audio settings for rock rehearsal? at DVinfo.net

Federico Perale · July 12th, 2010, 06:30 AM

hi there
I need to record a few songs of my band playing for a DVD we need to give to live venues to see how we are.
we will have to play in a relatively small rehearsal room on full volume (quite loud)

what set up do you think I should use with my EX1r?
obviously I cannot shoot as I am the guitar player, so I need to be covered but some decent autosettings and mic choices! I have a good tripod ready to use.

I own a few mics (dynamic ones like the shure sm57 and some condenser) but I was wondering if the internal mic will do...or shall I try one of more external mics?

how should I set the attenuators?
what mic settings should I go for?
should one mic in the middle of the room be enough?

many thanks
Fed

Hiram Yates · July 12th, 2010, 07:11 AM

If there's any way to plug everyone into a single soundboard then output from the soundboard into the camera via xlr that will be the best way to capture the audio instead of using mics.

However, if that's not an option then I'd avoid the internal mics for sure and go with something in the middle of the room. As far as setting go I'm no expert, but I know you'll want to make sure the wind filters are off, set the trim to -57 or so (although this is something you might mess around with to get the right setting), then have the band play something and set the levels to where they'll hit somewhere between half to three quarters on the level indicators and hope for the best!

Dunno if this was really much help, but that's my $0.02

Andrew Stone · July 12th, 2010, 10:10 AM

Probably the board mix is going to be set for an ambient room mix rather than record mix. I would set up a couple of mics recording the mics to separate channels (not mixing down into channel 1) rather than pulling directly off the board that will be skewed for the ears. Adjust the attenuation while people warm up to get your levels. Hope you have a good pair of sealed headphones (like the Sony MDR-7506) so you can monitor while you set the levels. Your a musician you should know how to setup your mics.

If your condenser mics are boom or hypercardioid phantom powered then good, they will probably yield a better sound from a far than the SM57s but if you record to discrete channels then you can choose later on which mic sounds better.

I record live sets fairly often and this approach works well.

Robert Young · July 12th, 2010, 12:37 PM

My experience with recording live bands with just a single mic catching the "ambient" sound is pretty disappointing. The results are O.K. for internal uses- reference recording, rehearsal uses, etc., but it sounds like you are making a demo DVD to be sent out for marketing purposes. This method of recording will not do a satisfactory job.
It will be far, far better to record the mix direct from the sound board.
Better yet (and this is eventually what I ended up having to do), is to record each track (each instrument, vocal, etc.) seperately off of the board, drop it all into a multitrack audio editor, tweak, mix, & master (including compression) the song down to the final stereo track.
Making a recording that actually sounds as good as your band sounds in a live performance is not easy. If you fall short it is very unflattering.
If you don't have the equipment, experience, etc. to do a proper multitrack, mix, master, it would be worth the $$ to have it done in a studio. Then for the video portion of the DVD, play the studio recording and have the band just "lip synch" to the recorded music.
Big pain in the neck to do all of this, but it will produce a product your band will be proud of, and be the best chance of impressing the venue promoters.
We are all accustomed to handling audio for video in a fairly straightforward manner and are used to getting satisfactory results. However, IMO recording live music and getting pro sounding results is a very different animal.

Piotr Wozniacki · July 12th, 2010, 01:52 PM

How true, Robert....

Federico Perale · July 12th, 2010, 04:20 PM

I read about many people complaining about the EX1 limiters, and especially that it was undefeatable.

but this has been fixed with the EX1r right?
do you ever turn it off?

Hiram Yates · July 12th, 2010, 07:08 PM

Another option if you don't have a soundboard is to use this:

Amazon.com: PreSonus FireStudio FireWire Interface with 8 Preamps: Musical Instruments

Up to 8 channels into firewire on your computer all recorded as separate tracks... We use this on the tv show I shoot and it works really well. If it's possible to get all your mics and instruments to XLR then this is a great tool to have...

Bruce Rawlings · July 15th, 2010, 12:13 AM

How about hiring a soundman to sort it. Something as complex as this needs a dedicated technician with experience.

