Recording Challenge #5 (One Condensor Mic!)

[Tadpui]

Cool. Bass, drums, and though you said it was only "meh" on vocals, I think they sound good here too.

I'm curious about how you set up for and recorded the drums, if you don't mind sharing.

Hey thanks man. I ended up really sculpting the mic with EQ to make it work on vocals. I basically manually gave it a bit of a "vocal mic" curve with ReaEQ. I guess that's the good thing about a neutral mic: the frequencies are all there, just gotta boost and cut until it sounds good haha.

For drums, I'll attach a picture below. I've been playing with only 1 rack tom lately, so I put the mic right up in the middle of the kit where the lower rack tom used to be. The mic was in its wide cardioid pattern, but I bet it'd work with a regular cardioid as well. I raised it up until it was just peeking over the top of the snare by 1 or 2 inches. And I tuned the snare low because it sounded all weird and thin and papery at a normal tuning. Then I compressed the holy living snot out of it (fast attack, fast release, 6:1 ratio, peaking at 12-14 dB of gain reduction). And I did some sculpting in ReaEQ to help out the low end of the kick, and remove some mud and boxiness.

P1010667 (Large).JPG

ReqEQ.JPG

[vomitHatSteve]

That's a really solid mix. I would not have assumed that it's a single mic!

[heatmiser]

[mention]Tadpui[/mention] - Nice. I think the recording is really solid, even without taking the one mic restriction into account. I really enjoyed the song itself too. Other than a few rhythmic irregularities, I'd be happy with this as a finished product. Well done!

[WhiskeyJack]

Here's what I ended up with. The mic I picked was an AKG C414 XLS, since it's relatively neutral and is multi-pattern. All of the tracks are through my BAE 1073 preamp, since I've only got one of those and I could use it every time. And I pushed the preamp hard on just about everything.

I learned a lot about this mic in the process. Excellent on a bass amp, admirable on a drum kit. Terrible on electric guitars and "meh" on vocals. There is so much EQ happening in this project LOL. And obviously a lot of compression. Like, so much compression. And it shows. Sorry the song turned out kinda "screamo", but that's just where I'm at lately

I pretty much gave up redoing parts, despite some pitch and tempo issues. I'm just ready to move on to something else, so pardon the off notes and missed beats.

Battle Scar Gigantica-001.mp3

Dude this is great. I like how it all came together. Impressed it is just one mic. I can hear the abundance of compression but whatever it got the job done. Those vocals are really glassy though.

I was going to say it smacks of a Nerf Herder song if Nerf herder wrote sad emo kind of songs. I really enjoyed it beyond the challenge aspect of it. When it really kicks down to the dirty bits it really has that Nerf Herder / Weezer / Rentals 90's vibe. Homerun all around [mention]Tadpui[/mention]

OK, I drug out the gear and recorded a take or two this afternoon, then spent some time attempting to mix. I'll need another few months to practice the drums if I want to take this further than a musical sketch (which I probably won't). Even so, it was fun to experiment with the single mic for all the parts.

(The music is a take on that youtube video "Heard It In The Daily Mail" someone posted on one of the other threads over here. If I do take this beyond the "musical sketch" phase, I may even attempt to sing it.)

hiitdm_soundcheck.mp3

Mic choice was a Behringer C-3. I chose that one from my small collection simply because it's the only one with multiple patterns (cardioid, omni, and figure-8); in comparing with my other condensor mics, it's the worst sounding of the bunch. (It's also super cheap!) But being that I wanted to attempt to capture the sound of the drum set by putting the mic in not-the-usual-places, I wanted to have the extra response patterns.

What I ended up choosing for the drums was the figure-8 pattern (cardioid for the guitars/bass), with the mic nestled between the kick and the snare, pointed so one "node" of the fig-8 was peeking over the rim of the snare, and the opposite node was pointed at the shell of the kick. Unfortunately, with one side peeking over the snare rim, I also captured way too much crash, and it's kind of a weird, phase-y sound at that; I'll have to place it more carefully if I ever use that technique again.

Overall, this was a pretty fun thing to try out.

I really didn't mind this at all. It has a cool lo fi vibe garage rock vibe to it. I didn't even mind the drums when you consider you grabbed it with one mic. I would be curious to hear the difference of the mic placed behind the kit as Greg suggested.

Gonna chuck some vocals on it you reckon?

