H
Harvey Gerst
New member
In a fairly obscure thread here, I detailed the recording of a Christian Funk group I did a few weeks ago. One song, took about 8 hours total, including mixing and a shortened radio mix. Here's an mp3 of that song:
The session consisted of:
Drums
Kick: ATM25
Snare: SM57
High Hat: MXL 603
Overheads: MSH-1O Omnis
Toms: Sennheiser 604's
Guitar
Pedal board direct to Soundtracs Topaz 32x8 board
Bass
Direct into board
Keyboard
Mono direct into board for piano and organ, stereo for horn stabs
Heather Vocals
Scratch track: Beyer Soundstar Mk II
Final: MXL 190
Backup Vocals
MXL 190
Session Notes
I had Chris (the guitarist) lay down two rhythm tracks which I panned left and right. His solos went to a 3rd track.
Jemal played a mono keyboard track, then we added an organ track, then stereo horn stabs.
On our first recording pass, I recorded drums, bass, rhythm guitar, keyboard, and Heather singing a scratch track. Then I recorded a second rhythm guitar track. Next, I added an organ track, then a stereo horns track.
We brought in all the 3 backup singers (including Heather as a 4th) and I had them lay down 4 backup tracks to give me 16 voices. I moved them around after each take to give me a different vocal density for each track and I didn't let them hear the previous tracks in their phones. On the 4th pass, I just told them to sing whatever they felt like singing.
I had Heather sing a final vocal on the MXL 190, but her scratch vocal had so much more drive, I just used that and didn't worry about the bleed from the speakers. I did use some of the call and responses from the 190 track mixed in with the scratch track. Finally, Chris laid down some lead guitar stuff that sat behind Heather's vocals and that was it.
I used RNC compressors on the vocal, snare, keyboard, organ, and horn tracks to even out the levels. The main reverb was the Lexicon Alex on setting #6 (small room) and I added some reverb during mastering with the Ozone.
Session Two
This Saturday, the group came in to do two more songs. Same setup as before, EXCEPT, we added congas, and there was another backup singer added to the group. I used an MXL V67g for the congas, and for all the backup vocalists instead of the MXL 190.
Why'd I use the V67g? It was already setup on a mic stand (and plugged in) from another group's session.
Again the Beyer Soundstar MkII was used for the lead vocal and shouts track (all handheld).
The whole session took a little over 8 hours and I did the mixes late last night, in the computer (very unusual for me). Here are the results:
The band was very pleased with the results.
The session consisted of:
Drums
Kick: ATM25
Snare: SM57
High Hat: MXL 603
Overheads: MSH-1O Omnis
Toms: Sennheiser 604's
Guitar
Pedal board direct to Soundtracs Topaz 32x8 board
Bass
Direct into board
Keyboard
Mono direct into board for piano and organ, stereo for horn stabs
Heather Vocals
Scratch track: Beyer Soundstar Mk II
Final: MXL 190
Backup Vocals
MXL 190
Session Notes
I had Chris (the guitarist) lay down two rhythm tracks which I panned left and right. His solos went to a 3rd track.
Jemal played a mono keyboard track, then we added an organ track, then stereo horn stabs.
On our first recording pass, I recorded drums, bass, rhythm guitar, keyboard, and Heather singing a scratch track. Then I recorded a second rhythm guitar track. Next, I added an organ track, then a stereo horns track.
We brought in all the 3 backup singers (including Heather as a 4th) and I had them lay down 4 backup tracks to give me 16 voices. I moved them around after each take to give me a different vocal density for each track and I didn't let them hear the previous tracks in their phones. On the 4th pass, I just told them to sing whatever they felt like singing.
I had Heather sing a final vocal on the MXL 190, but her scratch vocal had so much more drive, I just used that and didn't worry about the bleed from the speakers. I did use some of the call and responses from the 190 track mixed in with the scratch track. Finally, Chris laid down some lead guitar stuff that sat behind Heather's vocals and that was it.
I used RNC compressors on the vocal, snare, keyboard, organ, and horn tracks to even out the levels. The main reverb was the Lexicon Alex on setting #6 (small room) and I added some reverb during mastering with the Ozone.
Session Two
This Saturday, the group came in to do two more songs. Same setup as before, EXCEPT, we added congas, and there was another backup singer added to the group. I used an MXL V67g for the congas, and for all the backup vocalists instead of the MXL 190.
Why'd I use the V67g? It was already setup on a mic stand (and plugged in) from another group's session.
Again the Beyer Soundstar MkII was used for the lead vocal and shouts track (all handheld).
The whole session took a little over 8 hours and I did the mixes late last night, in the computer (very unusual for me). Here are the results:
The band was very pleased with the results.
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