So my band is recording in a house and it is sounding amazing. The living room of this house is just magical. Nothing can sound bad in it and drums sound clear and big. Room mics just blend with little effort, and we didn't even treat the room. So I am looking for some inspirational records that I don't know about for more ideas on how to fully utilize this great room.

So U2 recorded a groundbreaking record in a house. Incubus recorded all their records up to the newest one in houses. The Used recorded in a house, and I believe even Radioheads - OK Computer was recorded in a house, or at least partially.

What others are out there in the rock genre?

Beez

The Stones, Exile on Main St.
Led Zeppelin IV
etc.

TONS of records in Nashville. Many of even the most highly rated studio's here in town are converted houses.

I guess you want to know more about a situation where guys brought their recording gear into just a "regular ole' house" and started recording though right?

Well.. there are houses and houses : )

The Band - Music from Big Pink.

Dylan/The Band's Basement Sessions were also recorded here.

The Band's second album was recorded in Sammy Davis Jr.'s poolhouse!

OK Computer.

STP - tiny music... songs from the vatican gift shop

Yes I mean regular houses.

Like where you lock an old lady in her bedroom for 3 months and setup in her living room.

Houses converted to commercial studios don't count.

In my case we took the furniture out of the living room and setup a control room in a guest bedroom, which happens to be a wall and 2 closets from the living room. We then put the couch and stuff in the back of the "control room" and setup the board and computer and ran a snake through another room and then out a hall way to the living room.

BTW, I always thought Zepplin IV was recorded in a studio. I definately love the sound of that album. I really like the sound of OK computer too.

Beez

Joan Osborne - Relish
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic
All the great records Tom Petty did at Mike Campbell's house (all bow to RD)

Kinda tough to answer that...seems to me that anything you do (including rearranging the furniture) is going to be modifying the house for recording....

That said, I remember many years ago (before I had dedicated buildings for studio purposes) I had a ad spot vocalist set up in the master bedroom ("control room" set up in small area in another room)...

Long story short: the vocalist I think spent more time eyeing my wife's unmentionables neatly folded on the bed but not yet put away....

I have no idea why that's relavent....

OK Computer. Really love that record.

I'll add a couple:

Ben Folds - Whatever and Ever Amen

Pedro the Lion - Control

Neil Young : Harvest

Oh, and the Incubus stuff(Morning View "studios") and Headley Grange (Zep / Stones) are more from the mansion category..a bit differrent imo.

August and everything after

I was going to mention our own William Wittman's "Relish" (which sounds quite good by the way) but someone beat me to it.

I hear that "Just Push Play" from Aerosmith was a home recording and obviously all the Boston records.

Bee Thousand/Alien Lanes -- GBV
Pink Moon -- Nick Drake
Kraftwerk -- Radioactivity (I think it was a house, or their own studio at least...)

Incubus-Morning View

No disrespect to Shipshape but IMO that's the worst sounding Aerosmith record of all time. No dynamic range, very flat/two dimensional, don't get me started. I wonder if the tale was in the mastering as most of Ship's mixes kill.

sarah harmer's album "all of our names" was recorded in her house out in the country.
periodically the wood stove would ping. some of the more overt 'noises'were edited out.
recorded on DP.
nine inch nails 'the downward spiral' was recorded at roman polanski and sharon tate's house.

actually, that and the rest of the counting crows albums...the liner notes all pretty much say "recorded in a house on a hill in hollywood"

love that band

it's my desert island disc for sure

I find it curious why all these high-profile records were recorded in houses. I'm in a house right now, but always though if I had the budget I'd like to do it right in a nice studio with a separate control room, sound proofing, tuned rooms, yada yada yada...
Why are all these people with the big budgets going back into houses to record. Comfort factor? Save money on a real studio? They like to make things hard on themselves?

I think the last Blink 182 record was done in a house.

Sean

The vibe in a house is much nicer in my opinion, more condusive to being creative

Crowded House's "Together Alone" was recorded in a (crowded?) house on Kare Kare beach in New Zealand. All the gear, including a big console, had to be carried along narrow paths and steep steps down to the house. Apparently, the recording was a complete disaster, not least because producer/engineer Flood was too doped up to handle it, apparently.
The album was salvaged/mixed in Melbourne by Bob Clearmountain, and it turned out to be a great little record.

I recently recorded and produced an album in a large living room, with makeshift acoustic treatment, e.g. sofas and armchairs positioned around the drum kit and amps, acoustic guitars overdubbed on the marble floor in front of the fireplace. Great vibe and it worked a treat as the room sounded excellent! The "control room" was in a corner of the living room, because I was also the guitarist... The things one does, eh? :-)

Cheers,

Recky

Wheel enough gear into a house...any house with the talent that you guys have mentioned and it should sound fantastic. With a proper engineer, he'll know tricks to minimize the effects of a bad room.
later,
m

Does the Robert Johnson recording count? I mean, it was a one mic job in a hotel...

later,
m

i think that artists are doing this because they don't want the artificial environment of a 'studio'.
i've seen many musicians "freeze" in studio environments. it's so easy to have a vibe in a house 'cuz it's usually already there. in particular, old houses have many great things like high ceilings, plaster walls, wooden floors, tiles bathrooms, cedar closets. i record almost all of my stuff in houses. i find it much easier to fool the 'talent' into forgetting that they are recording and get a performance.
if i never went into another 'studio' again, i don't think i would miss it.

Not a house turned into a COMMERCIAL STUDIO, is what i said. I am just talking about a house whos only pupose is to record the one band who scoped it out, and then after they are finished it returns to normal duties of a house.

Lets not be sticklers and say "technically any house with X amount of gear is a . . . if anyone records there"

Yeah I forgot to mention Whatever and Ever Amen. What a great vibe to that album. It doesn't hurt that Andy Wallace mixed it either! That was recorded in a house in Chapel Hill NC.

Also thats a great point about older houses. Plaster walls, high ceilings, and very often irregular shaped rooms. Also you typically get hardwood floors and walls with little to no insulation.

Great responses BTW. Keep 'em coming

Beez

this thread is funny because the next album i am doing we have decided to do it in a house.... just one album setup. i think it will be nice to take over a house to record, i dont know what the wife [not mine] is gonna say about it.

Agreed, a disappointing listen to me as well.

The mixes are in fact a true representation of what went in to mastering. however, they are not a true representation at all of the tracking tone. For the tracking quality, think open vintage classic sounds using lots of tube mics, neves etc. -- big, open and fat. The transformation during mix was truly shocking .... tutt

R.