Recording - August 2014 - 20

bring things to a natural sound. Important to
note: in-ear monitors make this problem beautifully disappear. More and more bands have
them, but a lot still don't. Never take it for
granted that a band will have them.
Another thing to never take for granted:
how the band moves on stage. I, for example, am incredibly calm and mild-mannered
offstage. On stage, however, I flail, head
bang, jump, twirl, stomp and scream. If there
is a delicately placed mic stand anywhere
near me, it will fall. Oh, and there are four
other people up on stage with me.
If you're miking up two people
on stools, you may not need to
consider this, but any "mobile"
band, so to speak, should have
hardy mic stands that are heavily
weighted. If the venue has sandbags, use them. If not, find something else that can act as a weight
to keep the mic in place.
As any live sound engineer knows,
always bring gaffer's tape, a knife,
and a Sharpie to every gig. In addition to a stand weight, take some
gaff tape and literally tape the mic
stand to the stage. It doesn't have to
look pretty for your recording.
In rock music it's common to
deaden the drums a bit with gaff
tape so they don't ring too much.
You can add some paper towels to
the tape as well, but I typically feel
that a couple of gaff tape squares
on each drum will do the trick. You
don't want muffled drums, but you
also don't want them echoing into
the PA looking for feedback.
Mic placement tips
There are several companies
that offer drum mic kits; Shure and
Audix are two of the brands that I've personally used. There are varying kit sizes
and styles; most come with drum rim
mounts so that you can place the mics
directly on the drums, without having to
jury-rig a mic stand between two toms.
Regardless of whether or not you get a
mic kit, I suggest miking the kick with two
mics if you can spare them; one on the
inside, one on the outside. You can choose
to mike the snare on both top and bottom,
depending on the sound of the snare. Mike
each tom-high, middle, floor-and if there
are any extra pieces like a cowbell or
chimes, those should get their own mic too.
20

RECORDING August 2014

For a live recording, you'll more than
likely want to have overhead mics as
well. Ones that I've had a lot of positive
experience with are the Shure KSM32,
Shure SM81, Audix ADX51, AKG C451,
and even the Audix D2 and D4.
What about other cymbals? I hear people
say there's no need to mike the hi-hat in a live
situation because the overheads will pick it
up. While I see this point, I like to give myself
more than I need going in, so that I'm not left
searching for something on the back end.

A friend of mine, Matthew Andrade, who
tours and also runs sound at the Viper Room
in Hollywood, likes to put a mic under the
ride cymbal as well. And if he's "feeling
frisky," as he puts it, he'll also throw a mic
on the side of the snare to capture rimshots!
At the end of the day, consider what
you think you'll need and add a bit extra
if you can. I can say that there have been
more than a few times where I've thanked
myself for adding that extra mic... and
where I've kicked myself for leaving it out.
This goes for the other instruments as
well. Set up a couple of mics on the guitar
cab(s) if you can. I typically put a mic up

in front of the bass cab as well, just to have
it in the mix for added growl. A lone DI on
bass can be very clean and plucky-sounding. If there's an acoustic guitar, a keyboard with an amp, an actual piano, etc.,
use the same concept of close miking.
One final issue to deal with is stage volume. My band's guitarist has a vintage
Marshall amp that he just loves to crank.
Unfortunately, doing so in small clubs
means there's pretty much nowhere to put
him in the PA, let alone hear my vocals over
the crushing midrange volume of his amp.
If you happen upon this situation, try to
get everyone to turn their instruments to the
appropriate volume, creating an onstage
level that allows the band to hear themselves
and also gives you, the engineer, more control over what goes through the PA and
record rig. However, if the guitarist's sound
is inextricably tied to high volume, well, you
can't argue with that. Try facing the cab to
the back of the stage (again, it doesn't
always have to look pretty) or to the
side, giving you more wiggle room
on how much sound is put through
wedges and the PA.
Front Of House
Now that you have your mics all
lined up and ready to go, it's time
to get them to FOH. Whether
you're at a live venue or making
one out of a new space, you'll need
a snake of some kind with a stage
box at one end. For live recording,
you'll ideally want to split the signal
so that the one mic signal goes to
either two or three places. If you
have a two-way split, you'll send it
to a recording rig and the FOH console. If you have a three-way split,
you can also send it to monitors so
that those are separately controlled
off their own board.
This is the ideal way of running
things, even more so if the splitters
are transformer-isolated so as to
block out electrical hum. This way,
you can have an entirely separate
recording rig with as many inputs
as your FOH console, recording
the show at appropriate levels,
through whatever processors you
like, without being dependent on the levels set on the FOH console.
However, there will be times when even a
two-way split seems a luxury. In this case,
you'll need to make do with a stereo output
recording. In other words, you'll take a
left/right signal from the FOH board and
input it into an external recording device.
The main hurdle here, of course, is getting a balanced mix. For example, you
might hear a lot of bass in the venue and
think that there's enough bass in the stereo
output, when in reality it's just a bass-heavy
venue and you actually have little to no
bass in your recording. Bummer.



