I've actually got two identical Tascam 488 MKIIs now. The one pictured is a little beat, has a couple blown pres, but works fine. That's the one I record on. Then upstairs I've got a little post production area where I have one that's super clean. Now I don't have to lug the whole 8 track around from recording to mixing, I can just pop out the tape and take it upstairs. There are so many fucking features on that deck...I hardly use any of em, but someone who's more savvy could do a hell of a lot with that thing. It's also nice to do pretty much everything live, then go back and listen to the tape and it sounds just like it sounded in the room.

Here's me measuring some overheads yesterday whilst setting up to track a local post-hardcore band. I've been trying this 'golden triangle' idea with the two overheads and front-of-kit mics all being equidistant from the snare. Recording came out well so far on initial mixing.

JohnnySomersett wrote:Here's me measuring some overheads yesterday whilst setting up to track a local post-hardcore band. I've been trying this 'golden triangle' idea with the two overheads and front-of-kit mics all being equidistant from the snare. I'm at the same, 'everything in focus'. I'm only using one mic out front a U87 - I've tried two techniques. First is set the U87 to figure 8 & place it on it's side. Copy the channel, pan both L&R & flip the polarity & your using both capsules. Second is cardioid, facing the kit & kept mono. I'm preferring the 2nd way more. It's nice to have some cymbals etc up the middle - it fills in the kit a bit more then just hard L&R with all the ambient mics.

24K wrote:JohnnySomersett wrote:Here's me measuring some overheads yesterday whilst setting up to track a local post-hardcore band. I've been trying this 'golden triangle' idea with the two overheads and front-of-kit mics all being equidistant from the snare. I'm at the same, 'everything in focus'. I'm only using one mic out front a U87 - I've tried two techniques. First is set the U87 to figure 8 & place it on it's side. Copy the channel, pan both L&R & flip the polarity & your using both capsules. Second is cardioid, facing the kit & kept mono. I'm preferring the 2nd way more. It's nice to have some cymbals etc up the middle - it fills in the kit a bit more then just hard L&R with all the ambient mics.I've stopped panning cymbals hard. They generally run about 50% or less with a spaced pair. I really like the Glyn Johns technique but it requires a quieter room to work well (most recording I do is with the whole band in the room together). When I move and build a studio I'll have chance to isolate better and play more. I always hard pan guitars now and have taken to bringing this cool little 5w Ampeg combo to sessions to use as a second amp when a guitarist only has one amp. They ALWAYS like the tone and it helps space the mix out without double-tracking. Cymbals get in every mic anyway, might as well have them pretty much central or it sounds weird.

Nate Dort wrote:That NOIR amp was built by Dr. Balls.Oh crazy! Is the owner a PRF'er?That amp started its life as an Ampeg V50h. The owner of that sent it to me to be gutted and turned into an Orange OD80 clone. Back in the day Orange used their 100W iron on both versions of their amps, and the customer wanted that so I obliged. He eventually sold it to the current owner who had it like that for a bit, but recently sent it back to me to be turned into an OD120 with half power switch. Luckily it already had the iron so the change was pretty simple.

Dr Tony Balls wrote:Nate Dort wrote:That NOIR amp was built by Dr. Balls.Oh crazy! Is the owner a PRF'er?That amp started its life as an Ampeg V50h. The owner of that sent it to me to be gutted and turned into an Orange OD80 clone. Back in the day Orange used their 100W iron on both versions of their amps, and the customer wanted that so I obliged. He eventually sold it to the current owner who had it like that for a bit, but recently sent it back to me to be turned into an OD120 with half power switch. Luckily it already had the iron so the change was pretty simple.Brian doesn't post here, but yeah, I was in this band for like 18 months or something before I moved to Detroit. We played the 2016 BBQ in Chicago.He was actually going to send it to me to do the OD120 mod, but I told him to just have you do it.

This past weekend I flew to Denver to help record my old band, Laurium (FM offal on drums). They've since turned into a four-piece since I skipped town a year and a half ago, adding a second guitarist and replacing me on bass.They booked a studio (http://www.moduleoverload.com) and the owner/engineer did the tracking over two days, with me recording some vocals on day 3 at the rehearsal space. I'll be mixing the six songs over the next few weeks.That's me in the Hot Snakes shirt. That NOIR amp was built by Dr. Balls.

