So I'm pretty concerned here. All I plan to do is use the SM-57 and have him sing through it and use the Meek with some light compression. I can double him with one extra track I'll have (2 drum, 1 bass, 3 guitar, 2 vocals) for harmony parts.
I guess I'm going with recording 101 but this is what I think is the safest way to get sound down when you're not used to working with another band. Oh yeah, what about monitoring through crappy headphones? Anything to look/listen for when working on getting the initial sounds down since headphones sound better than normal speakers?
If any of you have any suggestions for me I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
