Re: [Harp-L] Recording a demo

["ChipComcast" <jandkday@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Pay a friend to do it. Mic all instruments & run through pro tools.
isolate the vocals or add later.
  Don't worry, club owners never listen to demos.
Better to take a nice picture. ;-)

Where are you? I know several guys for 200-300.

James Day
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <RichBeau@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "'Michael Fugazzi'" <mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx>; <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2005 8:22 AM
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Recording a demo


> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On
> > Behalf Of Michael Fugazzi
> > Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2005 9:41 PM
> > To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [Harp-L] Recording a demo
> >
> > I know very little about recording, in fact next to nothing.  My band is
> > trying to record a demo that is good enough to have on a website and
good
> > enough for possible bookers to hear how good we are.  The band had
> > discussed shelling out some big money for something nice, but then we
> > realized we might be over doing it.
> >
> > Can anyone suggest some rather specific ways to record drums, harp,
> > vocals, guitar, and bass?  I think we'd rather try to record the
> > insturments individually rather then trying to record with one mic in
the
> > middle of the room.  It would be fine coming up with something that
would
> > be done with the computer.
> >
> > Guitar Center gave us some options all  well over $500, and we're hoping
> > to keep the process to around $200.
> >
> > All advice is appreciated!
> > Thanks,
> > Mike
> >
>
>
> Mike your asking a lot!
>
> I've got a lot of opinions ( and probably in direct opposition to the
> do-it-yourselfers) on this so let me just say that in most cases I
recommend
> just spending your cash on the studio time. Having to worry about both
sides
> of the microphone is a definite interference. And yeah it is possible to
> great professional sounding CDs at home using a good inexpensive setup.
It's
> been done, there's only one catch... You have to be really into
engineering.
>
>
> Now with that said, and the fact that the members of this list have a lot
> good opinions about mics and gear, (I'll leave it for them to suggest some
> of those items) here's some recording tips...
>
> A good room is a must you don't want to be in a room with buzzing windows
> and someone stir frying dinner. First off eliminate every buzz and noise
you
> can otherwise the mics will pick it up.
>
> That means the amps need to use good grounded outlets and you have to
spend
> time eliminating those hums from the amps as much as possible. It's a sure
> indication of an amateurish recording when there is audible hiss, hum or
> buzz. Any noise is crud.
>
> The drums are a bear... In the studio the drum set always arrives a couple
> hours before anyone else in order to eliminate the nasty buzzes. Tighten
> every screw and nut on the drum set. If it's on a hard floor (concrete,
> tile, wood etc) Tape down everything on the drum set so it doesn't slide
> around or put it on a close-cut rug. Otherwise the sound will be ruined
> because it's the drum sound you want not the cymbal stand sliding across
the
> floor.
>
> For the other stuff -you could mic to the board but for you mic-ing the
amps
> is probably the way to go. With that you got two choices - you can mic
close
> or from a distance.
>
> Mic-ing close means you can place your microphone 6" from the speaker and
> pointed directly at the center of the speaker. Or aim your microphone
about
> 1" or 2" in from the outside rim of the speaker while maintaining the
> distance of 6" from the speaker.
>
> When the your microphone is within a foot of the speaker, the room sound
has
> is basically eliminated from the recording especially if the amp loud. You
> can add distance (ambience) to by adding it later in the mix.
>
> Mic-ing from a distance can make a dull sound bounce to life. As you move
> the mic back more than a couple of feet from any amp, the room sound
becomes
> part of the overall sound being recorded.
>
> Now with two mics you can this create some great recordings. Put one mic
> within a foot of the amp and one mic back in the room several feet away
from
> the amp. Now you can blend the sound of the mic closest to the amp with
> sound captured by the mic farther away.
>
> If you have minimal tracks then you can combine the 2 mics to 1 track as
you
> record. If you've got good digital recording software you've probably got
> more than you need; so you record each mic to a separate track and save
the
> blending for mix down.
>
> There's lot's of theories on drum mic-ing. Here's a couple of setups that
> use 1 and 2 mics
>
> Put a single mic directly in front of the kit - point it at the set, about
> 6' off the floor.
>
> With two microphones you have two options: you can use one mic for overall
> sound while using the other for a specific part of the set or you can use
> both mics together in a stereo configuration.
>
> In the first option you set one mic directly over the kit with the second
> mic on the kick drum (or possibly the snare). You'll get some great punch
> and definition in the mix. The problem is you are limited to a mono sound
> and you'll need to position the drums in the center of the mix. It's still
> more flexible than the single mic technique. BTW choosing what part of the
> set to close-mike (the kick or the snare) is purely a musical decision.
>
> Now the stereo trick uses 2 mics directly above the drum set, at a
distance
> of approximately 3' above the cymbals, pointing down at the drums. Place
> them on booms so their side by side - one points down and to the left and
> the other down and to the right (kind of an 'X'). So what you end up with
on
> the recording is a stereo spread.
>
> There's way more to it then I can write in a single email so get yourself
a
> good book. Above all remember to enjoy yourself.
>
> --Rich
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
>