Sometimes I like to setup false limitations when recording or mixing to push my creativity. My band’s most recent recording was such an experiment. I purposely wanted to record us all live, at one time. This of course would be opposed to recording each band member, one at a time, overdubbing our way to a final product.
Use Nothing But My Interface
The challenge was this: record all four of us using nothing more than my laptop and an 8 channel audio interface. To make this even more “realistic” for the home studio user, we set up shop in a living/dining room of a house. No treated studio space. Just laminate floors, glass windows, and dry wall. Yay!
We miked up the drum kit using the recorderman technique with addition of a kick drum mic. This took up 3 inputs on my interface. The bass guitar was run direct. The electric guitar amp was miked up in the kitchen down the hall. The acoustic guitar was both miked AND run direct (taking two channels), and my vocals took up the final channel. The reasoning behind recording both the miked and direct guitar sound was mostly to help the mixing process. If I needed more acoustic in the mix but didn’t want to also inadvertently turn up the vocals and drums (bleeding into the mic) I could simply turn up some of the direct guitar signal. It’s not a perfect system, but that’s the whole point of this stripped down setup.
Things Went Pretty Quickly
We took an entire morning to setup, get levels, and experiment with mic placement for optimal sound and minimal bleed. Coming back from a lunch break, we were ready to rehearse one final time, tweak our headphone mixes, and then record two takes of each song. We then laid down a few “gang vocals” and clap tracks to fill things out a bit. That was it!
When it came time to mix, things went pretty quick as you can imagine. I literally listened through to both takes of a song, picked our strongest performance, fixed any glaring performance issues (some basic comping as it were), and then laid down some additional vocals back at the studio. I knew I wanted some doubles and harmonies so I overdubbed as necessary as well as re-recording any vocal parts where the drum bleed was overly annoying or destructive to the mix. I also laid down a few quick organ parts and percussion loops to sweeten the mixes a bit.
What I Learned
I learned a few things in this experiment: that you can get a monster drum sound out of 3 mics, that the simpler you record the faster you’ll mix, and that drums are really loud when you have to stand next to them in a small room. But likely the biggest thing I took away from it was this: there’s just something magical about getting some guys together in room with instruments and some mics, pressing record and letting things rip!
Comments
great job graham, got a copy of the ep. i do have a couple of questions about the setup. you mentioned in the video that a condensor mic wasn’t a good choice for the vocal because of bleed. Was the editors keys vocal booth not able to help with that and what brand of acoustic guitar did you use? What you captured with this recording is what is missing from a lot of recordings these days. Thanks for being such a great inspiration.
The drums sound great. I just saw a great segment with Eric Valentine where he talked about the drums on the Queens of the Stone Age album Songs for the Deaf. He says that there were only four mics used on Dave’s kit. Now Eric mostly uses ONE mic. One. Crazy. He’s able to bring out the full range of the kit with custom built EQ on a console he built (Undertone Audio). Crazy.
Great post! love the whole live band thing, capturing chemistry on the record!
quick questions,
What’s the big blue sheet behind the acoustic guitar and vocal mic?
Noah, it’s just a blanket I stole from one of the bedrooms in the house
nice job graham.. i liked the tune a lot and the video was interesting to watch.
only negative i could say was that i thought the drums were too upfront in the verses,, but that’s a matter of personal taste.
how long did it take you to complete the whole album ?
thanks again for all the advice and knowledge shared on your site.
you n joe gilder n russ are always on my must visit today list.
well, god bless n good luck from a very rainy johannesburg.
cavemanrocker
We recorded it on that one day. I mixed it over 2 or 3 days and that was it!
Graham! You’re a real inspiration! Man I can’t wait to record again after watching this!
Defianetly gonna try that recordman setup on drums next time. They sound great!
Quick question: How was the mastering process for the songs, did you master them and if so how? or did you send em to professionals?
Simon, I mastered them myself. After we were pleased with the mixes I put them into a mastering session in Pro Tools like I always do.
Great video! Thanks for the inspiration, now I want do record my band’s next EP in my bedroom =)
Great experience, great result, great inspiration!
Thanx, Graham!
Graham – AWESOME job! Great sounding instruments and you guys played what needs to be played in order to sound good! The keys sounded right in place as well!
Keep the videos coming – it’s going GREAT! I offer you my help in whatever shape or form I can… I’ve worked for some great artists in the christian scene here in Miami lately… Also just recorded live with the Miami Worship Choir here and the CD just came out! Recording live with the musicians in front of you is a completely different experience that everyone should go through. You are inspiring other bands and acts to do so with your recording!
Like the keyboard that you are using!
Talk to you soon!
Bhooks – Yeah, the condenser was just being dominated by the drums in the room. Could have used the portable vocal booth, but it would have blocked my field of vision with our drummer. And we used a KEL HM-2d on the acoustic.
Great stuff Graham. I too use the Liquid 56, just out of curiosity. What Liquid pre’s were you using on the vocals and acoustic guitar?
Many thanks,
Greg
Hi Greg – I honestly don’t remember. Might have used the “Old Tube” settings on both. Who knows!
Hey, I just downloaded this and burnt a copy for my mother as a early Christmas gift and we listened to it while we decorated our tree. Great performance and renditions of those songs. Hopefully you take this as a compliment, I felt a strong Third Eye Blind vibe from the instrument and vocal arrangements. Great job.
Hey Graham! I actually found your page while doing research on the Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56. I have been trying to catch up for the last few weeks on many of your insights. I have actually been a little curious about something. You have said in an earlier post that large diaphragm mics around $99 will work perfectly for home studios. I have been wondering if you have ever published a list of equipment that you own just to show how you have upgraded over time. Would you mind compiling a grand list of all your equipment?
Thanks for all your thoughts so far! I look forward to upcoming posts.
Hi Matt – Glad you found the site. I don’t usually care to make a “grand list” of what gear I’m using because I don’t feel that it’s the gear that makes the difference. I’ll use whatever is available, affordable, dependable, easy to use, and sounds good. Still using some of my $99 mics from 10 years ago
What microphones did you use on all inputs?
Used a pair of Kel HM-1s for overheads, a Behringer B1 on the kick drum, Kel HM-2d on the acoustic, Shure SM 57 on electric guitars and vocals.
didn’t know where else to post this question, but the question came about as I was watching this video. I have a macbook also. Are there any tips to help optimize recording? Between recording and mixing my songs, I always have problems with my processor when working on music.
Mario – It really depends on your CPU and what DAW you are using. Each system has their own set of tweaks that can help.
Thanks Graham keep em coming