Rehearsal Recording - Todd is Free

Steinberg Lounge
#1

The band got going again with a new drummer. We’re preparing to play at a party in July. This is a recording of a rehearsal from a couple weeks ago, into my old laptop using Cubase 4.5; subsequently mixed on Cubase 8 on my deskside machine. The laptop and Steinberg MR816MRX go in one backpack; the mics and cables in another. A portable studio!

The room is small. There are four mics on the drums - two overheads, one on snare, one on kick. The guitar amp has one mic on it. The congas have one mic. The bass and keyboards are direct in, from amplifier line-outs. Altogether, that uses up all 8 of the inputs on the MR816MRX. There is no isolation in the room, so there is plenty of bleed in the overheads. I was able to do some limited editing since we recorded it twice, but basically it’s a live take. I’m playing on a Les Paul Studio Deluxe. The song is a take of one of the numbers I wrote for the album linked in my signature.

Hope you enjoy, and feel free to comment on the recording methodology and mix here.

Find it here, at the top of the list.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=777775&content=music

#2

a nice little jam… a clean good mix!

#3

Considering how you recorded this it sounds great…nice tight playing, would’ve enjoyed being there during the performance…
clearly some very accomplished muso’s in that room…some nice ‘‘space’’ when you stopped playing for a sec…
my only small gripe is I would’ve liked the guitar in the centre but maybe recording restrictions prevented this…

good work,
best, Kevin

#4

Thanks, Kevin and Ferencz for giving it a listen.

To Kevin, I could have put the guitar in the center, but then I’d need to put the keyboard in the center, and then everything would be in the center. Maybe I should move both instruments closer in to the center? Maybe there are good ways to have both in the center and still have a stereo image? I do have delays on both the instruments, by the way, that go to the opposite side. Appreciate any thoughts here.

#5

Hi Early…for me GTR at 11 o’clock and piano at 1 o’clock would be a more comfortable listen…in my very humble opinion…

best, Kevin

#6

Leave it as is in my opinion.

#7

That’s very cool - nice playing by everyone and good recording - your four mikes have given you a good drum sound. What guitar amp are you using?

Steve.

#8

Hey Steve, glad you liked it. The amp I’m using is my Egnater Rebel 30. It’s over at the practice location, and I often don’t see it for months. I used the Les Paul, but I think it didn’t sound quite right for this one, and will use the Stratocaster next time. Or at least that’s my thinking right now, could change!

#9

Very interesting - you get a nice clean but creamy tone on this and with the addition of the Stetsbar it sounds good, but it would be good to hear this with a Strat. There’s something about the nuances of a Strat type tone with less overdriven amp tones. Your use of whammy with the Les Paul really opens up the sound/versatility, to my ears. (I’ve recently put a Stetsbar on my Washburn 335 copy - really has improved it.)

Steve.

#10

Quite happy with the Stetsbar, although the fact that it is so light means it’s a little more difficult to tune and keep in tune. Advantage Strat, thanks to the straight lines to the tuning pegs. On this number, I think the sounds favor the Strat, but on other numbers the LP is much more ballsy. These are fun problems to have! My ES-335, btw, is the only guitar I have without a whammy bar, and I do have to think about adding a Stetsbar.

#11

This is FAR better recording than a rehearsal I recorded of my band a few weeks ago! You could teach me a thing or two! I ended up with drums in everything - overpowering the entire mix. I know this has been mixed but in comparison to my experience I’m guessing you had some pretty clean tracks to work with.

Good job! :slight_smile:

#12

Hi Ian, yes, the tracks were pretty clean. Both the bass and the piano were line-in rather than mic’d, so they were clean. The guitar amp was close mic’d and didn’t get a lot of drums in them. The drums and percussion got a lot of bleed from the other instruments, but I think it helped give the band a coherent sound. I did typical processing on the drums, mainly compression, and then balancing the overheads with the other mics (mainly lower in the mix than you might think). Then for guitar and piano, just used my usual tricks, of which I am sure I could learn a lot more. What I’ve found to be maybe the most important factor, though, is that the drummer is really pretty good, and he is balancing his own instruments superbly, as well as right on time. I think problems in that area are hard to fix in the mix!

#13

excellent playing and wonderful mix Leon i think it shows with the limited gear you had that simplicity can work wonders ,if you said you had done it in a studio with all the full works i wouldn`t have batted an eye.quirky stuff as usual from you but distinct style .The middle bit with the echo reminded me of an Hendrix track where he ran scales in a similar way creating a “church bells” type lick, or was it “lazy sunday afternoon” i dunno . good stuff.

#14

Polgara, thanks for listening. In a real studio, I guess we would have all been isolated and listened to each other through headphones. In this situation, there’s a lot of spill into the drum mics, which gives a character that I don’t get in my demo versions. Whether it’s a good character or not, that’s up to the audience! But, there’s little room for mistakes.

#15

really good recording and mix. Good playing also. The tune has a strange chord progression but the arrangement and chosen sounds fit well to it Well done.

#16

Thanks, Peter. All I’m trying to do is have strange chord progressions! Just glad there are a couple of local guys here who are willing to play it.

#17

Man I haven’t been here for forum to listen in too long. You are always killing me with creativity, love the Caribbean feel.
Kenny

#18

Thanks, Kenny, you’ve been missed!

#19

Am happy for Todd. For how long was the poor bugger incarcerated?
He sounds pleased to be out.

But…really…is that the best you guys can do?

There are way too many correct notes.


Bloody brilliant boyo. :wink:

However, I think the guitarist should pull his head in about 2dB. :laughing:

#20

Absolutely incredible. Damn, I miss playing with others. Very nice recording / mix, considering what you were working with. I still pull up your “Incontinental Breakfast” and have a listen from time to time. Very refreshing version of a tune I am well familiar with.