We normally do, as i like to call it, a "through the ages" project with our 2nd year music tech students. First off they have to record a band in a room with only one mic and focus on moving things around in the room to get the best balance possible. then we move on to a the same band in the same space with the same song but with stereo mic placement. then multi-track with only 4 channels and then 8 and 16 channels. the students go away and research all the techniques and stuff beforehand. i'm usually surprised at how well some of the one and two mic recordings come out, but it does take a lot of effort to set up and the band have to give outstanding performances