This week Jon tells us how to tighten up a performance in a song and Ryan discusses piano micing.
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The Home Recording Show
The Internet's Best Home Recording Podcast
This week Jon tells us how to tighten up a performance in a song and Ryan discusses piano micing.
Links:
Really a great podcast. I am a composer and hearing from the perspective of audio engineers.
James Guglielmo
Thanks so much for the kind words James.
Hey guys. I’ve been listening to your show for quite a while now, I’ve dug through your archives a bit, and there are a couple of questions I have, that may be of interest to other people.
1) How do you handle bleedover on drum tracks? I have taken on the task of my band’s new album this time around, and everything sounds fantastic, but I want COMPLETE separation of the drum tracks. I am the drummer, and that’s what I want. Mostly I am having problems with the floor.
2) Have any of you used Sony’s Vegas software? I am asking this, because that’s what I use, that’s what I stand by, and while Pro Tools has some useful qualities that Vegas does not, it also works both ways, and I like the layout of Vegas much better, among other things.
Background) I’ve been a drummer for 24 years now, and I just turned 28, and yes, I have ACTUALLY been playing since I was 4. I got my first drumset when I was 4, and the day I got it, I learned how to play shout at the devil, then, VERY quickly moved onto RUSH, YES, King Crimson etc.
I have been using Vegas Recording software since Vegas 3, now I’m using Vegas Pro 9.0. I also used to use a Gina & Layla breakout boxes, but now also own a Tascam SX-1 which is what I track with, and while it has a lot of great features, i just dump the tracks on my computer, when i’m done i dump the finished tracks back onto the SX-1 for mixing levels and mastering.
I’ve been around the block, and my grandma used to manage bands back in the 80’s, so i’ve been around the live and recording aspect of bands for a VERY long time. All this, just so you don’t think i’m a schmuck.
Thanks guys, keep up the informative podcasts,
-duane
If you are looking for complete isolation recording drums you have three options.
1. Record each drum separately. Record kick, then take another pass for snare… and so on.
2. Sample replace all of your drum hits with something like Drumagog Slate Digital Trigger Drum Replacement.
3. Use an electronic drum kit.
Anything beyond that, you are going to have some bleed. I personally like the bleed. I know it is going to be there and I find ways to make it work and add to the rest of the tracks.
Good luck and I hope that this helps.
Duane,
Ryan said it best.
Personally, I believe the bleed you get from the drum kit is best. It makes things sound more natural and lively, which will make your overall song better. One thing you can do is really focus on mic placement to get the least amount of bleed you can. Use the mics off axis rejection to your advantage, but still let everything breathe. Just my two cents.
really enjoyed your segment on tightening up a performance. would it be possible for you to post a screen shot of before and after editing for the audio example in the show? i’m curious to see how much editing was done.
keep up the great work!
well, recording each drum individually isn’t really an option for our style of music. i could see that for a standard radio-pop band or even country, something with very simply structured drums. we play a style that has been compared to likes of TOOL, Deftones, Mudvayne etc, so the drums are fairly complex.
i have gotten a few free drum replacement plug-ins, and i realize they’re free so they aren’t going to be nearly as good as the slate, drumagog, or whatever else out there is available. so the ones i have don’t quite get every hit. on top of that there is one track that has an underlying 16th note snare underneath with a solid hit on every 4, and it DEFINATELY doesn’t get that, and that’s sort of what’s keeping from purchasing one of the nicer packages.
electronic kit, not an option at all as i play on a really nice Tama Starclassic kit that i would like to use.
i guess my problem isn’t so much with every drum, it’s really just my snare, it gets waaaaaay to much cymbals. if i go through and edit out all the dead space where there are no hits on the snare, then whenever there is a hit on the snare the cymbals are there, and are really prominent, that’s mostly what i’m trying to get out of.
i only used a snare on the top, and i realize that i can/probably should mic the bottom as well, but i like the sound i get off the top more so than the bottom.
in conclusion, bleedover is fine, but i’m getting way to much in my snare, it’s placement is in the normal spot (i play right-handed) in the top-left portion pointing about 3 inches from the rim.
i did see on my new Between the Buried and Me DVD that their engineer used foam bedding stuff cut up into squares and placed them around the mic to reduce bleedover, it obviously worked for them, have you ever tried it? do you think it’s worth a shot? i think it’s a fantastic idea!
thanks again for the help fellas!
-duane