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GMC Forum _ CHILL OUT _ Recording Rehearsals

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 8 2011, 04:33 PM

Hey guys! After some time we decided to start recording again the rehearsals of my band Cirse and we noticed that we have many things to improve that we weren't noting in the rehearsals in the shows. There is nothing so serious but it can sound better so I'm really happy that we are working on it and sounding better and better every day.

Do you record your band's rehearsals? What's your experience?

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jul 8 2011, 04:39 PM

QUOTE (Gabriel Leopardi @ Jul 8 2011, 04:33 PM) *
Do you record your band's rehearsals? What's your experience?


My experience of watching it back is usually 'That wasn't as bad as I remember it' or 'That was worse than I remember it' laugh.gif

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 8 2011, 05:14 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Jul 8 2011, 12:39 PM) *
My experience of watching it back is usually 'That wasn't as bad as I remember it' or 'That was worse than I remember it' laugh.gif



hahahah those are the most used phrases!

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jul 8 2011, 06:28 PM

QUOTE (Gabriel Leopardi @ Jul 8 2011, 05:14 PM) *
hahahah those are the most used phrases!


Yeah, along with 'Damn, those cymbals are loud !' biggrin.gif

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jul 8 2011, 07:54 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Jul 8 2011, 02:28 PM) *
Yeah, along with 'Damn, those cymbals are loud !' biggrin.gif



hahaha Our sound engineer is always worried about how much the cymbals are catched by the lead vocal mic. Cymbals are alway a problem in small venues.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jul 8 2011, 08:22 PM

QUOTE (Gabriel Leopardi @ Jul 8 2011, 07:54 PM) *
hahaha Our sound engineer is always worried about how much the cymbals are catched by the lead vocal mic. Cymbals are alway a problem in small venues.


Yes... cymbals are the enemy of the guitar signal !! biggrin.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jul 8 2011, 09:07 PM

QUOTE (Gabriel Leopardi @ Jul 8 2011, 08:54 PM) *
hahaha Our sound engineer is always worried about how much the cymbals are catched by the lead vocal mic. Cymbals are alway a problem in small venues.


Hehe, yes this is a general issue with small/medium venues, although sometimes gate/comp on the vocals can help. Usually it's not exactly possible when the mics are 2-3 meters from a big metal plate that gets crashed all the time (damned those drummers!) biggrin.gif


When we played dry on the mixer/headphones, I used my laptop and soundforge to record the mix, it turned out quite well, specially when I mastered it a bit later on.

In studio, situation is tricky in a sense that something will always be louder, so some adjustment is needed. Usually it's the drums that get picked up most..

Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Jul 8 2011, 10:16 PM

I know how much is necessary to record, but I'm always upset after listening to! Hahaha..

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jul 9 2011, 09:09 AM

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Jul 8 2011, 09:07 PM) *
When we played dry on the mixer/headphones, I used my laptop and soundforge to record the mix, it turned out quite well, specially when I mastered it a bit later on.


Did you record a mix straight from the mixer into the laptop ? I'm thinking of recording my band this way soon (at least the drums - then record the rest at home) so I may be asking your advice ! smile.gif

Posted by: tonymiro Jul 9 2011, 12:05 PM

QUOTE (Gabriel Leopardi @ Jul 8 2011, 07:54 PM) *
hahaha Our sound engineer is always worried about how much the cymbals are catched by the lead vocal mic. Cymbals are alway a problem in small venues.


If it's a practice session then position the singer and the mic so that the deadspot faces the monitors. It helps here if you don't use omni directional mics and so can adjust the pattern. You can also add some acoustic screening (hang a couple of blankets etc from the ceiling) around the singer and use a reflection screen if you have one.

If it's live then try and position the amps etc so they don't face the singer's mic directly and if you can give them in ear monitoring (if not make sure their monitor points at the mic's deadspot). If you do this then hopefully the vocal monitor won't be picked up (too much) as spill on the drums and so you can always re-record the vocals separtely and cleanly later without the original vocals bleeding over.

Ben - one thing to be careful of is that you have a balanced system and no earth loops to avoid hum, noise shorts etc. Double check all the connections as you can kill the feed to the live desk and PA if you have a short circuit in your loop. Ideally you should use transformer isolated mic splitters. Also be conservative with your levels - allow quite a bit of headroom for peaks and it might be helpful to put a limiter on just in case. Otherwise aim for clean and clear and leave any mixing decisions (ie EQ and compression) to later.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jul 9 2011, 12:32 PM

QUOTE (tonymiro @ Jul 9 2011, 12:05 PM) *
Ben - one thing to be careful of is that you have a balanced system and no earth loops to avoid hum, noise shorts etc. Double check all the connections as you can kill the feed to the live desk and PA if you have a short circuit in your loop. Ideally you should use transformer isolated mic splitters. Also be conservative with your levels - allow quite a bit of headroom for peaks and it might be helpful to put a limiter on just in case. Otherwise aim for clean and clear and leave any mixing decisions (ie EQ and compression) to later.


Sure thing Tony, will do.... really silly question but if I'm just feeding a stereo mix out of the (unpowered) mixer to the computer, will I still need the amp to run it ?

Posted by: tonymiro Jul 9 2011, 12:56 PM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Jul 9 2011, 12:32 PM) *
Sure thing Tony, will do.... really silly question but if I'm just feeding a stereo mix out of the (unpowered) mixer to the computer, will I still need the amp to run it ?


Depends on the pc's interface Ben. The stereo main out and bus outs from the desk should be line level and if your interface is ok with that you should be good to go. All a powered live mixer does is add a power amp into the console for passive PA monitors.

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