How to reduce bleedover when recording live?

[C_flat]

I'm still in the basement, still recording a 3 piece instrumental group (electric bass & guitars + drums) live with a Tascam 424 & a Mackie 8 channel mixer to submix the drums.

I've got the bass & guitar amps about 10 feet way from the drumkit, but I'd like to reduce bleedover if possible, especially into the drum mics (SM57 inside the kick, SM57 on snare, a pair of 603's as "low" overheads).

Would I see any improvement if I were to try to build little baffles to slide over the SM57's in an effort to reduce the amount of bass & guitar they're picking up? I was thinking I might try making a disc about the size of a CD, with a hole in the center large enough to slide the SM57's body through to within an inch or so of the end. I could even glue a round piece of 'eggcrate' packing foam to the front face of the baffle-disc. Would that be a waste of time?

Any other tips to reduce bleedover? The drum mics are picking so much of the bass I hardly need to add any from my direct line in track. That's a problem because the bass' tone is better thru it's direct track than it is from the "far mics" on the drumkit across the room!

Thanks,

Cb

 

[dobro]

"Would I see any improvement if I were to try to build little baffles to slide over the SM57's in an effort to reduce the amount of bass & guitar they're picking up?"

My understanding is that bass frequencies are so long that little baffles wouldn't work very well. I've heard of people doing a live session in a house with each player in a different room, using mirrors to see each other and headphones to hear what's going on. In a case like that, the walls help deaden some of the sound, and the sheer distance between instruments helps as well.

So if your basement isn't very big, then baffles aren't going to help much. Can you all play with headphones and DI the bass?

 

[mixsit]

I've had very good results with building some 4'X6' panels. One sets on each side of the kit, angling out a bit to fit tighter around the drummer. Drummers back goes to the wall. Some are 1/4" ply on 1X4" frame with some cross bracing, filled with fiber glass, cloth covered. (One side is untreated) Another is 1/2" ply set in 1X6", both sides treated. This one goes between the drums and bass, as it absorbs and reflects lower.
With this setup, some other room treatments (other similar frames on the walls), and with reasonable levels on the bass and guitars, I get a surprising amount of isolation, and this is in a 15-18' room.
Basically, the islation is focused around the drums, and it makes for a reasonably tight (but adjustable) sound.
It does require that at least two or three people in the band be able to play at least the basic tracks w/o completely f***ing it up too severely, but that shouldn't be TOO much to ask, is it?

See ya.

 

[mixsit]

And i forgot to mention, large planes of thin plywood also make great low frequency panel absorbers.

 

[C_flat]

Thanks guys - I think I'll forget about my mini-baffle idea and see about coming up with the larger panels on either side of the drummer.

I also found the following notion to be helpful - I'll mention it to the other 2 to see if they think maybe they could pull that off!

8^D

"It does require that at least two or three people in the band be able to play at least the basic tracks w/o completely f***ing it up too severely..."

Thanks,

Cb

 

[Herm]

Just re track the drums after the Bass and guitar are done