Got a big project coming up, need some advice

  • Thread starter Thread starter MrLip
  • Start date Start date
M

MrLip

New member
The music club at my college is planning on making a CD. I have a few questions concerning management and recording of the project. There will be 10-15 bands/acts, most of which are mediocre musicians. I guess we will be recording it ourselves with our PCs and cheap mics (SM57 would be highest quality available), maybe some tracks will be done in a studio if we can find money (the school will help with funding).

1. Should we record live? Or track by track? I guess recording live would be possible (although probably limited to 2 - 4 simultaneous recorded tracks) but I don't know how long it will take to get decent performances from the bands. Also, not sure if the limited number of simultaneous tracks will be a problem or not.

2. Will we need to assign 'producers' for each CD track or each band to manage things and ensure a certain degree of quality?

This is the biggest thing I've worked on so far (in terms of recording) so I'm not really sure where to start. I guess I will be responsible for most of the recording decisions as I'm the most experienced homerecer on board (although I'm no pro), the other guys have fairly little experience when it comes to recording.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
I think the best is having one or two producers, but not assigning any of them to any band, the producers should be working together, as this way they can find a similar quality for every act.

Recording live depends of what every band have rehearsed. I think. ;)
 
The logistics of managing so many inexperienced musicians will be a time and planning nightmare if you try to track everything individually.
Start practicing now your live miking techniques,so that you can capture a decent performance with decent fidelity (given the limits of your gear).
One interesting technique for miking a group of musicians live and getting a decent stereo spread is called coincident miking.
Get two of the same kind of mike up high (10 feet or so) with the capsules just touching and angled out about 60 degrees.
There are other stereo miking techniques it would be good for you to investigate,for I suspect you won't have enough gear to individually mike so many folks.
Good luck and be sure to post a link later so we can hear some of your stuff.

Tom
 
I think I agree with the above post.....mic the whole event with a good stereo pair of mics, and don't worry about multitracking, etc. ...that would easily become a nightmare. A pair of WELL PLACED mics can do wonders to capture the event. Multitracking and studio overdubs/etc, is a whole 'nuther ball 'o wax!! good luck!!
 
I would at least do drums and bass "live." Guitars shouldn't take too long, right? Then vox and keys and whatnot. This way you'll have a little more control over the mix.

I'm gonna be recording a college band on a shoestring budget in a few weeks. I can record 8 tracks simultaneously so I'm gonna set em up for a live take with the bass running direct and the guitars in my "DIY" isolation booths, actually one is a bathroom. I figure we'll take what we can get from the live tracks and verdubb from there.

Sounds like it should be a lot of fun. Good luck MrLip! Let us know how it turns out.
 
Wait -- one thing I forgot to mention. If I track live, I don't have a good room to play in. The room at school is this small little space with terrible acoustics.

But I do see where you guys are coming from. I guess I'll try to track live as much as possible, and try to find a way to work about this shitty sounding room I'm stuck with. If we get funds from the school we may be able to rent studio time, that would be nice.

Well hopefully it will go well.

I'll let you guys know what happens.
 
Musical Compilation

For the past two years I have been doing some recording for a local High School. These compilation projects can be difficult, but also rewarding. Here are some suggestions from my experiences:

*Limit each group to 1 hour recording time for each song. (you may go a little overtime, but make em pay!)

*Schedule larger groups last, Solos and duets first with one hour in between acts for setup time.

*Use the same mics (Get some condensors) and try to get a consistent sound from act to act.

*Always put Bass/Drums etc on consistent tracks so during mixdown you wont have to keep changing levels and EQ.

*Save Plenty of time for mixdown, it will take a long time to get it right with so many different instruments and levels.

*Don't promise any group that their song will make the final cut, reserve the right to edit or eliminate material, one really bad song will cheapen all the others, and may become the laughing stock of the CD.

* Have Fun... it's only music!

Sincerely;

Dom Franco
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top