recording band w/one mic

[nun lover]

i haven't tried yet, but say in a small room (10'x10') would a condensor mic pick up most sounds of drums, guitar, and bass? this is just for recording those spontaneous ideas during rehearsals.

[Trevorus]

Yeah, a condenser would work well. Get something that works well with high SPL's, if that's how you guys play.

[Big Cadillac]

It would work for recording spontaneous ideas as you mentioned. Don't expect the balance of the instruments, vocals, etc. to be really good. I have been able to get fairly good results using two mics and a sound meter to set the instrument/vocal levels up. This procedure has helped alot with both sound and the balance.

[WalterBush]

Originally Posted by Big Cadillac

It would work for recording spontaneous ideas as you mentioned. Don't expect the balance of the instruments, vocals, etc. to be really good. I have been able to get fairly good results using two mics and a sound meter to set the instrument/vocal levels up. This procedure has helped alot with both sound and the balance.

Of course, a single mic in the middle of the room, coupled with moving the musicians around the mic to mix them, was how audio was recorded for the first few decades of um, recording history Some of those old recordings sound really good, albeit noisy.

[TL5]

If the mic is in the middle of the room, and the players are to set up around it, you need to use an omni-directional mic.
If you use a cardioid, even if it's a condenser, it's directional. Sounds off-axis will be rejected (at least some). So you'd have to set up in front of the mic instead of around it.

BUT yes, for your application/purpose it can certainly be done.

[WalterBush]

Originally Posted by TL5

If the mic is in the middle of the room, and the players are to set up around it, you need to use an omni-directional mic.
If you use a cardioid, even if it's a condenser, it's directional. Sounds off-axis will be rejected (at least some). So you'd have to set up in front of the mic instead of around it.

BUT yes, for your application/purpose it can certainly be done.

Figure 8 will work, as well. I've used Royer ribbon mics to record rehearsals with one of my bands quite a bit, and it sounds good.
Room reflections will actually be picked up quite a bit by a cardioid condensor, too, and sound quite pleasant in the right room. Putting, say, a drummer in the "dead" spot directly behind a cardioid might help tame them if they're overly loud, as well.

Remember, there are no absolutes in recording. Move mic and band members around as necessary to create the most pleasing sound.

[APouncer]

i've recently had some success with putting a pair of headphones into the mic socket on my mini-disc. Because the headphones aren't too receptive it tames the excessive noise, and it also records in stereo. You can point each headphone wherever you want - normally, both opposite directions and both away from the drums works well.

[SuperDuck]

For the recording of practices we just use the internal mic of a Mac Powerbook and record that in protools. It actually doesn't sound all that bad. At least for the purposes of documenting what is being played, we can listen to it and actually tell what's going on.