need help please

M

Metallica5

New member
Hi, my band is going to a recording studio in July. It's called Crystal Clear Recording Studio. When we are there we are going to record our guitars going from our pedals, stright into the mixing board, no amps. I don't really like this idea, but the bass player says that it is how this studio does it. Will this sound alright? We are tracking live with the vocals seperate. Should we use a click-track of some sort? Anyone have any tips before we go into the studio.
Heres a list of equipment that they have to capture our sound:
ADAT MDM Tape
Digidesign DIGI001 Hard Disk Recording
Waveform Editing and Mastering
MIDI Programming
Analog and Digital Video Editing
Apple Macintosh 9500/G3 w/Tascam CDR
iMac 500 mhz DV w/ Firewire and CDRW
Quadra 840 AV w/Spigot Pro AV analog Video Capture
Alesis ADAT MDM
Digidesign DIGI001
Digidesign Audiomedia 2
Mackie 24*8 Bus Analog Mixer
Digidesign ProTools
Digidesign Sound Designer 2
Digideign MasterList CD
MOTU Digital Peformer
Peak 2.5
Adaptec JAM
Adaptec Toast
Adobe Premiere 6
Apple Final Cut Pro
Media Cleaner Pro
Adobe After Effects
A long list, so I hope this is worth it thanks guys
 
More then half the list is unimportant to your recording and results.

Do they know the style of music that you perform well?.
Say you do metal....do they know that style well? are they well versed in that style? do they record a lot of metal bands?


As to your direct question.
These has to be a good reason to run a guitar direct to mixer.
Are you guys playing funk? are you running your guitars through some high qaulity tube pre's?.
A bass is not like a guitar. They are 2 different issues.
let them give you a reason and them come back here and explain why they do it that why (and it better be a good one).

If your band is tight (rehearse you ass off before you step into the studio to record. Recording time is not the time to get it to sound tight and practice...) you won't need a cllick track but you CAN use a guide vox track. Have the singer sing in a different room together with your playing.
 
YEA! IT WILL SOUND GREAT THAT'S THE WAY I DO IT MOST TIMES. PLUGING IN GIVES YOU THAT SOLID,PRO, KICK-ASS SOUND!





ZEKE
 
answers

We play metal/rock. I don't know why we are going direct. I want to call the studio but I can't find a number anywhere, even at the website. I'm really excited though. I think the bass player said that they record through the mixer because he doesn't want us to bring our beig amps to the studio. I'll convince him to let us if I find out if what he told me is true. thanks for your help keep it coming!!
 
The only reason I could think of going straight in is if they have cab emulators or something (like a Line 6 POD) in the signal chain somewhere.

If not, and you are going straight into the board then into the recording source, then congrats; you are now an industrial metal band, whether you like it or not.


Do they have a website?
 
One more thing; if they don't want you bringing in amps either and they think you'll get a good distorted tone by going direct, then they probably don't exactly know how to mic amps for metal, either.

Run. Run far away, or prepare to have guitar that sound like they were recorded in a lunchbox.
 
Re: answers

Metallica5 said:
. I think the bass player said that they record through the mixer because he doesn't want us to bring our beig amps to the studio. I'll convince him to let us if I find out if what he told me is true. thanks for your help keep it coming!!
Click to expand...

Thats not a reason........dump him if he continues with that kind of BS
 
With metal/rock, why would they think of doing any other than micing the amps, unless you don't really like your amps' sound at all. Mic a couple kick ass marshall half stacks and the sound will blow you away if done properly.

My band play rock/punk kinda stuff and we've tried recording straight in and it sounds kinda weak. It could very well be my equipment, but even so, i think you will be sufficiently happy with micing. I've never had anyone to any differently with us in the studio.

Hope this helps,
Brandon


Worse case, just let them record straight, and ask them to mic it and just compare the two. that's probably the most convincing evidence. Pick the ones you like. Maybe combine the two. The sky's the limit.
 
next time you guys practice, run your pedals stright into the Board. this will give you a hint of what you'll be getting.
 
answer 2

the website is Crystalclearrecording.com
I really don't want to go direct. There is an email address, but none of them worked for me. MailerDemon just sent the mails back to me saying that there is no such address. What should I do? We have to go to this studio cause the bass player's dad is in a band and recorded hear so he got us a couple of hours for his sons birthday.

