Recording question...

Todd Weger · From: Safety Harbor, FLAUSA

My hapa-haole trio, Haole Kats!!! is going to do a recording project over the next week or two. Our concept is to do a selection of familiar hapa-haole tunes in a very casual sounding format like it would be if we were with friends on the beach playing acoustically with upright bass, 'ukulele and resonator (tuned to either C6, A6 or B11). We want it to have a very backyard vibe, if possible, yet have good fidelity (i.e., not like just a Radio Shack mic stuck in a corner)!

How would you mic this, if you were doing this project? We thought about putting one or two condensers on the uke, one or two on the reso, and go direct with the bass out of the pre-amp, plus a bass mic. Then, we can blend these to get the best sound. We'll all add our vocals later.

Basically, it will be "live," except for adding the vocals later for better separation. I have a home studio, and while OK, it is what it is.

Thanks for any help/advice.

TJW

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Todd James Weger/RD/RTD
1956 Fender Stringmaster T-8 (C6, A6, B11); 1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (C6, B11/A6); Chandler RH-4 Koa semi-hollow lapsteel (open G); Regal resonator (open D or G)

Patrick Newbery · From: San Francisco, California, USA

If you want a real backyard, authentic vibe, I'd use one stereo mike in the center of a large room. position the bass, uke and guitar at different distances from the mike (and each other) to get the volume, balance, and separation you want. you can also use an additional pair of contact mikes on surfaces to get more room ambience. if all instruments have pick-ups, you could also have them go direct and then mix them in as need for clarity.

the central mike technique is often used (Cowboy Junkies first lp) to get good live room ambience, and is also the way alot of loder stuff was done (when they only had two tracks to record to anyway).

[This message was edited by Patrick Newbery on 06 June 2005 at 03:17 PM.]

Jeff Au Hoy · From: Honolulu, Hawai'i

I am a big fan of Patrick's idea.

I think separation is both overemphasized and overdone in today's recordings. I enjoy the older recordings so much more because of their lack of separation. That doesn't necessarily mean low-fi to me.

Randy Reeves · From: LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA

interesting. when I record casual jams with my mini disc recorder I place the stereo mike in the center of the room.

not only does the mike sufficently pick up all the instruments it captures the room ambience.

for the most part I dont have a problem with the quality in that the recording has an authenticity of what we actually sounded like.

it isnt high quality CD like separation. more a natural blending and natural to the ear.

this method, I think, would give you the ambience you are looking for.

the simplicity is nice an the rsults are better than one would hope.

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

Personally I don't care for the sound of most stereo mics, so I use 2 ribbon mics facing at 90%. This gives you a fuller, richer sound and you can use some really nice mics that sound wonderful with acoustic instruments. A couple of the bluegrass bands hereabouts took that advice from me and have been very pleased with the quality of their home recordings.

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MSA Classic 12, Peavey Delta Blues, Proco Rat, Robert Randolph - Shubb bars

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

The best casual but great sounding acoustic recording I've done was at my friend Garry Shelton's studio. He is the unquestioned best acoustic engineer here in Seattle (and he has the Grammy to prove it). The following recording was done with 4 instruments: acoustic guitar, and three dobros (myself, Orville Johnson, and Darrick Campbell). The four of us sat in a circle and a single mike was used for each instrument. The position of the players and the miking was designed for 'musical bleed'. There was plenty of bleed, but it really worked. I believed Garry used a couple of different ribbon mikes on the dobros, a large condensor on one of the dobros, and a small condensor on the guitar. Here's a sample: Sample acousting recording

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www.tyack.com

Todd Weger · From: Safety Harbor, FLAUSA

Hey Kidz!

Thanks for the advice and comments. We recorded on Tuesday and Thursday of this week (one of the guys only has those days available), and it's been working out pretty well, for the most part.

We ended up putting a large diaphragm condenser Studio Projects C1 (http://www.studioprojectsusa.com/c1.html) over the reso plate, along with an ADK SC-1 condenser on the resonator pointed at the neck/body joint. We used another large diaphragm condenser (can't remember name of it) on the concert 'ukulele, and took the bass direct from a K&K preamp. However, the acoustic tone of the bass also bled through into the other mics just about right, so that the direct signal is used mostly to add a little more clarity and definition.

So far, we have put down:

1. Southsea Lullibies
2. Palms
3. On A Little Bamboo Bridge
4. Little Grass Shack
5. Little Brown Gal
6. Luau
7. Lovely Hula Hands

We had hoped to have more, but because I need to learn how to play the steel, I keep #@&%ing up perfectly good takes, and usually right at the end of a 3-1/2 minute tune. D'oh! We finally have decided we will NEVER get a perfect take, so let's do a bunch, and just go with the best ones -- warts 'n all.

We have two or three more sessions to add about 5-7 more tunes to be finished. We tried to set it up to keep any "mixing" down to a bare minimum, and keep the feel very live and as natural as possible. So far, we're pretty pleased with what we have, especially in light of the limitations we have.

I highly recommend the Studio Projects C1 mic, if you have a project studio at home. You get about 10x more soundwise than the $200 pricetag. It's a very nice mic for the money, and is downright scary if you have great mic pre's, and a great system set up with something like ProTools (I have neither - d'oh!).

I don't have a way to get files uploaded into my PC yet, but will somehow figure out a way to post something here soon.

Anyway, thanks again for all the help and advice!

Aloha pumehana,
TJW

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Todd James Weger/RD/RTD
1956 Fender Stringmaster T-8 (C6, A6, B11); 1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (C6, B11/A6); Chandler RH-4 Koa semi-hollow lapsteel (open G); Regal resonator (open D or G)

Dave Boothroyd · From: Staffordshire Moorlands

There are a couple of other options.
The ultimate would be a Soundfield mic. http://www.soundfield.com/soundfield/soundfield.php
That is what professionals in the BBC or people who make field recording for classical labels such as Nimbus use.
These are unbelivably good for the Backyard anbience.
I have an example on my desk of two recordings of the same group of guitar, fiddle, double bass and djembe.
One was done with an AT stereo mic- and it sounds good -until you hear the recording done with the Soundfield!
The other thing you might like to have a go at- at far less expense, is Binaural.
A student of mine did some fabulous field recordings of the music of the Bao people of Bangladesh using a portable hard disk recorder and a set of head-worn binaural mics. It gives you the opportunity to turn to "look" at the solo player!

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Cheers!
Dave

[This message was edited by Dave Boothroyd on 11 June 2005 at 01:29 AM.]

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