Recording in bathrooms

[fabulousfan]

What's your take on it... when you have no means...

I think this guy does a pretty good job of it (Molly-Lovers and Liars and The Last Straw (REVERB were all recorded in a small bathroom)... To me it sounds pretty good... but what do you think... check it out and let me know... I'm considering trying it myself

Unsigned Artists - Ray Macias

[matt thomas]

just try it, its a very definite sound, but can work sometimes

you may want to look at the "drums in a small room" thread in the tchad blake guest forum for interest, although it doesn't specifically address bathrooms

narco

[Herman Munster]

"What's your take on it... when you have no means..."

I'd say it's a gas....

[sonicdefault]

IMO if you have a song where you know you need that quick brightness... It works great, even in really small bathrooms & can do the trick more realistically than a plate. Try adding an ambience mic(s) as well and blend to taste.




-SD

[John Suitcase]

It can work ok, though I usually avoid it myself. Bathrooms can be kinda neat for reamping stuff, or if the band is setup in one room, and the ventilation system bleeds sound into the bathroom, you can get a weird room mic thing going on that's kind of fun. I like hallways better for that, but in any of these places you're going for something weird and colorful.

[joeq]

I have speakers mounted in my bathroom and (tiled) kitchen and have a send hooked up to them. I set up a mic or mics to return the sound to the mix.

It can be a very useful alternative to the digital verbs.

I would never actually put the instrument in the bathroom because there's no control- it's almost always too much. But as a send-return setup, why not?

[eor]

i have a carpeted half bathroom that i'm interested in trying out. record with a laptop so i guess it's possible.

thinking of maybe doing vox in the car, too...

love,
eor

[Herman Munster]

"I would never actually put the instrument in the bathroom because there's no control- it's almost always too much."

I sometimes have the same problem in the bathroom.

[grammo76]

The first record i coproduced was a hip hop record, and i cut all the vocals in my bathroom. My bathroom was all tile and the room sound i got really helped my main vox stand out. I did a folk/country record that way too. all the vox, harmonica, and a little guitar was done in the bathroom. I still to this day mic up little guitar amps in the bathroom at my studio. It makes them sound bigger sometimes.

[mikecorwin]

Sounds interesting. Why not try it?

[LewisWu]

i recorded a singer songwriter in a bathroom once.. he insisted on it, something about how he liked what it did to his voice. Since it was his dime.. no complaints from me... until we listened back... everything he did was fine.. but no matter how many takes he did, he'd always hear something he didn't like... and it wasn't a small box shaped bathroom either. If it works for you, or you happen to have a bathroom that sounds amazing, i'm happy for you. the sad part is that everyone that listened to it said the same thing.. "where'd you record that.. the bathroom?" then they'd laugh, I'd say yes, they'd laugh some more, and i'd say "no, really.." and then they would stop laughing. anyway, if you acheived results that you are happy with, kudos to you

[OldSkool]

...or you could record in the Sydney Opera House, then run the whole mix through a software reverb with an impulse of a bathroom. Now THAT would be cool.

[De chromium cob]

Originally Posted by joeq

I have speakers mounted in my bathroom and (tiled) kitchen and have a send hooked up to them. I set up a mic or mics to return the sound to the mix.

It can be a very useful alternative to the digital verbs.

I would never actually put the instrument in the bathroom because there's no control- it's almost always too much. But as a send-return setup, why not?

Exactly. When I was working at Allaire I really dug the fact that they have pretty much every room patched into the patch bay.... and the bathroom was used as a room verb pretty often. Through a Genelec and a couple of U87s or whatever in there. Kinda disconcerting when you had to go take a leak though. A number two would merit a walk to one of the other bathrooms!

[Unclenny]

I just dug out the tape from my first ever recording of a couple of my early tunes.
Recorded in a big tiled bathroom...if I remember correctly.

Just me, my Martin D-18, one mic and a Teac recorder.

Doesn't sound half-bad........sounds authentic, for that genre.

[butterfly]

.........get thee to a studio!

[joeq]

Originally Posted by De chromium cob

Exactly. When I was working at Allaire I really dug the fact that they have pretty much every room patched into the patch bay.... and the bathroom was used as a room verb pretty often. Through a Genelec and a couple of U87s or whatever in there. Kinda disconcerting when you had to go take a leak though. A number two would merit a walk to one of the other bathrooms!

in my place, the bathroom & the kitchen IS "pretty much every room"

wish I could spare a pair of U87's just for bathroom reverb

[Coyoteous]

Just watch the foot tapping and NO reaching under the stall!

[Acoustic Cloud]

The problem with a bathroom is, it doesn't sound like a bathroom, until playback. It can sound killer while playing, but the playback dont lie none!!

[Unclenny]

Originally Posted by butterfly

.........get thee to a studio!

Hey............those were the OLD days (1976)!

These days I'm in..........a bedroom. And I use a plug to simulate that bathroom when I get all nostalgic.

[auditorylove]

Originally Posted by Coyoteous

Just watch the foot tapping and NO reaching under the stall!

ah hilarious! I hear theres a stall in Jersey that says "To contact senator tap foot twice"

[lord_bunny]

I recorded a 12-string in a very small tiled bathroom for this track on a project.. it just pokes out a little and sounds like... a small tiled room, gives it it's own cool little space. again, it depends on the song. probably not a choice i would make to get a verb sound on conventional parts of a track like vocals or rythem guitar, but if the song is quirky enough then to me it makes more sense than using a plate or digital verb.

[Sensual Ears]

it sounds like sh!t...

(i'll be here all night people!)

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by joeq

I have speakers mounted in my bathroom and (tiled) kitchen and have a send hooked up to them. I set up a mic or mics to return the sound to the mix.

It can be a very useful alternative to the digital verbs.

+1

I almost always put a boom box in the bathroom & set up a stereo condensor mic for an impromptu "echo chamber" when mixing.

But I've tracked vocals and electric guitars in bathrooms a lot too. Sure there's no control...but risk is its own reward!

[Coyoteous]

Originally Posted by auditorylove

ah hilarious! I hear theres a stall in Jersey that says "To contact senator tap foot twice"

- funny! The Fox news scroll just read "Craig won't leave senate."

Originally Posted by Randall

thats one way to get some stink on your tracks I suppose

LOL

Originally Posted by Sensual Ears

it sounds like sh!t...

(i'll be here all night people!)

LOL2

[dviola]

I recorded a shower once for a weird song I did for fun. did it in stereo...had a friend open the curtain turn it on and close the curtain...goes under the music and sounds amazing