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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: TheWildKindness on June 15, 2006, 11:37:03 PM
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So...I just got my UA-5 back from a Busman repair. +T to Chris for standing behind his work. He's class all the way and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend his service to anyone.
Ok...so now that I have that back, I'm back up and running. I have a couple shows this weekend. Friday a SBD patch...not much hastle, and on Saturday an audience. Of which is seeming to be a little more complicated then I had hoped. It's a 2 piece blues band with guitar, drums, harmonica, washboard, etc.
I contacted the band about taping and had wanted to do a matrix, but they don't allow sbd patches. I was going to stick with the card caps (which I normally run) , and the band manager is suggesting I run omnis. (but is obviously not required)
The venue is fairly small, with a bar on one side and a small room with a stage, which holds about 100 - 150? The stage is about 15' - 20' wide, and from the front of the stage to the soundboard is about another 20' - 25'.
Here is a response I received from the band.
"Unfortunatly, we do not allow access to the soundboard. Most of the sound comes directly from the stage, including vocals, so capturing the sound in the room seems to work best. The easiest option would be to grab a spot close to the stage. Try to grab a spot right in front of the kick drum, or maybe slightly to the side. House left is more guitar; house right is more percussion. You'll probably discover that the guitar is really loud, and percussion & possibly vocals might be kind of quiet. In that case might help to step back a little or to the side to get away from the guitar amps and possibly a little closer to the PA speakers. The PA stacks at the venue is on the same side as the drum kit, so should be easy to find a good balance of all instruments around there."
"The hardest part is getting all the percussion to sound balanced, so I’d recommend 2-3 mics around the drum kit (especially on the house right side, away from the amps). I like the guitar & vocals to sound solid, but having clear percussion (even if that means the guitar & vocals are a bit "roomy") will do more to help the overall recording. They have 2 guitar amps and one vocal amp pretty close together onstage. One mic can get them all (depending on distance) or more mics spread apart might be good if you want to have options for balancing them."
"In a typical live band situation, your cards might help balance out the bass, but since there is no bass(player), too much low end is rarely a problem. So getting more low end of the guitar plus the kick drum really helps make a fuller sound on tape. Stage left is where a lot of the more high-frequency percussion comes from: washboard & metal bits.
So I guess I'm advising putting omnis up close to the stage, near the kick drum & PA speakers. One crazy idea: could maybe set one on the stage and one in front of the cabinet? But the choice is up to you, depending on what you think will produce a better sound."
Any opinions/suggestions would be appreciated, as I am looking forward to this band and want this recording to shine.
Thanks,
- Shawn