F
FromtheSOUTH
New member
Ok so, not sure if this thread is in the right place, but seeing as it will reference most topics and its my first thread, here goes.
I'm in a band. (I can just hear the panties dropping)
We've got a practice space in my drummer's Dad's warehouse. We're in a 2nd floor loft, brick wall on one side of our room, with the rest of the room made up of storage racks with various stored materials, assembled as to give us the max amount of sound isolation possible, which is not very good. However the storage racks provide some good diffusion/absorption due to the varied materials being stored (I specifically positioned most of the stuff somewhat strategically around the room). Ceiling is corrugated steel, about an 8' ceiling, minus the trusses that I constantly crack my cranium on. Floor is plywood with a couple of area rugs.
We've got 2 Presonus Firestudio Projects chained together, an upgraded Mac, 2 shure SM58s (used for vocals and guitar until we get a 57 specifically for guitar), one decent condenser (think its an AKG, but its medium price/quality), one goofy ribbon mic that I use almost exclusively for double tracking my vocals. A couple cheap AKG dynamics that are god-awful and mostly sit unused. My drummer made a boo-boo and bought a pack of 7 drum mics for $200, so until we make some better purchases (not anywhere in the near future) we're stuck with them. Actually the overheads do pretty well, its the kick mic and tom mics that make me sad. Oh, we'll also use the SM58s to close-mic the snare (Which would probably sound great if my drummer tuned his snare).
All of this is run through Logic express 9. We have access (95% sure) to Pro, but the person who has it tells me it will make little to no difference to us (Thoughts?)
Gear...
Gretsch Catalina kit, hodgepodge of cymbals and heads (he can never pick a head he likes). Close mic'd and overheads.
Gibson SG run through a Peavey Valveking 212. I have no trouble getting tones out of this rig (Unless its owner wants to try and get "good tone" which usually means he scoops all the mids and I'm left with a piercingly muddy guitar track) and using the SM58 alone I can get a decent recording. Thinking of doubling with the condenser or the goofy ribbon mic (Thoughts? Phase cancelling, etc.) to bring out some of the highs that the 58 leaves behind.
Ibanez Ergodyne 34346345 (I can't remember what frickin' number it is) 4 string, active. Run through my Ampeg BA115 (Need an upgrade desperately.... I want TUBES!!) Almost exclusively recording direct to firestudio. Usually don't have problems with the bass, though occasionally during pre-recording monitoring, checking levels, etc. Ill set gain to the 'perfect' level, only to find out after recording that I have NO waveforms and have to compress the ASS off my bass just to be able to hear it. Rare occurrence, though.
In truth, we usually use this setup to record our jams, all of us playing together for better or worse. While most of them sound like complete crap(In more ways than one) its been a good learning experience, and we've gotten much better at capturing good collective sound (and then mixing it), not to mention playing completely off-the-cuff with each other (some of them turned out quite nice). But, We're not a jam band. We need to record our original songs, and we're never going back to a studio (Unless someone else is paying for it).
So i guess what I'm trying to accomplish is, first, if any of you educated, seasoned, hard-working recording engineers see any flaws in our set up, or solutions to any of our problems, please point it out!
If you'd like a sample of one of our home recordings, check out our reverbnation(link in sig). See if you can guess which recordings are professional and which one is homemade! (Its brutally easy to tell) Also, note that we have come quite a ways as a band and as a studio since that recording took place. Also, tell me what you think of the studio tracks.
Thanks dudes! Look forward to your input.
Sam
I'm in a band. (I can just hear the panties dropping)
We've got a practice space in my drummer's Dad's warehouse. We're in a 2nd floor loft, brick wall on one side of our room, with the rest of the room made up of storage racks with various stored materials, assembled as to give us the max amount of sound isolation possible, which is not very good. However the storage racks provide some good diffusion/absorption due to the varied materials being stored (I specifically positioned most of the stuff somewhat strategically around the room). Ceiling is corrugated steel, about an 8' ceiling, minus the trusses that I constantly crack my cranium on. Floor is plywood with a couple of area rugs.
We've got 2 Presonus Firestudio Projects chained together, an upgraded Mac, 2 shure SM58s (used for vocals and guitar until we get a 57 specifically for guitar), one decent condenser (think its an AKG, but its medium price/quality), one goofy ribbon mic that I use almost exclusively for double tracking my vocals. A couple cheap AKG dynamics that are god-awful and mostly sit unused. My drummer made a boo-boo and bought a pack of 7 drum mics for $200, so until we make some better purchases (not anywhere in the near future) we're stuck with them. Actually the overheads do pretty well, its the kick mic and tom mics that make me sad. Oh, we'll also use the SM58s to close-mic the snare (Which would probably sound great if my drummer tuned his snare).
All of this is run through Logic express 9. We have access (95% sure) to Pro, but the person who has it tells me it will make little to no difference to us (Thoughts?)
Gear...
Gretsch Catalina kit, hodgepodge of cymbals and heads (he can never pick a head he likes). Close mic'd and overheads.
Gibson SG run through a Peavey Valveking 212. I have no trouble getting tones out of this rig (Unless its owner wants to try and get "good tone" which usually means he scoops all the mids and I'm left with a piercingly muddy guitar track) and using the SM58 alone I can get a decent recording. Thinking of doubling with the condenser or the goofy ribbon mic (Thoughts? Phase cancelling, etc.) to bring out some of the highs that the 58 leaves behind.
Ibanez Ergodyne 34346345 (I can't remember what frickin' number it is) 4 string, active. Run through my Ampeg BA115 (Need an upgrade desperately.... I want TUBES!!) Almost exclusively recording direct to firestudio. Usually don't have problems with the bass, though occasionally during pre-recording monitoring, checking levels, etc. Ill set gain to the 'perfect' level, only to find out after recording that I have NO waveforms and have to compress the ASS off my bass just to be able to hear it. Rare occurrence, though.
In truth, we usually use this setup to record our jams, all of us playing together for better or worse. While most of them sound like complete crap(In more ways than one) its been a good learning experience, and we've gotten much better at capturing good collective sound (and then mixing it), not to mention playing completely off-the-cuff with each other (some of them turned out quite nice). But, We're not a jam band. We need to record our original songs, and we're never going back to a studio (Unless someone else is paying for it).
So i guess what I'm trying to accomplish is, first, if any of you educated, seasoned, hard-working recording engineers see any flaws in our set up, or solutions to any of our problems, please point it out!
If you'd like a sample of one of our home recordings, check out our reverbnation(link in sig). See if you can guess which recordings are professional and which one is homemade! (Its brutally easy to tell) Also, note that we have come quite a ways as a band and as a studio since that recording took place. Also, tell me what you think of the studio tracks.
Thanks dudes! Look forward to your input.
Sam
