Recording a band live

[Beatcivilian]

Can anybody give me an idea of the best way to mic up and layout a room for recording everything at the same time? We have a full kit (with 2 snares), bass, guitar and vocals (which i would consider recording afterwards but want to at least put a guide down to help capture the feeling of playing together), and a total of 8 inputs on my soundcard. It's essential that we all play together to get the vibe alive. We can isolate the computer and monitors in an adjacent room, but don't really know wether to use headphones to monitor or not. Similarly, i don't know if giving the band headphones while playing will kill the feel, but we want as much seperation as possible. Finally, Is it best to mic the room with say, 3 condensors and close mic snare/kick/bass/guitar? Any help would be really appreciated,

Cheers, Mike

 

[jkokura]

a full kit (with 2 snares), bass, guitar and vocals (which i would consider recording afterwards but want to at least put a guide down to help capture the feeling of playing together), and a total of 8 inputs on my soundcard. Cheers, Mike

Now keep in mind I have no idea what you're going to do with your recording - demo, records for practices, actual album. Try hard to keep everything from bleeding into the other mics by trying to get stuff between the sources, eg: a divider between the amps and the kit or in the amps put in another room and miced there. Bleed can be controlled, but don't mess up, because any overdubs may wreck the sound you've got (that you like).

What I would do and have done:

4 mics on drums : 57/MG201 on snare, D112/Beta 52 on Kick, LDC Overheads (since you're not close micing toms or the extra snare, the LDC's will give you more of those items in your tracks)

2 mics on guitar; soooo optional - I've put a 57/e609s/MD421 on the grill, an SDC or a LDC (or both) in distance...considering everyone's playing, I'd use an e609s and an MD421 on the grill and blend them later.

DI the Bass...if you need to amp it for reference be aware that the low frequencies that a bass generally puts out travel far and bounce alot...it's very challenging to isolate these frequencies without really good room treatment...expect to get bleed. Another option is to route the DI'd signal through everyone's headphones.

Use a 58 for vocals and then overdub with a LDC. Instead of vocals another option for that extra slot is to use an omni Condenser and get that room sound...Then adding vocals in general later.

Jacob

 

[Dani Pace]

Just a few tips. Don't set up like you would for a gig (everything faceing forward) you are capturing sound not trying to look good. Set the drums up first, about 1/3 of the way out into the room (not in a corner) faceing the bass drum toward the farthest wall. Set amps around the drums faceing away from the drums, not too cloce but not blasting right at a wall either. Put the vocalist as far from the drums and amps as possible. Cloce mic drums and amps as much as you can, expect bleedover especialy from overhead mics. Play at lower volume and with less distortion, use headphones for each musician so they can clearly hear what everyone is doing. Be prepaired to make several retakes of each song, getting it right on the first try is rare. To get the best seperation put amps in different rooms from each other and the drums, headphones will let everyone hear just like it is all in the same room. Recording a band "all at once" is tricky and requires patience from both musicians and engineers, keep a relaxed atmosphere.

 

[bigtoe]

we do this all the time down at our place. in fact, i prefer it this way! love you live!

what works for me placement wise as a starting point:

drums: stick the drums a few feet out from a corner... facing into the room. make sure the reflections from the walls aren't too bad...do an X/Y or mono mic over the kit and mic the kick an snare. more on the overhead in a sec...

bass amp: stick the bass amp in front of the kick drum pointing away from the kit. balance the bleed into the overhead, the drum bleed in the bass mic and how well the drummer can hear the bass. a packing blanket comes in handy to drape over the amp to control cymbal bleed. facing the amp itself away from the drums provides for a natural gobo so believe it or not - the bleed from the drums usually isn't too bad with something like a 421 or a 57 a few feet from the drums. the bass bleed into the overhead needs to be clean though so don't be afraid to get closer to the drums. sure, you can do a DI.

guitar amp(s): pointing near/into a/the corner(s). for two make each equi-distant from the drums. the amount of bleed into the drums will be the issue so starting with the same distance is a cool way to start. again, the amp(s) themselves will act as a natural gobo...a packing blanket over the amp (providing for ventilation!) can help as well. you'll be surprised how little bleed a mic like 57 picks up in this scenario! getting 'em off the floor is always a good idear too...

have the band play so/until they can hear each other well. if they're a practiced band - this ain't hard. now think of your drum overhead as your reverb/ambiance. this mic will have the most bleed of any mic in the room. all mics are different in the amount but the point is to use this bleed to your advantage as yer probably not gonna kill it...if you have a good figure 8 like a coles you can come surprisingly close...

oh - a packing blanket on the kick can help as well...

pardon the lame drawing but see the attachment for room layout with directional arrows...hope it works...

have fun!

Mike