I have a handful of songs I want to record at home and have been getting drum sounds. Not exactly sure where this is headed and what the process will be, but I have a couple options. One is to record in my office on the second floor, which has my recording gear. Advantage is it's easy to monitor and do tapeop stuff, but the room itself doesn't have a lot of personality.Other option is to run a snake down to the dining room, which has high ceilings and sounds great. Problem with that is it's harder - though not impossible - to monitor levels and press record and stops, etc. Also because it's a dining room, the expectation among family members is that it's able to be used for dining most of the time.I'm pretty happy with the sounds in both scenarios. Signal chain for top (office). All sources going into MOTO 828mkii into Reaper1) Kick > Peavey PVM520i > SCA 1272 preamp2) Snare > Sennheiser 421> SCA 1272 preamp3) Hi Tom > Audio-Technica ATM450 > Knowles Voice-Matic* channel4) Low Tom > Audio-Technica ATM450 > Knowles Voice-Matic* channel5 & 6) Overheads > Audio-Technica ATM450s > UA 2-610 dual channel preamp7) Behind right shoulder mic > Rode K2 > SCA Millennia clone Hallway boundary mic > Oktava MC012 (omni capsule) > SCA Millennia cloneSignal chain for lower (dining room). All sources going into MOTO 828mkii into Reaper1) Kick > Peavey PVM520i > SCA 1272 preamp2) Snare > Sennheiser 421> SCA 1272 preamp3) Hi Tom > Oktava MC012 (hyper capsule) > Knowles Voice-Matic* channel4) Low Tom > Oktava MC012 (hyper capsule) > Knowles Voice-Matic* channel5 & 6) Overheads > Audio-Technica ATM450s > UA 2-610 dual channel preamp > RNC 1773 compressor7) Behind right shoulder mic > Rode K2 > SCA Millennia clone Room mic > BLUE Blueberry > SCA Millennia cloneThe office setup was my second attempt at getting sounds and I like the mic choices a little better I think. Not really sure about compressing the overheads, but figured I'd give it a shot. I'll try and get a sample up on soundcloud or something soon.*The voice-matic is a bank of mic amp cards (6 dual channel cards) that mix into one channel and meant for things like town council meetings. I converted it to channel outs and they're kinda fun, with Beyer input transformers. I dunno, sounds like a preamp.

twelvepoint wrote:Apart from the compression in overheads I mentioned the mixing was mainly balancing, except I put some additive shelf EQ on the boundary mic, both on bass and treble. This sounds good! However, I think that if you put this in the context of a rock band, the drums will lose focus. The first contributor to that is that your balance is more on the roomy side. Dial down those room mics. Beyond the loss of focus, the more roomy you make it, the more you can hear that this is a regular room and not a treated room. However, I will say that this room sounds alright.The other issue is that the kick is not massive enough. It sounds good like this, but if you add thick bass and distorted guitar on top, you will struggle to place the kick. Get the stupidest, thickest, most massive kick sound you can get. You can always dial it down later, but you won't really be able to make it bigger with EQ or compression. If your kick sounds massive, it'll always cut through and center the drums.I don't usually compress overheads unless I have a rowdy snare I'm trying to control, then I will use a compressor that will blink every time the snare hits (got that from FM steve). I treat overheads almost like close mics for cymbals. I get them just high enough where the cymbals don't sound stupid, and where they capture a bit of the attack of the drums (that is also a variation on something Steve taught me). If you get them high up (and they look like they're up there from the picture, but maybe it's just the angle), they will start crossing into room mic territory, and in your case you already have a dedicated ambiance microphone. So keep the OHs low and focused. Anyway, the point of this is that if you set your overheads high, and you compress them (not jus to get the snare out), they'll sound even roomier and you will lose focus.Use the room mics like an effect. Aim for the main drum sound to come from the close mics and overheads, and bring up the ambiance microphones to add flavor.Lately I really like using a front of the kit microphone. Usually a large diaphragm condenser. I keep it maybe 2-3ft away from the kick, and a few inches above the rim of the kick. It takes some experimentation to find the right spot. That microphone alone gives me the most focused drum sound. Add a little bit of the kick and snare and boom, it sounds great. The only issue with that positioning is that it has a very narrow sweet spot in the mix where it meshes well with the overheads. Angling it down a bit might help with that, now that I think of it. Anyway, you might want to try the Rode in that position and see what it sounds like! I know I wrote a lot, but I do think this recording sounds good. These points are just what I thought might make it sound even better. The toms are ace. The drums are balanced. Your drumming is great!twelvepoint wrote:And on a related note, do we have a thread here for general recording/tracking/mixing questions?I think there are multiple threads.

twelvepoint wrote:Can you clarify a bit what you mean by a assume kick sound? I m assuming your suggestion would mean changing tracking technique? Yeah. Try to get more lows and more low mids out of it. Maybe it's the way you mixed it? Is the kick mic really low in the mix?twelvepoint wrote:Right now it s just that PVM520 into a non concentric (sorry!) port in my 20 kick, which is treated super dead. Usually super dead kicks don't have a lot of rumble, so maybe go for that 70s dead kick that you can still cuts through everything. twelvepoint wrote:I could play around with positioning, although I feel like that s a sweet spot. Maybe a mic outside the front head? Maybe mic the beater side? I have a few other mics to play with including an AT4033 and an AKG D112, as well as the Blueberry. Really open to suggestions on this one.I used to always try and find the sweet spot inside the kick and then would end up being displeased with the result. I'm not saying it doesn't work - it does, I just can't make it work for me. Lately I've been using an LDC right in front of the kick and get it as close as possible without overloading anything (pads take care of that) and without the front head bumping the mic. Try the AT4033 there in conjunction with the PVM inside and just make sure they're not phasing. If they are, try just the condenser outside. I like using a beater mic when I can afford it, but I don't think it's necessary. Sometimes it brings in some low end, and that's nice, but you put it there for the click. Personally, I feel like you can get that attack with some EQ, particularly if you have a mic inside the kick. The way I think about this is that usually the kick occupies the lowest part of the spectrum, and right above it is the bass. Then other stuff on top, obviously, and around 2.5kHz and 5kHz you can push the click/attack. So the idea is to extract as much low end as you can get from the kick. The really low frequencies are harder to capture (in my experience), so then what happens is that you end up with a kick that competes with the bass. Again, that's just my experience. I was unhappy with my kick sounds in the mix until I moved away from the dynamic inside to a condenser right outside the kick.