Recording with a big band

Ben Rose · #1 03-21-2005, 11:34 AM

I haven't found this topic in another thread yet, so hopefully I'm not duplicating efforts here.

Does anybody have tips for recording with a big band? I'll be recording another CD with my big band this May, but in the past I have used the slab. At least some of the songs on this recording will be on DB. Hopefully I will have something that I can submit to TB when all is said and done.

We record in a large high school band room. The band sets up in a large square facing inwards. In the past, every instrument has been mic'd separately and a DI has been taken from the guitar & bass. I set up between the drummer and the guitarist. Can I still set up in this situation without getting too much bleed from the drums, assuming the upright is mic'd, which I would prefer? How can I balance being loud enough in the room for the rest of the band, while still not sounding overly amplified on the recording? Should I just use the sound of the pickup (Schertler Stat-B)? One song will feature the bass as the melody instrument. Should I track the bass separately for this song, at least for the head and solo?

Ed Fuqua · #2 03-21-2005, 11:43 AM

Unfortunatly, that's not the optimum arangement for making a recording. If you mic the upright, there will need to be baffles (gobos) set up to minimise bleed. If you're recording multi track, volume won't be a problem cause everyone should have a seperate headphone mix. My assumption is (because you guys are going for low budget venue) that you're going to be going direct to 2 track. In which case - no seperate monitor mix and you/re going to need to be heard by the rest of the band in as "live" a manner as possible, with the trade off being a sacrifice in the sound quality of the bass.

I've never been happy with the sound of the pick up direct into the board, the live to 2 stuff that I've done most was just dry (mic on the bass), some was a direct out of the amp (ugly).

Best of luck.

Monte · #3 03-21-2005, 12:45 PM

While not ideal, have the engineer mess around with you going direct from your Stat B. It is not as good as the Dyn B for direct recording (I've had a lot of luck with it going direct), but it is not a piezo and not as harsh as most pickups direct. If he is a good engineer, I'd be willing to bet he can get a usable sound.

Monte

Ben Rose · #4 03-21-2005, 01:25 PM

We are multi-tracking (48 track I think), but we will not get our own headphone mix, or any headphones at all. So, yes, I need to be heard as in a live capacity, although the recording sessions are typically at a lower volume than live. I imagine that if I want baffles, I'll have to supply my own. Without headphones I may end up pretty isolated from the rest of the rhythm section.

Has anyone tried recording with a small condenser mic like an ATM pro35 or similar? That may sound better than a pickup, and should not have as much bleed as a standard condenser mic, but I'm not sure what level of noise will be in the signal. I'm trying to avoid shelling out big bucks on an ATM right now.