Recording Challenge #5 (One Condensor Mic!)

[liv_rong]

@liv_rong That's great as well. Guitars sound great through that mic. Where'd you end up sticking the mic for the drums?

Thanks man! I put the mic kind about 6 feet away from the kit at about the same height of my cymbals aimed slightly down towards my snare and also crooked horizontally so if you drew a line from my mic it would cross over my kick and end at my snare. Mic was closer to the ride side.

[Greg_L]

[mention]CrowsofFritz[/mention] [mention]liv_rong[/mention]

Great job guys, both of you.

[liv_rong]

Thanks [mention]Greg_L[/mention]

I had actually considered getting the mic closer and adding a snare track to the project but decided this was it. Also considered adding a bunch of other stuff(I did actually use a shaker on this and put little jingle bell ring things on both the hats and ride) but am saving that for the acoustic challenge if that happens.

[mention]Tadpui[/mention] here is a pic of how I mic'd the drums. My thinking was keep the kick and snare as center as possible and hope for the best. This was a one shot attempt at mic placement for everything. I actually kept the same height for all sources. For example, when I recorded the amps I kept the mic back about the same distance in these pictures and then aimed it just below the speakers.

[Greg_L]

My thinking was keep the kick and snare as center as possible and hope for the best.

You know there is no "center" with a mono track. You could have put that mic anywhere and everything would still be centered. The only real consideration with a single mic on a drum kit is how much of which piece of the kit do you want to catch the most. You can move the mic to sort of "mix" the mono capture for more kick, more snare, or whatever. It just takes some trial and error.

[musicturtle]

Cool idea [mention]liv_rong[/mention] with the mic placement being the same height. Almost like if you were standing there listening.

I think the drums sound pretty good. Always think there would be too much cymbal with a setup like this but that's not really the case case.

On another note, I really like your setup there as a studio. Looks like a really cool place to record.

[Lt. Bob]

still can't upload mp3s to the site .

EDIT: have a workaround .... yay .... actually I'm dumb to not have done this right off the bat .... shame on poor old dumb me!

[CrowsofFritz]

Sounds good [mention]liv_rong[/mention]!

Also, I think you have to say his name three times before he appears.

[mention]WhiskeyJack[/mention] [mention]WhiskeyJack[/mention] [mention]WhiskeyJack[/mention]

[liv_rong]

My thinking was keep the kick and snare as center as possible and hope for the best.

You know there is no "center" with a mono track. You could have put that mic anywhere and everything would still be centered. The only real consideration with a single mic on a drum kit is how much of which piece of the kit do you want to catch the most. You can move the mic to sort of "mix" the mono capture for more kick, more snare, or whatever. It just takes some trial and error.

You know, I knew/know that, but didnt even think of that, if that makes sense lol I basically wanted to make sire I was getting enough snare and kick projection from the front but not direct.

[mention]musicturtle[/mention] thanks man! I want to do a little video of my set up and show off all the little things I've done to make it work for me.

[Lt. Bob]

must be nice to have a drumbset.

And a good looking one at that!

[CrowsofFritz]

And an acoustically treated room.

[Lt. Bob]

cleaning up now that the workaround isn't needed.
The file is now with the appropriate post just below.

And actually Shan, when you see this you can just delete this particular post.

[Lt. Bob]

First the excuses ..... I wasn't going for perfection ...... 'good enough' was all I was after .... there are things I'd change but this was for fun and I had fun so that was my goal.
Like Liv, I see things like this as an experiment rather than as something I want to be perfect to put on a CD.

It was all done with a MXL 9001 SDC I've had for at least 10 years and never used. Found out I like it quite a bit.
Ran it into an Art Prochannel channel strip into the recorder.
I set it on a mic stand and never moved it ..... didn't do any testing of different positions ..... didn't try to get the guitars in any particular position.
Didn't even think about it ..... put it where it was and took the first sound I got.
I did tilt it down a bit for the guitars and up a bit for the vox and back down a bit for the sax .... but that's it ..... stayed a couple of feet from it.
As I say in the song "Just threw up a mic in their vicinity and said that's good enough for me ".
Only time I moved it was to close mike the guitar and bass thru a Kustom 66 Dart practice amp with a 6 1/2" speaker.

I did the percussion first (wish I'd done it slightly slower) .... slapping a briefcase for the kick plus wine glass/ cabasa/ tambourine ( I have no drums ) ..... and then wrote the song basically stream of consciousness to the rhythm track.
Played a first rhythm part and just played and the third time thru didn't make any mistakes so that was the song, whatever it was.
Did that on a Norman B20 hand made in the wilds of Canada.
Then I used my Takamine EF381C (black )12-string for the other git.

