How come we never talk about home recording? (1 Viewer)

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Hehe, yeah, you needed a song done for a gig two days later or something, wasn't it?

 

[the departed]

haha.all i remember is getting a phonecall at like midnight saying we're heading out to the sticks in the morning to track as many songs as we can for something we need that weekend.
haha. that was actually deadly. just happened to have my period the next day.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

lol.

 

[treesurgeon]

right, i am in no way technical...here are some questions about multi tracking...

* should i record every instrument to the 0 level on the levels screen? is that best or should certain instruments be given a louder signal thing? (see what i mean about not being technical? no fucking clue...)
* do certain instruments have any recommended EQ settings? we're talking about usual guitar bass drums type thing...
* panning while mixing is the only way to seperate sounds?

believe me when i say, up until this point, i've been recording and mixing with a minimum of thought...might keep it that way, but if you can think of any obvious answers, do tell : )

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

* should i record every instrument to the 0 level on the levels screen? is that best or should certain instruments be given a louder signal thing? (see what i mean about not being technical? no fucking clue...)

This is a cassette 8 track, right?
Cassette 8 tracks are inherently noisy and low on headroom. This is because you've got 8 tracks squeezed into the same space as 4 would be on a regular cassette. Therefore, you need to be particularly careful about your signal-to-noise ration. That is, the gap between your recorded signal and the noise and hiss below it.
0 is usually a good place to aim for with most instruments.
However, you may find that hitting the tape a bit harder with level sounds cool on some instruments.
This mythical 'tape compression' thing all the folks talk about starts happening when you get into the zone where the tape is reaching the limits of how much level it can accept before going into distortion.
Now, a cassette 8-track is going to have a tiny, TINY zone where you can use this sound, owing to the limitations of the medium. If you spend some time experimenting, you may well find that you can hit this sweet spot with a reasonable amount of regularity. Instruments to try this on might be kick drum or bass.
I quite like throwing up a room mic and actually hitting the tape hard enough to drive it into actual distrortion - think that Flaming Lips drum sound. Might be worth trying, maybe some vocals, too. You'll have to find most of this out for yourself through experimentation.

* do certain instruments have any recommended EQ settings? we're talking about usual guitar bass drums type thing...

Hm. This is a real minefield. The only generalisation I'm willing to make is that kick drums *usually* have a bunch of midrange cut out of them.

* panning while mixing is the only way to seperate sounds?

Nope.. compression and reverb/delay.. compression (apart from its 'day job' ie compressing) will bring an instrument 'forward', while you can use reverb/delay to move an instrument towards the 'back' of a mix. Think about how a background vocal with plenty of reverb (and maybe softened up with eq) will seem more 'distant' than a comparatively dry, compressed lead vocal.

 

[egg_]

Just on Pantone's clipping thing - I'm losing my fear of clipping these days, now the Stoat album's out and I don't need to care about things sounding "good". Throw that bombfactory plugin on the drums and crank the fucker up - sure, the protools level meters are in the red, but it sounds very pleasing to mine ears

One shit thing about home recording is you can't sing really LOUD or shout or roar, or, most of the time, use drums - and not just cos of the other residents, singing loud in particular really brings out the room sound, which is usually horrible Grand for quieter stuff (I recorded our Christmas single, including drums, in a room with a sleeping baby next door), or situations where none of the sound goes through the air, but not for everything

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Well, I've yet to hear digital clipping sound any less than totaly cock and balls. I guess I'll just crank up a preamp or throw a pedal in the loop somewhere long before I'll resort to digital distortion.
Also, anytime I've tried to dirt/fuzz something up with a plugin it's sounded like complete ASS. That's just me though.

 

[dudley]

Is the difference that pronounced between here and the states? gis' examples.

well, yes, it is, and hugely.
our record is being mixed at the moment in a superb studio in Chicago, with Pro Tools HD, and the place is costing $175 per day.
It's actually working out cheaper for me to fly over on friday for final mixing there, than it would have been to do the sessions here. That's mental....

 

[dudley]

also, mastering is hugely cheaper over there.
we're most likely going to use Golden mastering in California, and it will come in at under $700. Golden did the last couple of Sonic Youth records, as an example, and I think they're extraordinarily well mastered records.

That said, Aidan Foley over here has always been pretty reasonable for independent bands.

 

[the departed]

also, mastering is hugely cheaper over there.
we're most likely going to use Golden mastering in California, and it will come in at under $700. Golden did the last couple of Sonic Youth records, as an example, and I think they're extraordinarily well mastered records.

That said, Aidan Foley over here has always been pretty reasonable for independent bands.

deadly.dying to hear this shit.

 

[egg_]

our record is being mixed at the moment in a superb studio in Chicago, with Pro Tools HD, and the place is costing $175 per day.

Fuck me. How in the name of jeekers can someone afford to do that? After rent and equipment costs that doesn't leave much to live on

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

That's jsut the room - I assume the dude behind the console is extra.

I'm thinking I could be recording bands on a vintage Neve for about €300 a day if I were in the states. Gotta apply for that green card lottery..

 

[dudley]

well, we're lucky in that the engineer is a pal and doing it for free, but adding an engineer would add a lot i suppose.
attitude there, i guess, is keep the equipment cheap, and charge more for better engineers. then your charges reflect how good an engineer you are, maybe.
makes sense, you get what you're paying for etc

 

[Anthony]

That said, Aidan Foley over here has always been pretty reasonable for independent bands.

Not anymore aparently. He mastered our last album for €600 and I think that was one of the last jobs he was going to do for that money. Which I might add was money well spent.

 

[kraster]

Well, I've yet to hear digital clipping sound any less than totaly cock and balls. I guess I'll just crank up a preamp or throw a pedal in the loop somewhere long before I'll resort to digital distortion.
Also, anytime I've tried to dirt/fuzz something up with a plugin it's sounded like complete ASS. That's just me though.

It's interesting that you previously referred to the Flaming Lips drum sound. That monster sound on the Soft Bulletin was acheived by hammering a submix of the drums through a dat machine.
I do agree on the cock and balls comparison, generally digital distortion sounds like shit.
The problem with digital distortion is that it's harmonically unrrelated to the source material. Basically the same as using a ring modulator. Wheras the lovely Neve second order distortion is always related to the music and a joy to behold.

mmmmmm......crispy.

 

[kraster]

Fuck me. How in the name of jeekers can someone afford to do that? After rent and equipment costs that doesn't leave much to live on

But, then again, they're not paying the ludicrous amounts of money for everyday stuff that we are. Everything's a lot cheaper over there.

 

[Pantone247]

I do agree on the cock and balls comparison, generally digital distortion sounds like shit.

different strokes different folks etc, etc, etc

I think we don't talk about home recording enough round here cause if you say something like "I sorta occasionally like digital distortion" you get people telling you yr wrong a lot... I could be way off here... who knows...

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

I ain't telling NOBODY they're wrong, just saying that in my experience, I've never liked it.. kinda how you and Egg said that in your experience... you have liked it.

 

[Pantone247]

ah I'm only joshing, come over here and let me high pass filter your aux returns ya big lug

does anyone know how to make yourself sing a 5th higher?

cause these marlbro lights I'm chain smoking aren't helping at all...

 

[Rogue]