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Post by skav on Sept 1, 2024 1:48:08 GMT -6
Hope it is okay to ask this here! Who has experience with this? How do you prepare and what do you carry? There is the tech side of it, but for example what do you do when the environment / room is bad or worse than expected? Do you carry gobos or absorbers / diffusers in other forms? Noise, bad room sound, feel and vibe. Elements like water, temperature, bad and even lacking electricity. Have you had something unexpected happen that forced you into coming up with quick solutions? Even in more optimal professional environments, things can aurely happen unexpectedly. Please share stories, experiences, ideas and solutions  |
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Post by OtisGreying on Sept 1, 2024 6:22:23 GMT -6
Most of my acoustic treatment is pretty portable, tube traps that stand on their own. Other insulation panels that aren't built into a heavy wooden frame, just being used without a frame. If and when I do move studios that will be less annoying transitioning than having everything built into heavy wood frames that make them much more cumbersome to transport. Other than that if on the go - Apollo twin, laptop, and my heiserman in its pelican case 
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Post by honkeur on Sept 1, 2024 6:44:38 GMT -6
I do this sort of recoding almost exclusively. The most crucial gear for me has been (1) Beyerdynamic M160, because it “de-roomifies” all sources (I own 4); (2) Sound Devices MixPre10, because the preamps are rather good; (3) mic clamps instead of mic stands — on Amazon there’s adjustable GoPro clamps that work well, for $16.
As far as treatment goes, there are some good tips on placement and mini-gobos on the Steve Remoteness thread on the other site. But in practice, in the trenches, the keys are: common sense about levels and placement, having a good understanding of your mics’ patterns and off-axis sound; and embracing the possibility that bleed might be “good bleed”. Isolation on each track is not what makes a recording great (though, it does make mixing easier).
It is so exciting to record live performances. Overdubbing in the studio is a snooze, in comparison.
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Post by skav on Sept 1, 2024 6:52:44 GMT -6
I do this sort of recoding almost exclusively. The most crucial gear for me has been (1) Beyerdynamic M160, because it “de-roomifies” all sources (I own 4); (2) Sound Devices MixPre10, because the preamps are rather good; (3) mic clamps instead of mic stands — on Amazon there’s adjustable GoPro clamps that work well, for $16. As far as treatment goes, there are some good tips on placement and mini-gobos on the Steve Remoteness thread on the other site. But in practice, in the trenches, the keys are: common sense about levels and placement, having a good understanding of your mics’ patterns and off-axis sound; and embracing the possibility that bleed might be “good bleed”. Isolation on each track is not what makes a recording great (though, it does make mixing easier). It is so exciting to record live performances. Overdubbing in the studio is a snooze, in comparison. Awesome. Sound Devices can be batterydriven, right? Mic clamps, what do you look for and whatdoo you find yourself attaching them to? |
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Post by theshea on Sept 1, 2024 6:56:35 GMT -6
i did location recording only for pianos which couldn‘t be moved. close miking is essential but the room is the room and i tell them that will be the character. it must be accepted and used. once i had a piano placed in the last floor with a very high ceiling and the open stairway beneath. very roomy and that was the reverb used. some things its better to accept. if you don‘t like it, move on and use sonething else.
i am rather radical in this aspect. why make it sound like recorded in a pro studio environment? if you want that, go to a pro studio to record. otherwise embrace the character of the room. if its to baf, move on.
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Post by skav on Sept 1, 2024 7:31:32 GMT -6
i did location recording only for pianos which couldn‘t be moved. close miking is essential but the room is the room and i tell them that will be the character. it must be accepted and used. once i had a piano placed in the last floor with a very high ceiling and the open stairway beneath. very roomy and that was the reverb used. some things its better to accept. if you don‘t like it, move on and use sonething else. i am rather radical in this aspect. why make it sound like recorded in a pro studio environment? if you want that, go to a pro studio to record. otherwise embrace the character of the room. if its to baf, move on. Good point regarding rooms and accepting it. As long as performance, instrument and recording is done properly, the room can often even be a nice thing. |
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Post by Blackdawg on Sept 1, 2024 10:08:52 GMT -6
I do a ton of this kind of work as well.
I have different "tiers" of equipment ranging from a Sound devices up to a more fully featured rigs with remote mic pre units like Graces or HAPI's. I like the mixpre's for a lot of things but I honestly give them a "meh" in terms of sound quality for music things. They do the job just fine, but compared to my other options, pale in comparison. But they are light and very reliable and easy to use and fairly versatile given what they are.
