My first live recording

[Myr]

I'm recording some jams in my new apartment studio, and my initial tests have produced a lot of bleed, especially from drums into other intruments.

I have limited space, but this is the setup I have so far.

The drums are miced as follows:

2 Overheads
2 tom mics
1 Snare mic
1 Kick mic

Will I get phase issues with this much bleed? I think regular drum kit bleed sounds good, as it fattens up the sound of each part of the kit, and the overall sound, but it worries me that the kick mic will pick up bass guitar, and the whole thing will just sound like a mess. Where should I start?

 

[moresound]

Make or purchase some gobos (sound bearers) to place between each amp etc. or hang packing blankets but you'll still get bleed, maybe turn amps away from each other may help a little. put your bongos and drums at one side of the room then bass and guitar on the other while using gobos with vocals over by DAW.

 

[Myr]

I'll try to find something to separate the individual mics more.

I have another question, though. Will mic bleed cause phasing issues?

Like, if there is bleed from the snare into the guitar, and vice versa, how will that work if the guitar is panned hard left, and the snare is center? Will that ruin the stereo separation?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I second the recommendation for gobos, especially between the drum kit and the rest of the room.

You're never going to totally eliminate the bleed, so you might as well embrace whatever you you're left with. And no, phase should not be an issue if you isolate with gobos and use proper mic placement. The bleed should be of low enough volume so that any phasing problems will be relatively inaudible. Start by keeping the 3:1 mic placement rule in mind, and work from there.

A couple of more things that will help; in a close situation like that I'd start out with fewer mics on the drum kit and work your way up. Concentrate on getting the kick and the snare "right" first (with other instruments going), and then try working on the OHs to get the most out of the drums without getting the rest of the room as well. Perhaps a front-address kt mic placement instead of OH might be an option if you're getting too much bleed in a standard OH setup style.

And if it's possible for you to re-arrange the room at all, I'd get your DAW out of that cul-de-sac corner; that location can potentially make it next to impossible for you to get a decent mix in the lower frequencies.

G.