in the studio

steve chase · #1 04-23-2001, 04:46 PM

our band will be recording it`s first cd in the next week or so.i would appreciate any tips or guidance from the more experienced amongst you regarding what equipment to take(it is a small studio,without a lot of gear apart from the obvious essentials)so do i use my amp or go straight into the desk?do i mic or use my pickup(k&k)or both.
we intend to record `live` then correct as required as studio time will be restricted somewhat and to give a live feel to the sound.
all info gratefully received.thanks.......steve.

David Kaczorowski · #2 04-23-2001, 05:30 PM

I've never heard of any reason to take an amp. If the other cats can't hear you w/o it, you'll be in the headphones and it doesn't matter.

As for mic, pick-up, or both...that's a matter of preference. I've never used a pick-up in the studio, but some cats do. Mikes sound most natural, but if you use a pick-up, it's part of your sound, and you might consider using it in the studio too.

Don Higdon · #3 04-23-2001, 06:58 PM

You bring your bass. Everything else is the engineer's job. Everyone will have headphones. You might not even see the drummer. Generally, every mic goes into the board and back out to a console and headphones for each player with an adjustment for each channel (instrument), so each can hear whatever he wants to hear, plus a click track. And more than once, you'll bang your headphones on your tuning keys. If you don't have your own console, the engineer will adjust the balance that you want in your phones.

Bass Boy · #4 04-24-2001, 03:04 AM

Ya Don, I HATE it when I bang my headphones into my tuning keys!!

brianrost · #5 04-24-2001, 08:04 AM

Steve,

Ideally your bass will be miked and that's it. Running a second track with the pickup is OK. The only reason to use the pickup only is it's a low budget quickie session and isolation in the studio is poor

You certainly do not want or need to bring an amp to record ACOUSTIC bass!!!!!

If the engineer has never seen a bass before, suggest two mikes, one pointed between the bridge and the treble f-hole and one aimed at the end of the fingerboard.

Good luck, have fun.

steve chase · #6 04-24-2001, 01:04 PM

Thanks for the input,as isolation may be a problem i think i will leave my pickup installed as a precaution(as far as i can gather the studio is very small).the engineer has (limited)experience with double bass,so he should be okay.he has also seen us live and likes the music,so he will have a good idea of the sound we are trying to acheive.
i have only heard my bass once on a recording,which was a practise session taped with a small cheap `walkman` thing and i was really surprised at the tone and volume it acheived for a modest instrument,so mic`s sound like a really good idea.brian...is the second mic(fingerboard)also aimed at reproducing the note or a combination of string/finger noise? as a couple of the songs/tunes that we aim to record contain an element of `slap`would that second mic pick that up o.k.?
once again thanks for the info.it really helps. steve.

lermgalieu · #7 04-24-2001, 05:03 PM

Actually, you can bring your amp if you want. I have never used mine to record DB, HOWEVER, don't shoot yourself in the foot - if your amp has something you need, even if its just making the signal a little hotter then outputting via XLR, take it to use as a preamp and turn the speaker off. I have found that its really a good idea with DB to take a line off of my K&K/Fishman DI AND a mic'd line and mix them together as need be. I guess my main point is that of course make sure you have a nice raw mic signal, but it doesn't hurt to have another track, even if you throw it away in the end.

BassDude24 · #8 04-24-2001, 06:50 PM

Hey, I would say go ahead and bring the amp just in case. I know that when I have recorded with my DB, I mic it, and send the mic line directly to the board, but also to my amp via splitter. From there I mic the amp, and send a direct line from the amp (post eq). This way I get max. versatility, if you don't like the sound you were getting, then you can check out the tracks you sent in from your amp, since they will have already been filtered. To some, this may seem like a waste of time, but the way I figure , it is worth it, you will have three samples of the same song, each time you do a take.

steve chase · #9 04-26-2001, 01:05 PM

O.K. i`m going to take the whole shooting match and figure it out when i get there.looks like it is set for monday and tuesday next week,i will let you know the results.
thanks for the input. steve.

steve chase · #10 04-30-2001, 05:38 PM

O.K. we did the first session today,all in the same room,each playing into seperate mics and yes it was difficult to hear everything that was going on,those fiddles are so damn loud!
the exercise was to get an almost live feel anyway so i hear what you are saying about energy and a picture of that particular moment.this is a first attempt and budget was a major consideration,luckily the guy whose studio it is, has almost gifted us his time and resources,so we are going to let him have his head and take his advise on the final mix.
the first takes sound surprisingly good (no effects/mixing) so i am looking forward to the final mix.
tomorrow we will add some more tracks and overdub some others with extra instruments,cheating i know, but this is an experiment after all.