All depending on budget, time, and my own investment into the project.
Microphones, dpends on project. I've been really liking to use Ribbons on more rock/pop stuff these days. Controling your bleed is a big deal and getting phase alignment on small stages in post is huge.
I am on team make it sound like it's a album. I love sharing stuff and having people be surprised it's live(at least from a SOUND perspective, can't do anything about performance warts...usually). Thats what gets me gigs again. If it just sound like a 2 track recording off the live console than I'm not doing my job well. They could do that themselves.
And some time simple is better. But that can also depend on who/what you're recording. A great drummer with badly tuned drums is still going to sound flat compared to a meh drummer with great tuned drums. So I might not do just a 4 mic kit setup but may add tom mics.
Pre production talks and the like are very important. Most the time if you show up and they ask for something you likely won't have it there because you only have what you bring with it. And as easy it seems to "just grab that, oh and that just in case". Shit gets heavy and loaded in a hurry and if you're flying solo can be a hinderance.
Efficiency in all aspects is king.
Edit:
I never bring room treatment unless I know the space and what is needed. But generally I'm doing live recordings and I want people to be in the same space close to each other. They balance each other out very nicely if you (surprise surprise!) Make them listen to each other. And it keep people from over playing *cough* guitar players *cough*.
For extreme locations(outside no power) batteries are what I bring. You can get really nice portable batter units that'll power a small rack of gear all day easily for relatively low cost. Of course wind protection become an equal issue.
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Post by christopher on Sept 1, 2024 10:37:01 GMT -6
if you can get access to some office cubicles, you can use them as gobos. We got amazing results in someone’s cubicle office. I’m still surprised.
A company makes the Velcro booth thing.. those are great. I wouldn’t make a booth per se but I have used 2-3 walls to isolate. Works similar to a cubicle but lighter, faster to setup.
The nice thing about this stuff is it’s easy to move around and reposition.
The downside to both these things is the uninspiring visuals
Edit: if you can’t afford either option, no budget.., I keep saying memory foam mattress, sing straight into it. Under $100 new on Amazon, you can put cool looking sheets if you want. Made for sleeping so it’s not gonna be toxic to breath (in theory). Worst case, you have a new guest bed.
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Post by bossanova on Sept 3, 2024 12:42:01 GMT -6
I posted this in another thread. It’s fully portable (takes 10-15 minutes to assemble/take down once you know what you’re doing) and you can leave the front open for added ambiance/airflow/visual contact. Attachments:
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Post by basspro on Sept 3, 2024 13:50:38 GMT -6
I recently set up my entire rig to be portable, so I can do anything from a small Apollo Twin and laptop 2-channel rig all the way up to an 18 in and out setup with all outboard pres, compressors and eqs. I'm still dialing things in, but as far as acoustics go, I'm always bringing several heavy moving blankets and extra stands to mellow out room sounds if needed. I've found these to be extremely helpful - if you have big enough stands and enough blankets, you can make a fairly dead booth for pretty much anything you need.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Sept 3, 2024 14:31:49 GMT -6
The trick is to find and learn a couple of good rooms where you can use minimal treatment and know what you need so you can get in and out quickly.
Where it can become a problem is when you are asked to record a performance with an audience, suddenly looks become the priority as dose space for paying customers.
Ask Hudsonic it’s about getting to know your clients and the people in charge of the venues.
One thing is always talk to the venue before you pack any treatment, there maybe venue policy/ union rules that mean they provide pipe drape and labor, nothing worse than getting black listed because of some black blankets!
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Post by jaba on Sept 9, 2024 12:50:39 GMT -6
I've done a lot of this as well and I kind of love it.
Often I've either had a say or been lucky with pretty good rooms (ex: someone's high-ceiling, wooden cottage) but I've also been sent into basements you'd swear were designed to sound bad.
The main thing I like about all these situations is that it takes me out of my comfort zone and I'm forced to work with what I have. Often it's bed tracks, everyone playing together. Placement and communication with the players is key. I also agree mics like the M160 can be great for less-than-ideal rooms.
I carry a few panels to ward off direct bleed but not much.
In the end both I and the bands have been happy with how things turned out and I usually leave feeling I've learned something, often more than a regular studio session.
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Post by nobtwiddler on Sept 9, 2024 17:20:25 GMT -6
"The main thing I like about all these situations is that it takes me out of my comfort zone and I'm forced to work with what I have."
