recording a trash can band!

T

This Is Poison

New member
OK here's the deal, a kid I work with is in a percussive band and they all play on trash cans. he asked if I'd be interested in recording and I, of course, responded with "absolutely" because its always fun to try something new and gain more experience. I don't have lots of expensive gear so I am limited to what I can do. there are six metal trash cans and one plastic one for a more bassy sound. he told me they want the bass to really thump, SO what I'm thinking I should do is setup a stereo pair of room mics and then mic the plastic "bass" trash can. any recommendations on placement?

the few mics I have are:
nady cm88
(3)cad ndm10
audix i5
shure beta52a
rode nt1a
and various other crap mics

thanks alot
 
Oohh, fun! I've been working on putting together a kit made of buckets. Got a metal bucket for a snare, big plastic trash can for a kick, kitty littler and other large plastic buckets for toms. At a loss for cymbals, though.
Anyway, what are your recoriding onto, through, etc? Where are you recording?
 
well, hopefully I'll have my 002r paid off entirely before then, if not, i'll have to mix everything on my small 24 channel mixer and send it to the line in on my OH SO GREAT stock soundcard. as far as software, I have reaper and various freebe plug-ins. I know, its not much to work with, but I've got to be doing SOMETHING right because these people come to me. any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!


OH and I'll be using the terrible pres on the mixer who's brand I will not name for it will get me hanged in this place. I'm sure anyone who reads this will know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

thanks again.
 
Hopefully you have a good set of iso headphones so you can listen to what you're doing when setting the mics.

I would favor a room that has some "hard" sounding ambience. A dead room will not allow the sounds to "bloom". Also, do not record them in room that has carpeting!!! Use hardwood floors, or even concrete. If you can, an alley or gas station garage would be great.

I think using a stereo pair in ORTF would work for this situation. Best thing to do is to move the mics around the room while the trash is being played. Try to find a spot in the room that captures a good balance.

To get the "big boomin' bass" - if the player uses the traditional method of lifting the bucket up and down to create different bass sounds, you might want to point the mic at the floor (in the center of where the bucket would be when down). Again, you'll need to move the mic around to find the place where the energy is strongest.

If you're just using three tracks, and looking for a "trachy" vibe - don't worry about your pres so much.
Good luck, Rez
 
RezN8 said:
Hopefully you have a good set of iso headphones so you can listen to what you're doing when setting the mics.
Click to expand...

I have one pair of headphones in mind, but I'm not sure that they'll provide as much isolation as I need. unfortutely, until I get the money to separate my room, I'm stuck recording a short scrap track, listening, adjusting, recording a short scrap track, listening, adjusting, etc.

RezN8 said:
I would favor a room that has some "hard" sounding ambience. A dead room will not allow the sounds to "bloom". Also, do not record them in room that has carpeting!!! Use hardwood floors, or even concrete. If you can, an alley or gas station garage would be great.
Click to expand...
awesome. I assumed that I would use more of a live room, simply because that's what is preferred for percussive instruments BUT I wasn't positive.

RezN8 said:
I think using a stereo pair in ORTF would work for this situation. Best thing to do is to move the mics around the room while the trash is being played. Try to find a spot in the room that captures a good balance.

To get the "big boomin' bass" - if the player uses the traditional method of lifting the bucket up and down to create different bass sounds, you might want to point the mic at the floor (in the center of where the bucket would be when down). Again, you'll need to move the mic around to find the place where the energy is strongest.
Click to expand...

again, awesome. this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I haven't had a chance to hear them in person yet, but I'm going to ask to tag along next time they practice. this way, ill be able to get a better idea of what techniques they use (e.g. the one you mentioned with the bass) and get a good feel for the overall sound.

RezN8 said:
If you're just using three tracks, and looking for a "trachy" vibe - don't worry about your pres so much.
Click to expand...

this makes me feel a little bit better about myself. ha.

thanks A LOT rezn8. very specific ideas and good info.

if anyone else has suggestions, feel free to chime in!!
 
I'd use the beta 52 on the bass thingy. I'm assuming your talking about a behringer euro something mixer since thats usually the brand looked down upon, but I actually don't think your clients are going to care.

The stereo pair is a good idea, but I would definitly suggest other room mics to add to the picture. If you can put some mics outside of the room they play in that might be even better. I've had good results with pointing room mics at a hardwood floor for when this band wanted to add themselves wacking a huge sheet of metal. They wanted it to sound "live yet dark", I'm assuming by that "we want big bass" comment that your people want something similar.

Hope that helps, and good luck.

Ben
 
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