P.S.- I love my tone...Epiphone Les Paul into a crybaby wah the into a fab tone distortion into a crate dsp gfx-212!!!
 
First of all if its for a birthday present and its for fun then just run with it.

If it is realy important to you then remember - you are the paying client and you deserve service.
To me it seems the studio is trying to save himself some work.
Perhaps they are not taking you to seriously as you might be young? and inexperienced?.
Perhaps they are not to experienced themselfs?

Again if he has a musical reason that he can explain to you and convince you then great. Otherwise choose to confront him or...... just go and play and have a ball !.
 
Just my $ 0.02
If someone in your band is going to compromise when it comes to the sound quality of what you record, just because of some "logistical"issue; then you have a serious problem.
Like someone else pointed out, you can get a decent sound when going direct if you use speaker simulation afterwards, but for distorted/overdriven metal guitar sounds, expect a "synthetic" as opposed to "natural" sound if that's the way you're gonna go. I don't know if you guys will be paying for these sessions, but the least you could do to feel comfortable is to make sure you hear a recording done by these people, with direct guitars, for a more or less similar sounding band. I have a feeling you won't be too impressed. The fact that you're worried about all this means you're the one with some common sense, *not* the bass player... judging from what you say, he wants to go about it in a half-assed way. Not a good idea if you want your music to be well recorded !
 
I had a look at their site, this may very well be a good studio and they're reasonably priced, but hollow phrases like "We specialize in Rock, Country, Jazz, Classical, Folk, Rap and any other style of music." sound kind of strange to me. Also, there's no list to be found of recent projects or references of any sort. If I were you I'd try to find out more before spending $ 35.00 an hour. You'll be in there for many hours, even if you're just going to record and mix a few songs.
Again, just my $ 0.02.
 
OK, speaking as a former kid in a metal band who encountered this sort of thing at every turn, maybe I'm being cynical here but let's speculate: if guitars and bass go direct, you can record them with the drums and not have to spend a lot of time A) recording guitars seperately after getting a good drum take, and b) unloading and setting up amps, etc. For the studio, that saves time and if this is a freebie they will be looking to save time. Similarly, if this is paid for already for a set number of hours and the studio knows the Dad won't pay for additional hours, they are likely to cut whatever corners are necessary to get you in and out in the allotted time. Since Dad recorded here and arranged this, it doesn't sound like the studio is interested in what the musicians have to say - they are answering to Dad. In all fairness, Dad is prolly trying to do a good thing here...record his son's band...but isn't willling to spend too much. Therefore, accept this for what it is...a good studio learning experience, that will likely result in a demo that does not IN ANY WAY reflect the way you think your band should sound.

My .02...
 
RedNucleus said:
I had a look at their site, this may very well be a good studio and they're reasonably priced, but hollow phrases like "We specialize in Rock, Country, Jazz, Classical, Folk, Rap and any other style of music." sound kind of strange to me.
Click to expand...


LOL, I thought the same thing. "We specialize .... in any form of music" ... as opposed to what? Specializing in formless music?
 
I see a lack of outboard gear listed in their equipment list. No mics on that list either? That doesn't necessarily mean they can't do a good job, though.
It's safe to say that you will not be pleased with a direct-to-board guitar sound ... even if they emulate an amp. It's OK to get a scratch guitar track down (I do this a lot because of space limitations ... and to guarantee a clean drum track). You gotta do an overdub or two, though ... which should be from a miced cabinet.
Overall ... it looks like a good start of a project studio they have over there in Denver. You'll probably get a decent demo. And if it's already paid for ... no worries.
I can't listen here at work ... but what does the quality of the mp3s they have posted sound like?
 
This is MY studio.

Hillarious!!! why i didnt find this gem before amazes me.

LOLOLOLOL.

dont bring your piece of shit Crate because i have a Marshall? a twin? a countryman di active FET direct box that I run to my amps and yes, i record dry direct right to Amp farm and send an umnprocessed signal to your "crate"

LOL.

I have never had my balls busted by a bunch of "pro's" like this EVER.

and I would never recommend "pedals into my board"

www.crystalclearrecording.com

LMFBO!
 
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Sweet comeback dude!

So that only took you four years to come up with, huh?

Metallica5 is probably reading that right now and crying.

:p
 
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