Recording - August 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - August 2014

Contents
Recording - August 2014 - Cover1
Recording - August 2014 - Cover2
Recording - August 2014 - 1
Recording - August 2014 - 2
Recording - August 2014 - 3
Recording - August 2014 - 4
Recording - August 2014 - 5
Recording - August 2014 - Contents
Recording - August 2014 - 7
Recording - August 2014 - 8
Recording - August 2014 - 9
Recording - August 2014 - 10
Recording - August 2014 - 11
Recording - August 2014 - 12
Recording - August 2014 - 13
Recording - August 2014 - 14
Recording - August 2014 - 15
Recording - August 2014 - 16
Recording - August 2014 - 17
Recording - August 2014 - 18
Recording - August 2014 - 19
Recording - August 2014 - 20
Recording - August 2014 - 21
Recording - August 2014 - 22
Recording - August 2014 - 23
Recording - August 2014 - 24
Recording - August 2014 - 25
Recording - August 2014 - 26
Recording - August 2014 - 27
Recording - August 2014 - 28
Recording - August 2014 - 29
Recording - August 2014 - 30
Recording - August 2014 - 31
Recording - August 2014 - 32
Recording - August 2014 - 33
Recording - August 2014 - 34
Recording - August 2014 - 35
Recording - August 2014 - 36
Recording - August 2014 - 37
Recording - August 2014 - 38
Recording - August 2014 - 39
Recording - August 2014 - 40
Recording - August 2014 - 41
Recording - August 2014 - 42
Recording - August 2014 - 43
Recording - August 2014 - 44
Recording - August 2014 - 45
Recording - August 2014 - 46
Recording - August 2014 - 47
Recording - August 2014 - 48
Recording - August 2014 - 49
Recording - August 2014 - 50
Recording - August 2014 - 51
Recording - August 2014 - 52
Recording - August 2014 - 53
Recording - August 2014 - 54
Recording - August 2014 - 55
Recording - August 2014 - 56
Recording - August 2014 - 57
Recording - August 2014 - 58
Recording - August 2014 - 59
Recording - August 2014 - 60
Recording - August 2014 - 61
Recording - August 2014 - 62
Recording - August 2014 - 63
Recording - August 2014 - 64
Recording - August 2014 - 65
Recording - August 2014 - 66
Recording - August 2014 - 67
Recording - August 2014 - 68
Recording - August 2014 - 69
Recording - August 2014 - 70
Recording - August 2014 - 71
Recording - August 2014 - 72
Recording - August 2014 - Cover3
Recording - August 2014 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202404
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202403
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202402
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202401
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202312
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording-november-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202310
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202309
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202308
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202307
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202306
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202305
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202304
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202303
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202302
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202301
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202212
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202211
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202210
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202209
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202208
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202207
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202206
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202205
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202204
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202203
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202202
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202201
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202112
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202111
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202110
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202109
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202108
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202107
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202106
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202105
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202104
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202103
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202102
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202101
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202012
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202011
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202010
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202009
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202008
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202007
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202006
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_20205
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202004
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202003
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202002
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202001
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201912
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201911
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201910
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201909
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201908
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201907
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201906
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201905
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201904
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201903
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201902
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201901
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201812
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201811
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201807
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201806
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201805
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201803
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201802
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201801
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201711
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201707
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201706
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201705
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201703
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201702
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201701
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201612
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201611
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201610
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201609
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201608
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201606
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201605
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201604
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201603
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201602
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201601
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201511
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201509
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201507
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201505
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201503
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201502
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201501
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201412
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201411
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201410
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201409
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201408
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201407
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201406
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201402
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201401
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201103
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201101
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201008
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201007
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201006
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201005
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201003
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201002
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201001
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/nxtd
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com