3 piece rock band, how to approach a session?

[Mixbuster]

Hello People.
How do you approach a recording session with a 3 piece rock-band?

Drums
Bass
Guitar - Vocal

And if it's going to be recorded live?
How do you avoid that the guitar will be centered?

Record the guitar with two mics? and pan them?
Record a D.I and reamp with two different amps?


What I have tried: Recorded the guitar D.I and reamped later, used stereo Room mic, then panned the room mics hard left and hard right. along with the close miced panned centre. Was kinda cool effect.




Any ideas how they do it?

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by Mixbuster

Hello People.
How do you approach a recording session with a 3 piece rock-band?

Drums
Bass
Guitar - Vocal

And if it's going to be recorded live?
How do you avoid that the guitar will be centered? take the time to track 2 guitar tracks.

Record the guitar with two mics? and pan them?
Record a D.I and reamp with two different amps? unless you can slide one of the tracks a little.


What I have tried: Recorded the guitar D.I and reamped later, used stereo Room mic, then panned the room mics hard left and hard right. along with the close miced panned centre. Was kinda cool effect.




Any ideas how they do it?

There you go......

[Dr. Mordo]

I would at least try to do it with as few layered guitars as possible - unless they want tons of guitars.

So some things you could try -

In any case, I wouldn't have anything dead center, to include kick drum and bass. Even if you just pan them out a tiny bit you'll get some depth. I read an interview with Andy Wallace where he said he hates leaving something right up the middle, and he'll always do something to move it out and create some space. I've taken that to heart I guess.

Pan the guitar and bass apart a bit in opposite directions (I'd start with 10 and 2 o'clock), then eq similarly so they offset one another. You'll have to thin the bass and fatten the guitar. Distorted bass is always fun. Be ready for things to be a bit thinner sounding than usual.

Haas delay on the guitar. So I'd pan the guitar way out to one side, then pan the Haas way out the other way. I'd still pan the bass and BD out of the center groove.

If there are solos and things just sound too thin, I'd try the things I described above, but add one rhythm guitar. Keep it very low in the mix and treat it like a pad - you feel it more than hear it.

Bleed is ok, but it creates problems when you try to fix things afterward. The performances have to be tight if there will be significant bleed. That said, if you close mic the amps, bleed will only be a problem thru the drum and vocal mics. So while you could DI the guitar and bass if you want, but it probly isn't necessary.

Bear in mind that if you trigger the drums and DI the bass and guitar, the only bleed will be thru the vocal mics, which you could just redo after the fact.

[shark]

Hi!
Here's what works for me when I record a three-piece band live:

Split guitarsignal to two amps if possible.
Don't be afraid of bleed. Blast those amps! (if room reflections aren't too ugly)

I set the room up like this:

___________________________________
________________drums______________
___________________________________
____gobo________________________gobo____
gt amp#1_________________________ gt amp#2
___________________________________
________________gobo_______________
_______________bassamp_____________
___________________________________



guitaramps are faced towards the middle

If you can pull this off you will:
1) have a great time
2) have band play without headphones
3) have some bleed, but you'll love it (instant 'air')
4) the guitar & bass will bleed into the drum overheads, but the bleed will be roughly panned to where you want them in the mix. p(l)an ahead

Good luck!

[joelpatterson]

And if you can do it all in a white room with black curtains...

[Crash]

Though not a three piece it is essentially the same type of scenario, listen to early Van Halen albums to see how this was dealt with.

[steelyfan]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

And if you can do it all in a white room with black curtains...

And red chinese lanterns.


I would spend however much time it took to capture the room and the band to perfection, even 2 weeks of moving mics if you had to , to make sure it sounds JUST how you want the finished product to sound before serious recoding takes place.......no compromises. The sound being recorded IS the master.

Don't start any serious recording if you are hearing things you think you can "fix" in the mixing process later. This is one of those glorious scenerio's where room sound/mic bleed is the joy of the sound....and requires perfection from the band. Regardless of where you put what mic/amp/ etc., I would explain to the band that there will be NO mxing, this IS the mixing process.....the sound is THERE !.......now it's all about THEIR dynamics and playing. This always set's up a exciting dynamic between the band, and the right take could be captured 1st time out or after take 30! But the band gets on a roll knowing it's THEM who have to make it happen, your work was done upfront. That's the energy you want to record. I'd save vocals as an overdub later and focus on just the instrumentals.....unless the singer is a genius.

[Tibbon]

Don't worry about the panning upfront of the guitar. Just because its bleeding doesn't mean it has to be in the middle.