[liv_rong]

[mention]Tadpui[/mention] I think you did a great job, man! I didn’t even realize you posted this until I saw your YouTube video which was also great! Really interesting to see it all broken down! Gives me ideas to do my own kind of breakdown someday.

[musicturtle]

[mention]Tadpui[/mention]

Cool man!
The bass does sound really good through this mic.
You got the little Beatles tom-snare shuffle down and I think the drums sound good too.

Nice work. Gonna check out your video. Looking forward to it.

[Tadpui]

That's a really solid mix. I would not have assumed that it's a single mic!

Thanks Steve! I have to admit, it turned out better than I thought that it would when I set out on this challenge.

[mention]Tadpui[/mention] - Nice. I think the recording is really solid, even without taking the one mic restriction into account. I really enjoyed the song itself too. Other than a few rhythmic irregularities, I'd be happy with this as a finished product. Well done!

Haha yeah, the rhythm is still bugging me, even though I said that I was done with this one. I might have to take one more swipe at it, just for posterity. Thanks man, I really appreciate it.

Dude this is great. I like how it all came together. Impressed it is just one mic. I can hear the abundance of compression but whatever it got the job done. Those vocals are really glassy though.

I was going to say it smacks of a Nerf Herder song if Nerf herder wrote sad emo kind of songs. I really enjoyed it beyond the challenge aspect of it. When it really kicks down to the dirty bits it really has that Nerf Herder / Weezer / Rentals 90's vibe. Homerun all around [mention]Tadpui[/mention]

Oh man, thanks Shan. I haven't heard of Nerf Herder (other than when used as a slanderous term against Han Solo ), I'll look them up tonight. I appreciate the kind words. This (and all of the other challenges so far) has been a very welcome experience, and I got to learn a few things along the way. Wins all around!

[mention]Tadpui[/mention] I think you did a great job, man! I didn’t even realize you posted this until I saw your YouTube video which was also great! Really interesting to see it all broken down! Gives me ideas to do my own kind of breakdown someday.

Hey thanks man, I really appreciate it. The video kind of turned into a mix breakdown without me setting out to do that. I'd hooked everything up with the intent of showing off the drum track but I just kinda kept going. I'd love to see some details about your mixes! You always get a very cool and clear vibe going.

Cool man!
The bass does sound really good through this mic.
You got the little Beatles tom-snare shuffle down and I think the drums sound good too.

Nice work. Gonna check out your video. Looking forward to it.

Thanks MT, much appreciated! This would have been the last mic that I would have thought to have put on a bass amp but I'll be darned, it did a great job of the capture. I'll put that one in my pocket for future reference!

[Greg_L]

Here's what I ended up with. The mic I picked was an AKG C414 XLS, since it's relatively neutral and is multi-pattern. All of the tracks are through my BAE 1073 preamp, since I've only got one of those and I could use it every time. And I pushed the preamp hard on just about everything.

I learned a lot about this mic in the process. Excellent on a bass amp, admirable on a drum kit. Terrible on electric guitars and "meh" on vocals. There is so much EQ happening in this project LOL. And obviously a lot of compression. Like, so much compression. And it shows. Sorry the song turned out kinda "screamo", but that's just where I'm at lately

I pretty much gave up redoing parts, despite some pitch and tempo issues. I'm just ready to move on to something else, so pardon the off notes and missed beats.

Battle Scar Gigantica-001.mp3

I saw the making of this on your youtube. Sorry I missed it before. Good thing for youtube!

I think this is awesome. Musically it has a Pixies feel to it and that's A-OK with me. The sounds are all good and you did a stellar job on the kit with one mic. I love the snare for this. Awesome job dude.

[Tadpui]

I saw the making of this on your youtube. Sorry I missed it before. Good thing for youtube!

I think this is awesome. Musically it has a Pixies feel to it and that's A-OK with me. The sounds are all good and you did a stellar job on the kit with one mic. I love the snare for this. Awesome job dude.

Aw thanks a ton Greg! With the snare, I actually used a tuning trick that you turned me onto a few years ago. This is the first time I've actually tried it though. It's where you just loosen the 2 lugs closest to you in order to tune it down. I had it at a "normal" tuning and didn't like the sound of it, so I wanted to tune it down. That was going to be a chore, but I remembered that video that you'd linked me to a long time ago and gave it a try. I'll be danged, it worked like a charm!

