Help & Advice Needed to record a Jazz Trio using an RME Baby Face..

[brutus2]

I will be recording various jazz trio demo's over the next few months with my RME baby face, which has the following connectivity:

10 Input / 12 Output channels
2 x Analog Input
4 x Analog Output
1 x ADAT I/O or 1 x SPDIF I/O optical
1 x MIDI I/O
1 x USB 2.0
2 x Mic Preamp with digitally controlled gain
1 x Hi-Z instrument input

I am new to recording and want to know what will be the best way to record:
1) Guitar, Bass and Drums
2) Guitar, Organ and Drums
3) Guitar, Saxophone and Drums

Using the RME babyface, mics plus my macbook pro with some great jazz musicians.

I am looking at purchasing extra gear if required and I am open to ideas re: mics / room setup etc..

Would appreciate any advice..

 

[steel-head]

Hi and welcome to the fun!

Well you have the 1st main problem covered, good munitions. I can suggest some different ideas, but your biggest problem is going to be recording the drums, you don't have a lot of inputs or at least not the desirable amount to do this job.

Being Jazz munitions I will asume that you will be recording live (all players at once). With this interface you only have 3 useful inputs for what your trying to do, the 2 mic preamps, and the Hi-Z input, so you will have to divide up your inputs accordingly and or use a room mic approach.

I think that a room mic approach will give you the best results possible with your limited inputs. For this you will want to record in a good sounding room, carpet will give a dead dampened sound, hard wood floors will give a much liver, vibrant feel. The larger the room the more natural reverb and echo you will find. experiment and find a room that suits the sound you looking for.

In any of the following scenarios you will want to invest in a matched pair of 'large diaphragm condensers'. For the room micing approach will need to experiment with the placement of the mics and munition. A good starting point would be to place your munitions as if on a stage facing toward the mics about 3-4m away from the drums in an 'XY mic configuration'. Experiment with hight, I'd start with around 1m form the ground and try to avoid getting the mics to close to walls or corners in the room. Moving the different instruments closer or further from the mics will give them more prominence in the mix. It would also be worth experimenting with various overhead drum mic placements, this will centre the drums in the mix. This technique can yield great results but will require some experimentation to perfect.

Your Hi-Z input is a very powerful tool used for recording bass or guitar. Coupled with an 'amp simulator' plugin such as 'Guitar Rig' or 'Revelver' you can simply achieve exceptional tones. This in conjunction with the room mics will give the guitar or bass great definition and no spill into the room mics allowing you much more control over the mix.

I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions I'd be more than happy to help. Good luck


Trout.