I just wondered what people think about recording in rehearsals. I find it helpful in that you can see how you are going along and perhaps reduces the psychological step up being at the studio.
At the mo we have been using a Zoom H2 for this but I always seem to be obscured in the mix which is not so good. When recording in my super-budget setup at home (Ableton Live Intro and Edirol M-16 DX etc.) I would be looking I think at eq and to try to uncover my acoustic guitar on one track and try to create some headroom in another for electric guitar with a church organ-like patch-- sounds like I need those CD's!
Phil
Recording rehearsals can be extremely helpful for working out a song arrangement; or even just to see if the song works at all. In the old days boomboxes with automatic level control built in were great for this as they added ridiculous compression which tended to make recordings 'feel' if not actually sound like finished recordings.
But there are really two schools of thought on this: rehearse and rehearse so you get it right and are more relaxed in the studio, or don't rehearse too much and keep it fresh for the studio.
When Alan wrote the song we used in the making of this program none of the musicians had heard it before they arrived at the studio. Of course these were wonderful players so maybe the question should be left to the capability of the people doing the playing: less experienced may benefit from more rehearsal and vice versa.
Julian / Keyfax NewMedia.
JulianC
That is interesting food for thought, I need to look up boomboxes now lol!
I guess another reason we have been recording in rehearsal is because the main man; who put the band together has been doing it that way for a long while I guess. So maybe, me being a new member- who has just found some accepting ears for new writing efforts - is otherwise going for a smooth ride! Band harmony?
Phil
We do rehearsal recordings at our studio in Dalston, London and have found the need to mic up the instruments in the same way you would do for a full recording, the only difference is they are playing as an entity rather than separately.
If done correctly, the recording can be good enough to be used on Myspace or other music websites
Hi Chris, that does sound most sensible/obvious approach. I guess as we had no sound engineer free we went for the Zoom H2 option.
I am rethinking our chosen reheasal space in Canterbury ( I go up to essex most weeks, the others come down to Canterbury every six weeks or so). Last time the guys got really stuck trying to get back through the Dartford crossing so it occured that somewhere in East London might be a better idea. South East would be best for me but North might do the job. I wonder where abouts your rehearal rooms are?
Phil
(Just off to look for a post on mixing for MP3 have you picked up anything on this so far?)
Hi Phil
If you want to give me a call, I will fill you in and get more info; 07979 836514, if its on voicemail leave a message and I will get back to you.
Recording to mp3, this is subject to material and of course skill, I have found the best way is to master the final mix for mp3 because there are too many problems if you do it any other way
Looking forward to speaking with you