[Greg_L]

Aw thanks a ton Greg! With the snare, I actually used a tuning trick that you turned me onto a few years ago. This is the first time I've actually tried it though. It's where you just loosen the 2 lugs closest to you in order to tune it down. I had it at a "normal" tuning and didn't like the sound of it, so I wanted to tune it down. That was going to be a chore, but I remembered that video that you'd linked me to a long time ago and gave it a try. I'll be danged, it worked like a charm!

Ha yeah, there is a name for that type of tuning - I forget what it is - but it does work.

[JD01]

Totally missed this! Hopefully log on and have a listen later.

[CrowsofFritz]

NICE [mention]Tadpui[/mention] That set was recorded with just one mic? It sounds great!

[JD01]

Here's what I ended up with. The mic I picked was an AKG C414 XLS, since it's relatively neutral and is multi-pattern. All of the tracks are through my BAE 1073 preamp, since I've only got one of those and I could use it every time. And I pushed the preamp hard on just about everything.

I learned a lot about this mic in the process. Excellent on a bass amp, admirable on a drum kit. Terrible on electric guitars and "meh" on vocals. There is so much EQ happening in this project LOL. And obviously a lot of compression. Like, so much compression. And it shows. Sorry the song turned out kinda "screamo", but that's just where I'm at lately

I pretty much gave up redoing parts, despite some pitch and tempo issues. I'm just ready to move on to something else, so pardon the off notes and missed beats.

Battle Scar Gigantica-001.mp3

Tad - I've only just got around to listening to this after catching up with your YouTube video this morning.
I think this is excellent - does have a real Pixies feel. You've taken the limitation of the challenge and used it to really get creative and do something good - which I suppose is what this is all about!

[JD01]

That's a really solid mix. I would not have assumed that it's a single mic!

I agree - that's the main thing that struck me about it. It sounds really full and lush.
I don't give a shit about the timing wobbles in [mention]Tadpui[/mention] 's drumming either - its a good song.

[Tadpui]

Tad - I've only just got around to listening to this after catching up with your YouTube video this morning.
I think this is excellent - does have a real Pixies feel. You've taken the limitation of the challenge and used it to really get creative and do something good - which I suppose is what this is all about!

Thanks JD, much appreciated! When I came up with the bass part, I listened back to it and thought "this is 'Where Is My Mind' but on bass" I agree, these challenges get me to thinkng about things differently and I've really been enjoying doing these so far. Of course, I've still gotta do my mashup song from Steve's previous challenge

Cheers!

[Tadpui]

NICE @Tadpui That set was recorded with just one mic? It sounds great!

Hey thanks Crows! Yeah, the drum set was 1 mic along with the rest of the tracks. I put a photo up a couple of pages back...it was right up in the middle of the kit. It definitely turned out better than I though that it would!

[heatmiser]

Ok, so here's my attempt.

To heighten the challenge I chose a behringer C-2 SDC (one half of a $60 matched pair of overheads lol).
I haven't used this mic in years - back when I had a drum kit, and I don't think I've ever used it for anything else.

I decided to do a cover since I didn't feel like writing a song (hope that's ok). This is "Yes, I'm Changing" by Tame Impala.

Results are mixed, but it was super fun to do, and I'm glad that this challenge got me motivated to try some new things.

[Tadpui]

[mention]heatmiser[/mention] man that's solid! Great mix, and I love the original song that you covered here as well. that was a great album.

The acoustic guitars really shine through when they need to, and I like the vocals. The bass was awesome, it was a unique sound. What are you using for drums here? They fit right in.

[musicturtle]

[mention]heatmiser[/mention] really nice.

Your vocals sound great. Really like the effects you have on the vocals.

[heatmiser]

@heatmiser man that's solid! Great mix, and I love the original song that you covered here as well. that was a great album.

The acoustic guitars really shine through when they need to, and I like the vocals. The bass was awesome, it was a unique sound. What are you using for drums here? They fit right in.

Hey - thanks Tad! I really enjoyed your song and recording, and when I heard it I was kinda like, "man, I wish I'd written something for this", but I was already too far into it.

As I think you said on your track, I really had to spend time doing drastic EQ carving to get all these things captured with the same damn mic to stand out from one another. That, and a shit ton of compression.

Drums are an empty 5 gallon bucket with a plastic coffee can lid taped to the top, struck with a screwdriver wrapped in a glove for a kick.
Snare is an empty paint can with about 20 pennies resting on top, with a piece of cloth taped over it to deaden the "snares" lol.