Mic and pre shoot outs

[Angusdevil]

Ok, at school, I have one last project that I have to do before I graduate college and it can be whatever I want. After thinking about it for a while, I didn't want to do another band because at my own studio, that's all I do. Instead, I got the idea of just compiling a huge database of mic and pre shoot outs. My plan is to take every mic possible that I can get my hands on along with every pre as well and do shoot outs on a ton of different instruments at different positions and points in the room. It would be a very intensive (and well documented process) to complete. Eventually, this all would be hosted someplace and organized so that the rest of the world could get some benifit from it. This would be similar to The Listening Sessions but much more extensive.

My angle towards the school is that we use all of the mics on every source, through every pre, at any imaginable angle so that students can listen and learn what mics, boards and pre's all sound like. I know that I have walked in on sessions with people micing toms with 58's and having them set 2 feet back (no these weren't the OH's, they hadn't put them up yet). I asked them why they did this is and they said "we saw it in some picture and thought it looked cool.... but for some reason, it just doesn't sound right."

It's a shame that our program has become really good in the past few years but the professors are doing nothing to encourage kids to go play and experiment with the gear. True, nothing will ever beat hands on experience but when you are limited to only 3 hours at a time in the studio (I know, not a lot can get done in three hours when you have setup and tear down every session) you sometimes are just forced to throw mics up in the spirit of trying to get everything tracked. I was thinking, if the students had a DVD of clips that they could listen to beforehand, it could save some time, learn some new techniques and focus on capturing the sound that they like.

My question is, what type of mics/pres would you all like to hear?

As far as mics, you name it, I probably have it. If not, I'll get it (if there is a demand for it).

With pre's, this is where the school lacks. We have tons of boards..... just nothing outboard. I have a few outboards but they are installed in my own studio and are a pain to get them out of the rack and out of the chain.

With instruments, we are also a school of music so we have any instrument ranging from classical to country to world music to metal (and talented people to play)

But anyway, what would you like to hear? What sound sources? Anything at all? I'm looking to see if there is more demand for any type of equipment or sound source or if everyone just wants to hear everything.

 

[acorec]

Ok, at school, I have one last project that I have to do before I graduate college and it can be whatever I want. After thinking about it for a while, I didn't want to do another band because at my own studio, that's all I do. Instead, I got the idea of just compiling a huge database of mic and pre shoot outs. My plan is to take every mic possible that I can get my hands on along with every pre as well and do shoot outs on a ton of different instruments at different positions and points in the room. It would be a very intensive (and well documented process) to complete. Eventually, this all would be hosted someplace and organized so that the rest of the world could get some benifit from it. This would be similar to The Listening Sessions but much more extensive.

My angle towards the school is that we use all of the mics on every source, through every pre, at any imaginable angle so that students can listen and learn what mics, boards and pre's all sound like. I know that I have walked in on sessions with people micing toms with 58's and having them set 2 feet back (no these weren't the OH's, they hadn't put them up yet). I asked them why they did this is and they said "we saw it in some picture and thought it looked cool.... but for some reason, it just doesn't sound right."

It's a shame that our program has become really good in the past few years but the professors are doing nothing to encourage kids to go play and experiment with the gear. True, nothing will ever beat hands on experience but when you are limited to only 3 hours at a time in the studio (I know, not a lot can get done in three hours when you have setup and tear down every session) you sometimes are just forced to throw mics up in the spirit of trying to get everything tracked. I was thinking, if the students had a DVD of clips that they could listen to beforehand, it could save some time, learn some new techniques and focus on capturing the sound that they like.

My question is, what type of mics/pres would you all like to hear?

As far as mics, you name it, I probably have it. If not, I'll get it (if there is a demand for it).

With pre's, this is where the school lacks. We have tons of boards..... just nothing outboard. I have a few outboards but they are installed in my own studio and are a pain to get them out of the rack and out of the chain.

With instruments, we are also a school of music so we have any instrument ranging from classical to country to world music to metal (and talented people to play)

But anyway, what would you like to hear? What sound sources? Anything at all? I'm looking to see if there is more demand for any type of equipment or sound source or if everyone just wants to hear everything.

If it is for a project for school, fire away, if it is for creating a database then it has been done. Dot has it.

 

[Angusdevil]

Ya, it pretty much is just a project for school but I was seeing if there was anything else that people wanted to hear.

 

[chessrock]

You also need to hear this stuff in context.

A recording of a mandolin, for example, would be very relevent ... if you're recording an all-mandolin record.

Not so relevent if you actually plan on having other tracks. I, myself, don't generally record solo voices or accoustic guitar, etc. Occasionally, but mostly 4 to 6 piece bands. And what I look for in that situation will generally be different from what I might look for in the other. Some mics might sound great solo, but might not work or play as well with other tracks, and vice-versa. And a lot also depends on the genre / style of music. Example: An AKG D-112 might sound stellar on kick for a rock track, while being totally wrong for a jazz track. It's all in the context.

If you're really Jones'in to do a relevent experiment that would be very beneficial to the recording community, feel free to PM me. I have a few ideas that I think would generate a great deal of interest among the audio industry, and would make for a great project. You could also make some $$ with it, possibly.

 

[tkingen]

This would be similar to The Listening Sessions but much more extensive.

I applaud your idea and desire, but do you have access to the same type of equipment that Dan uses for his Listening Tests?

 

[Angusdevil]

Yes, I have the same quality but not quite the quanity in mics. The list for pre's is building after talkin to a few studios today and pulling some connections from school.