EXACTLY~!
And for me, each room sonically has a vibe, (some better than others) That said, I want that vibe to be part of the sonic signature of that recording.
This was one of my reasons to originally design a mobile rig, and get the hell out of the studio, the other reason was simply this:
Some of the most amazing Rock records I grew up listening to back in the early 70's were British bands,
and more often than not, my favorites were tracked using a mobile unit in places other than a standard studio.
You know the ones I'm talking about.
The vibe is amazing.
At this point I have 4 completely different mobile rigs that I'll choose from depending on the size of the session, and what is required.
Merging Tech - Anubis, & Hapi (with stands, mics, and cables all transported in my Mini)
Universal Audio - X4 & MacBook Pro (with stands, mics, and cables all transported in my Mini)
Zoom - F8n (x2) with remote faders (with stands, mics, and cables all transported in my Mini)
and then there is my
16 / 32 channel Helios / Neve / Api racks for the sleepover sessions! (need a van, and an assistant to move this one~!)
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Post by EmRR on Sept 9, 2024 19:11:02 GMT -6
Every record I've made on location in a house had zero reliable scouting ahead of time, and pretty much an absence of information. "It's gonna be great" is about the best I've ever been able to get. Always a "make do" situation. Have extra mic stands and packing blankets to put up as needed. At least one, the piano (which was moved for the job) wasn't tuned, despite multiple DEMANDS for a tuning tech to pay a visit. They all sold well in the end, one was an Americana charts #1, and like nobtwiddler, I used my Zoom F8n for parts of that one.
They're kinda like club gigs, with no infrastructure and less space. Though one house was larger than several of the clubs around here.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Sept 10, 2024 12:18:57 GMT -6
Every record I've made on location in a house had zero reliable scouting ahead of time, and pretty much an absence of information. "It's gonna be great" is about the best I've ever been able to get. Always a "make do" situation. Have extra mic stands and packing blankets to put up as needed. At least one, the piano (which was moved for the job) wasn't tuned, despite multiple DEMANDS for a tuning tech to pay a visit. They all sold well in the end, one was an Americana charts #1, and like nobtwiddler, I used my Zoom F8n for parts of that one. They're kinda like club gigs, with no infrastructure and less space. Though one house was larger than several of the clubs around here. Good thing record buyers didn't know you used a Zoom F8n for that record, otherwise they wouldn't have bought it. *heavy sarcasm |
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Post by drumsound on Sept 10, 2024 12:40:15 GMT -6
"The main thing I like about all these situations is that it takes me out of my comfort zone and I'm forced to work with what I have." EXACTLY~! And for me, each room sonically has a vibe, (some better than others) That said, I want that vibe to be part of the sonic signature of that recording. This was one of my reasons to originally design a mobile rig, and get the hell out of the studio, the other reason was simply this: Some of the most amazing Rock records I grew up listening to back in the early 70's were British bands, and more often than not, my favorites were tracked using a mobile unit in places other than a standard studio. You know the ones I'm talking about. The vibe is amazing. At this point I have 4 completely different mobile rigs that I'll choose from depending on the size of the session, and what is required. Merging Tech - Anubis, & Hapi (with stands, mics, and cables all transported in my Mini) Universal Audio - X4 & MacBook Pro (with stands, mics, and cables all transported in my Mini) Zoom - F8n (x2) with remote faders (with stands, mics, and cables all transported in my Mini) and then there is my 16 / 32 channel Helios / Neve / Api racks for the sleepover sessions! (need a van, and an assistant to move this one~!) All hail the MINI. My daily driver as well. Every record I've made on location in a house had zero reliable scouting ahead of time, and pretty much an absence of information. "It's gonna be great" is about the best I've ever been able to get. Always a "make do" situation. Have extra mic stands and packing blankets to put up as needed. At least one, the piano (which was moved for the job) wasn't tuned, despite multiple DEMANDS for a tuning tech to pay a visit. They all sold well in the end, one was an Americana charts #1, and like nobtwiddler, I used my Zoom F8n for parts of that one. They're kinda like club gigs, with no infrastructure and less space. Though one house was larger than several of the clubs around here. Good thing record buyers didn't know you used a Zoom F8n for that record, otherwise they wouldn't have bought it. *heavy sarcasm |
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Post by nobtwiddler on Sept 10, 2024 19:44:43 GMT -6
Haha...
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