#92: Q&A - Priorities, Committing, Gear, Live Recording & Snare Sound

Explicit content warning

11/17/21 • 49 min

"We are recording demos of our next album right now and for some of the songs we have our singer singing into the p.a. and then we mic the p.a.. This results in that "vocal" track being more like a room mic for the drums than the vox. Also because it's recording the speaker it’s incredibly muddy. I know you usually advise against recording vocals live, but for these demos its really helpful to know where the vocals come in and out."

"Why do you double mic the snare? I’ve done it before, but it didn't really work because i don't understand why you would double mic the snare in the first place on a fundamental level."

For full show notes go to: theselfrecordingband.com/92

If you have any questions, feedback, topic ideas or want to suggest a guest, email us at: [email protected]

Send us a text

"Why do you double mic the snare? I’ve done it before, but it didn't really work because i don't understand why you would double mic the snare in the first place on a fundamental level."

For full show notes go to: theselfrecordingband.com/92

If you have any questions, feedback, topic ideas or want to suggest a guest, email us at: [email protected]

Previous Episode

#91: Q&A - Mixing Workflow, Headphones, Vocals, Drums & DIY Mastering

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APPLY FOR A FREE IN-DEPTH 1-ON-1 COACHING CALL WITH BENEDIKT:
https://theselfrecordingband.com/call
Download the free Ultimate 10 Step Guide To Successful DIY-Recording here: https://theselfrecordingband.com/10stepguide
Download the free Essential Gear Guide here:
https://theselfrecordingband.com/gearguide
Join the free Facebook Group ("The Self-Recording Band Community"):
theselfrecordingband.com/community
Benedikt's voice on this episode has been recorded with the Antelope Axino Synergy Core
--
It's time for another Q&A episode!
These are some of the questions and struggles from our community members that we've covered on the show:
"How do you know what decisions to make after you have a basic rough mix?"
"What do you do if you have to work in an untreated room? People have traditionally said to not mix on headphones, but it’s 2021 so maybe that’s not true anymore?"
"I understand some of the basics for balance and gain staging, but I’m sure there's more than just that. I know topics such as “side chain compression” might not be the game changer for a mix, but is there something else people should consider after the balance and gain staging to really make their mix stand out?"
"How do you get the vocals to sit 'in' the mix, but also be clear? And what about the push/pull of compression vs reverb/delay and EQ (I’m using LA2A and 1176 compression as inserts, then reverb and delay as FX channels in Cubase)"
"I'm struggling with getting drum levels right, as I'm not a drummer"
"I have no idea where to start at all, when it comes to mastering. At the moment I just have a mastering vst on the stereo out."

For full show notes go to: theselfrecordingband.com/91

If you have any questions, feedback, topic ideas or want to suggest a guest, email us at: [email protected]

Next Episode

#93: Q&A - Mixing/Mastering In A Bad Room, Kick Drum PA Feedback, Guitar Pickups

Send us a text

APPLY FOR A FREE IN-DEPTH 1-ON-1 COACHING CALL WITH BENEDIKT:
https://theselfrecordingband.com/call
Download the free Ultimate 10 Step Guide To Successful DIY-Recording here: https://theselfrecordingband.com/10stepguide
Join the free Facebook Group ("The Self-Recording Band Community"):
theselfrecordingband.com/community
Benedikt's voice on this episode has been recorded with the Antelope Axino Synergy Core
--
November 2021 - Q&A - Part 3!
These are some of the questions and struggles from our community members that we've covered on the show:
"I think the problem is trying to do a reasonable job on less than ideal equipment and in an untreated space. I’m sure a lot of people are in the same situation... you find a spare corner of the house to put your desk and your gear and your small monitors for recording, but trying to master on small speakers in a weird shaped room is a bit of a nightmare. I always use references and try not to get sidetracked by loudness, but hearing the low end properly on tiny speakers sucks. I mostly use headphones for recording and mixing (rightly or wrongly it’s what works best for me and the rest of my household) but obviously mastering on headphones isn’t really ideal."
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"Not a 100% recording related issue, but maybe still OK to be discussed: How do I place and set up an internal kick drum mic for a live (recording) session with sending the mic to the p.a. and preventing it from low frequency feedback? We have this issue in our rehearsal space, that the kick is always close to annoying feedbacks. We record the sessions live while rehearsing. And yes, we are loud and yes, the kick needs balls. But maybe you have some "hacks" (TM) what we can try to reduce that? Mic is a Sennheiser 602. No compressor / gate but semi parametric eq on the mixing desk available, that I already tried noodling around with a lot. And we had the same issues with a D112."
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"Whats a good way to achieve humbucker style guitar tones with a single coil guitar? (Without buying a humbucker guitar) Ha ha"
-

For full show notes go to: theselfrecordingband.com/93

If you have any questions, feedback, topic ideas or want to suggest a guest, email us at: [email protected]

The Self-Recording Band - #92: Q&A - Priorities, Committing, Gear, Live Recording & Snare Sound

Transcript

TSRB #92: Q&A - Priorities, Committing, Gear, Live Recording & Snare Sound

[00:00:00] Benedikt: I think we should do that more often. Actually, these are fun episodes and these are really like helpful and actionable and not just the big picture stuff that we usually talk about.

[00:00:08] So,

[00:00:09] Malcom: Yep. I love it. Nitty gritty. And it makes me think about things as well. So loving it.

[00:00:28] <