Listen to these recordings. Tell me where to improve.

So Glad

My band was jamming today and I recorded some stuff. Any comments would be welcome. Now we've only been playing together 2 days now so be easy. I recorded the stuff with a ****ty mic in the middle of the room. Just general covers and one jam song (really crap). Just point out any mistakes or sound problems:

Echoes Bebo Page (Loike)

Thanks,

Dav

squibs

No disrespect intended. I haven't listened, and won't be listening. Steve Albini himself couldn't get anything approaching a decent recording of a band with one bad mic. One man and his guitar - maybe you'll get something reasonable. A band - no way. It will be, at best, the sonic equivalent of a doodle on the back of a matchbox to capture an idea. End of. Sorry.

If you're looking for advice on how to get a good recording or what equipment to buy, please drop a few questions here - the more specific the better. If you are looking for feedback on mistakes, maybe the playing techniques and theory forum would get you some helpful feedback?

So Glad

All that without listening, how presumptuous.

squibs

Been there, done that. I know what I'm talking about.

cornbb

So Glad wrote:

All that without listening, how presumptuous.

It sounded harsh but he's right, you can't possibly get a decent recording of a band with a single mic. You'll need multitrack recording equipment, which would typically consist of a computer with appropriate software, a recording interface/soundcard and several mics. If you're thinking of buying then let us know what your budget is and we'll get you started.

So Glad

Well, I have plenty of PC recording experience (on guitar etc.) but I've no idea how to go about having more than one mic record through a PC. Do I need some sort of mic router? I can stretch to about 400-500.

cornbb

You'll need an audio interface (a type of soundcard) that will take in multiple audio channels and allow you to treat them seperately within software. If you have 400-500 to spend on an audio interface alone that should be enough to get you something decent like this:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/presonus_firepod.htm

That'll allow you to record sources from up to 8 different mics simultaneously and also includes Cubase LE which is pretty decent recording software.

So Glad

Hmm. I'll look into that. But at the moment I think using the one mic as effectively as possible is my only option. Money is tight.

squibs

For what it's worth, I wasn't dissing you, I was dissing the method. I know what it's like to not be able to afford the right equipment for the job.

If you only have one mic, you can look at recording the band instrument by instrument.

Record the drummer to a click track with a guide on guitar or bass
Record bass with drums in players headphones
etc.
It always sounds a bit clinical and lose the feel of a band playing together.
The drums will still sound awful on one mic. Maybe you could midi sequece the drums?

Alternatively - getting creative here. If the drummer played only kick and snare on 1st take, you could then overdub hats, crashes and toms on subsequent passes. It would be hell for the drummer, would take forever and would sound a bit all over the shop, but at least you'd have room to pan and eq.

cornbb

If you can only use one mic I'd suggest doing as much overdubbing as possible in order to get a clean recording. Sticking the mic in the middle of the room and recording a live band won't ever sound good. Try doing this:

1) Make a recording of the whole band or part of the band playing, as you've been doing. Everyone try to play along to a metronome/click track which will be audible on the recording. You will only use this recording as a guide for overdubbing and will discard it later.
2) One by one, record individual band members/instruments play their parts. They will be listening to the recording you made in step 1 so as to keep in synch
3) Discard the first track and mix down the other tracks on your PC/recording hardware/whatever.

This is still very rough and ready and won't produce magical results but won't cost anything and should at least be an improvement on what you're doing at the moment.

cornbb

Fecker, ya beat me by 2 minutes

squibs

Hehe. Fastest fingers in all of Me-hico
Except when it comes to my guitar skills obviously

So Glad

Yeah, well you see I don't want to dissect the band into separate recordings because I believe a good band is a band who can play live the same as they had recorded them. Recording everything separately would be taking the easy road in my opinion.

Niall - Dahlia

Hey them Led Zep rehearsal tapes with one mic sounded pretty damn good!

But yeah completely agree with what's already been said. Though I did have a listen.

So Glad wrote:

Yeah, well you see I don't want to dissect the band into separate recordings because I believe a good band is a band who can play live the same as they had recorded them. Recording everything separately would be taking the easy road in my opinion.

Sure, but just for yourself to practice mic position. I mean you could just mic up the guitar amp and post a sample and you'd get plenty of suggestions on amp miking. Most of them probably conflicting and contradicting, but hey that's the fun of it! There's just nothing to be said for a mic in a room.

squibs

Yeah, well you see I don't want to dissect the band into separate recordings because I believe a good band is a band who can play live the same as they had recorded them. Recording everything separately would be taking the easy road in my opinion.

I don't see that you can get a good live band recording without spending a lot of money. For a standard 4 piece band, you're looking at a minimum of 7 mics, and a soundcard with that many inputs and a computer that can manage 7 simultaneous streams of audio, or a hard disk recorder. Either way I think it's going to cost over a grand.

Then you'll have to contend with issues of drum kit balancing, minimising mic spill, mic placement, and room acoustics.

So Glad

Yeah, but some people like rough recordings

counterpointaud

You can record a band well with one mic...but it. requires an extremely good room, a great mic/signal chain, and a lot of experimentation with mic/amp/instrument placement.

Kinda sucks the life out of the experience when you have to play 1000 takes and as many adjustments to get the balance right. And that assumes you have a good room.

If you really want to go down this route (sounds like it as you aren't listening to anyone elses good advice) then walk around the room while you and the band are playing, find the spot where everything seems relatively balanced, and put an omni condenser mic where your ear is. Behringer ECM8000 is a cheap option.

If one or two things seem too loud...move them away from the mic.

If possible, don't have a PA or monitors...let the vocalist use headphones with a signal sent from his recording mic...otherwise, phasy mess.

Watch your gain and input levels, and record 24bit.

I have done this and it can work for certain music, but if your room sounds really bad you're screwed.

Nathan

So Glad

It's not that I ain't listening to what people are saying, I've read everything and it is great advice, but at the moment I JUST DON'T HAVE THE MONEY. And that is the bottom line for now, I have to make do with what we have.

counterpointaud

So Glad wrote:

It's not that I ain't listening to what people are saying, I've read everything and it is great advice, but at the moment I JUST DON'T HAVE THE MONEY. And that is the bottom line for now, I have to make do with what we have.

The ECM8000 is only €40. You need a non-directional mic for this, you will never make it work otherwise IMO.

Just trying to help...I actually love one mic recordings when done well in a nice space.

Cheers,

Nathan

So Glad

Ah, well that's not too expensive! Thanks for the tip, I'll keep you posted and let you know how it sounded

So Glad

Ok, what do you guys think?

This

OR

This

???