July 12th, 2010, 06:30 AM	#1
Federico Perale Major Player Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: London Posts: 410	audio settings for rock rehearsal? hi there I need to record a few songs of my band playing for a DVD we need to give to live venues to see how we are. we will have to play in a relatively small rehearsal room on full volume (quite loud) what set up do you think I should use with my EX1r? obviously I cannot shoot as I am the guitar player, so I need to be covered but some decent autosettings and mic choices! I have a good tripod ready to use. I own a few mics (dynamic ones like the shure sm57 and some condenser) but I was wondering if the internal mic will do...or shall I try one of more external mics? how should I set the attenuators? what mic settings should I go for? should one mic in the middle of the room be enough? many thanks Fed

July 12th, 2010, 12:37 PM	#4
Robert Young Trustee Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Coronado Island Posts: 1,472	My experience with recording live bands with just a single mic catching the "ambient" sound is pretty disappointing. The results are O.K. for internal uses- reference recording, rehearsal uses, etc., but it sounds like you are making a demo DVD to be sent out for marketing purposes. This method of recording will not do a satisfactory job. It will be far, far better to record the mix direct from the sound board. Better yet (and this is eventually what I ended up having to do), is to record each track (each instrument, vocal, etc.) seperately off of the board, drop it all into a multitrack audio editor, tweak, mix, & master (including compression) the song down to the final stereo track. Making a recording that actually sounds as good as your band sounds in a live performance is not easy. If you fall short it is very unflattering. If you don't have the equipment, experience, etc. to do a proper multitrack, mix, master, it would be worth the $$ to have it done in a studio. Then for the video portion of the DVD, play the studio recording and have the band just "lip synch" to the recorded music. Big pain in the neck to do all of this, but it will produce a product your band will be proud of, and be the best chance of impressing the venue promoters. We are all accustomed to handling audio for video in a fairly straightforward manner and are used to getting satisfactory results. However, IMO recording live music and getting pro sounding results is a very different animal. __________________ Bob

July 12th, 2010, 01:52 PM	#5
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	How true, Robert.... __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive

July 12th, 2010, 07:08 PM	#7
Hiram Yates Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: United States Posts: 72	Another option if you don't have a soundboard is to use this: Amazon.com: PreSonus FireStudio FireWire Interface with 8 Preamps: Musical Instruments Amazon.com: PreSonus FireStudio FireWire Interface with 8 Preamps: Musical Instruments Up to 8 channels into firewire on your computer all recorded as separate tracks... We use this on the tv show I shoot and it works really well. If it's possible to get all your mics and instruments to XLR then this is a great tool to have...

July 12th, 2010, 07:11 AM	#2
Hiram Yates Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: United States Posts: 72	If there's any way to plug everyone into a single soundboard then output from the soundboard into the camera via xlr that will be the best way to capture the audio instead of using mics. However, if that's not an option then I'd avoid the internal mics for sure and go with something in the middle of the room. As far as setting go I'm no expert, but I know you'll want to make sure the wind filters are off, set the trim to -57 or so (although this is something you might mess around with to get the right setting), then have the band play something and set the levels to where they'll hit somewhere between half to three quarters on the level indicators and hope for the best! Dunno if this was really much help, but that's my $0.02

July 12th, 2010, 10:10 AM	#3
Andrew Stone Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 975	Probably the board mix is going to be set for an ambient room mix rather than record mix. I would set up a couple of mics recording the mics to separate channels (not mixing down into channel 1) rather than pulling directly off the board that will be skewed for the ears. Adjust the attenuation while people warm up to get your levels. Hope you have a good pair of sealed headphones (like the Sony MDR-7506) so you can monitor while you set the levels. Your a musician you should know how to setup your mics. If your condenser mics are boom or hypercardioid phantom powered then good, they will probably yield a better sound from a far than the SM57s but if you record to discrete channels then you can choose later on which mic sounds better. I record live sets fairly often and this approach works well.

July 12th, 2010, 04:20 PM	#6
Federico Perale Major Player Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: London Posts: 410	I read about many people complaining about the EX1 limiters, and especially that it was undefeatable. but this has been fixed with the EX1r right? do you ever turn it off?

July 15th, 2010, 12:13 AM	#8
Bruce Rawlings Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Cardiff, Wales, UK Posts: 410	How about hiring a soundman to sort it. Something as complex as this needs a dedicated technician with experience.