Then I just sang whatever I could quickly come up with ... the lyrics ended up being about recording the song ... lol It was quick and easy.
Wrote the words as I was coming up with the melody and then added the harmonies.
I was a bit shocked at how much my voice has gone away from 1 1/2 months of not singing ...... I'll have to set up a practice regime.

Then I added the bass ..... I almost didn't put a bass on it at all but I'm glad I did.
Finally I did the sax which I haven't been playing (also alluded to in song) today and mixed it.
Mixer is a Mackie 1604 VLZ Pro and all effects are hardware .... no puter/no plug-ins.

I'm glad I did this ..... I miss recording plus I discovered my mixer has channels out so I'll have to do something about this.

But this was fun ....... maybe next week I'll try another.

https://therecordingrebels.com/viewtopi ... =20&t=2860

[Greg_L]

putting this here since you can't upload MP3s to the challenge forum

Good stuff Boob. Nice smooth sax in there.

[Lt. Bob]

And an acoustically treated room.

and that lamp!

That's an awesome lamp ( I like lights )

[Bill L]

ok ..... here's my workaround .... I'll put the file in the MP3 clinic and a link to it here.
let's do the commenting here though since it is meant for the challenge forum


First the excuses ..... I wasn't going for perfection ...... 'good enough' was all I was after .... there are things I'd change but this was for fun and I had fun so that was my goal.
Like Liv, I see things like this as an experiment rather than as something I want to be perfect to put on a CD.

It was all done with a MXL 9001 SDC I've had for at least 10 years and never used. Found out I like it quite a bit.
Ran it into an Art Prochannel channel strip into the recorder.
I set it on a mic stand and never moved it ..... didn't do any testing of different positions ..... didn't try to get the guitars in any particular position.
Didn't even think about it ..... put it where it was and took the first sound I got.
I did tilt it down a bit for the guitars and up a bit for the vox and back down a bit for the sax .... but that's it ..... stayed a couple of feet from it.
As I say in the song "Just threw up a mic in their vicinity and said that's good enough for me ".
Only time I moved it was to close mike the guitar and bass thru a Kustom 66 Dart practice amp with a 6 1/2" speaker.

I did the percussion first (wish I'd done it slightly slower) .... slapping a briefcase for the kick plus wine glass/ cabasa/ tambourine ( I have no drums ) ..... and then wrote the song basically stream of consciousness to the rhythm track.
Played a first rhythm part and just played and the third time thru didn't make any mistakes so that was the song, whatever it was.
Did that on a Norman B20 hand made in the wilds of Canada.
Then I used my Takamine EF381C (black )12-string for the other git.

Then I just sang whatever I could quickly come up with ... the lyrics ended up being about recording the song ... lol It was quick and easy.
Wrote the words as I was coming up with the melody and then added the harmonies.
I was a bit shocked at how much my voice has gone away from 1 1/2 months of not singing ...... I'll have to set up a practice regime.

Then I added the bass ..... I almost didn't put a bass on it at all but I'm glad I did.
Finally I did the sax which I haven't been playing (also alluded to in song) today and mixed it.
Mixer is a Mackie 1604 VLZ Pro and all effects are hardware .... no puter/no plug-ins.

I'm glad I did this ..... I miss recording plus I discovered my mixer has channels out so I'll have to do something about this.

But this was fun ....... maybe next week I'll try another.

https://therecordingrebels.com/viewtopi ... =20&t=2860

Sounded great boob. I loved the sax solo. Fun tune.

[musicturtle]

That is great[mention]Lt. Bob[/mention]

Good lyric

Good clean sound.

Funny, you sang about getting out your acoustics for this one, and I put mine away.

[Lt. Bob]

putting this here since you can't upload MP3s to the challenge forum

Good stuff Boob. Nice smooth sax in there.

thanks man ..... the details on the recording are in the original thread ... I don't own drums so it's various things around the room I was beating on.

[Lt. Bob]

That is great@Lt. Bob

Good lyric

Good clean sound.

Funny, you sang about getting out your acoustics for this one, and I put mine away.

Thank you sir.
I haven't played either of them in at least 12 years .... lol .... they're ready for some new strings!!

[liv_rong]

[mention]Lt. Bob[/mention]

Nice! Awesome work here! I love the feel and tone of that lead line that starts around 1:00, smooth with soul. Nice sax work too. Great sounds all around, very tasteful.

[WhiskeyJack]

putting this here since you can't upload MP3s to the challenge forum
Maybe put your comments in that thread since the only reason it's here is cause MP3s are turned off in the challenge forum

HaHa! Awesome job dude!!! Home run all around. The whole thing is super smooth and a really surprising number of moving parts. More than what i had anticipated hearing anyways. Very happy to hear the sax in here too!!!

Great job. And the mix is also spectacular. I hope this means we get to hear some more stuff from you over the next little bit!