Topic: Recording a house concert (in a real house)

[intpseeker]

I have the opportunity to record the Winterpills and am wondering about cap selection and mic config for the confined space and volume that I anticipate.  Any thoughts? 

[Nick Graham]

I did this for the first time recently, and a lot of it depends on how the musicians will be setup, and what you'll have access to. In my case the band was set up in a half circle, with (in clockwise order): acoustic guitar, drums, vocals, bass, keyboard, and lead guitar. I set up dead center in the middle of everyone running at about 3' high and Healy Method omni. I was running an R4 at the time and was able to take a line out of a speaker that was setup only for vocals (no one else was miked, just used their amps direct). Mixing the 2 tracks of just vocals with the 2 mic tracks turned out amazing.

I see you're running a 660, do you have access to any other deck? If so, I'd run pretty much exactly what I did if you can, that's also assuming you have the omni caps for the C4s.

[intpseeker]

Is Healy where you have the omnis pointed at each other about a foot apart?

I may be able to get another deck.  I like the idea of recording the vocals separate.

[bgalizio]

Is Healy where you have the omnis pointed at each other about a foot apart?

I may be able to get another deck.  I like the idea of recording the vocals separate.

Pointed away from each other, like this:

O----- -----O

Where the O is the omni cap and the ----- is the mic body. That would probably sound great in this situation.

[intpseeker]

Gotcha. Any particular spacing or are the cable ends butted up to each other?

[darby]

theoretically they are supposed to be spaced about 7'' apart

that can be accomplished by using a spacer on 1 of the mic clips on a horizontal bar
or by using a vertical bar, or 2 "C" clamps
 

[Nick Graham]

theoretically they are supposed to be spaced about 7'' apart

Mine were LD mics (AKG 414) at either end of a standard AKG T-Bar, so somewhere in the 6" - 8" range as far as spacing.

[intpseeker]

Just set it up and I can just do the 7" spacing with my bar. Theoretically, would you space differently for SD mics?

Not to beat this, but the band is facing 'north' and my caps are pointing 'east and west'?

Thanks for the help.

[Nick Graham]

Just set it up and I can just do the 7" spacing with my bar. Theoretically, would you space differently for SD mics?

Not to beat this, but the band is facing 'north' and my caps are pointing 'east and west'?

Thanks for the help.

....which is the beauty of omnis. Theoretically you could point them directly toward the ground and you'd still get the same results.

[intpseeker]

7" cap to cap...hence the need for the spacer!

Thanks for your info and patience. I actually drew a picture to get this.

[danlynch]

I've recorded in these types of setting a few times, and something that you need to be conscious of when making such a recording is the surrounding noise.  The type of stuff that your brain filters--air conditioners, fans, appliances, clocks, etc--can ruin an otherwise excellent recording.  If you have the ability to move these noisemakers, take up the option of creating an ambient-free setting.

[Church-Audio]

Now are you recording House music in the House or just rock and roll 

[darby]

I've recorded in these types of setting a few times, and something that you need to be conscious of when making such a recording is the surrounding noise.  The type of stuff that your brain filters--air conditioners, fans, appliances, clocks, etc--can ruin an otherwise excellent recording.  If you have the ability to move these noisemakers, take up the option of creating an ambient-free setting.

not to mention noise from outside the house
heavy blankets on the windows would help
and maybe some throw rugs on wooden floors as well

[intpseeker]

Now are you recording House music in the House or just rock and roll 

It might be easier to record the house music in da house, than the rock 'n' roll that I'm pretty sure is going down. 

I run the ACM with the 20db pad at most club shows and add gain in post if needed, but would you run that and the 10 db that the c4's have in a little living room?

Listening to my lab/hound bark/howl at the moment.

[it-goes-to-eleven]