Recording acoustic album

omen80

Hi all,

My band are thinking of recording an album, nothing fancy in terms of production...probably more on the side of lo-fi (think Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago album). We are an acoustic band with the odd bit of clean electric. We were thinking of going somewhere quiet out in the country and getting most of it down. I would record and mix it myself using Pro Tools LE but would then get it mastered by a professional. The upside is that we don't have to worry about recording a drumkit so it's mainly acoustic guitars, electric guitar, vocals, maybe piano, maybe violin, shakers etc.
Any tips on recording this style of music? Do you think it's a good idea going somewhere that has a nice room, instead of a studio, to get most of it down?


Thanks.

studiorat

Can you get a nice room, quality microphone pre-amps and microphones for your budget? How are you going to know to know it's a "nice room"?

Who's gonna operate the machines while you play?

I'd say you'd be better booking a nice studio with a good producer or engineer. Getting the little cottage in the country sounds like a great idea an all like, but frankly if you want a holiday go and have one after the recording. I think's it's totally false economy.

Personally I think you should book a studio and do 14 hour days for a week.

PaulBrewer

That's the idea of a Studio - a nice room !

Ambient noise will most likely be the variable in a 'regular' room though there's no reason it shouldn't sound good, once the room is big enough.

Small rooms are perhaps more of a lottery sonically.

Chris Thiele, the US country guy, has just recorded his new album using two mics in omni straight to two track some of which I heard yesterday - he and his band are truly monumental musicians !

omen80

studiorat wrote: »

Personally I think you should book a studio and do 14 hour days for a week.

How much would this sort of time cost? It would be nice to have access to a collection of mics and a good engineer but we have quite a low budget for this. Would hiring an engineer for a week be a cheaper option and then he could come with us and use whatever equipment he may have? The mics I have myself are Rode NT1-A, AKG C1000S, Shure sm57, Shure beta 58.

PaulBrewer

I don't think anyone can remain on top of their game for 14 hours straight , I know I can't .

It depends on your goal - but whatever about electronic or rock music - there's nothing better than acoustic music for highlighting a recording's weakness, be that playing, instruments, rooms, mics, pres conversion etc.

omen80

PaulBrewer wrote: »

there's nothing better than acoustic music for highlighting a recording's weakness, be that playing, instruments, rooms, mics, pres conversion etc.

That's very true......whever we play a gig and one of us hits a bum note, everyone knows about it! There's nothing to hide behind.
It would be a very exposed record. It's not for commercial reasons, it's just about capturing the songs we have written over the last couple of years and getting them down. Our music isn't suitable for the charts or anything but I'd still like to get the recordings done properly.

studiorat

omen80 wrote: »

How much would this sort of time cost? It would be nice to have access to a collection of mics and a good engineer but we have quite a low budget for this. Would hiring an engineer for a week be a cheaper option and then he could come with us and use whatever equipment he may have? The mics I have myself are Rode NT1-A, AKG C1000S, Shure sm57, Shure beta 58.

Well how much is the location and travel and all the rest going to cost?
Food new strings etc.

I do 14 hour days no problem if the studio was decent with a kitchen, ventilation, nice big console and a good seat.

PaulBrewer

Well I think there's a strong argument for booking a day at a good studio - record it and perhaps mix it at home.

If that works out book more.

The other issue with 'offsite' recording is that you have to set up from scratch so the 'recording' can become the main event (what with setting up, sound checking etc), not the music.

PaulBrewer

studiorat wrote: »

I do 14 hour days no problem if the studio was decent with a kitchen, ventilation, nice big console and a good seat.

You are, indeed, a greater man than I.

SeanHurley

How many songs are you looking to do? How complicated are the arrangements? Will the songs be played live as in will the band perform as a band rather than individual tracks being recorded?

The answers to those questions should have bearing on what you should do in my opinion. It might be a hell of a lot cheaper and efficient for you to rehearse like crazy and then go and rent a small studio for a few days and record the tracks live. The type of music you are talking about is not the type of thing you will be doing to a click - you will want the songs to ebb and flow and not beat detective it to death.

If you are doing say ten songs and are intending on recording them live, 2 or 3 days will be more than enough to track all you need (basic live takes plus whatever overdubs you need to do). As Paul said you can mix it at home.

As has been said already acoustic stuff is the least forgiving with regard to recording, room, mic technique etc all play a vital part and can be heard if got wrong.

The idea of renting a house in the country and recording your album is very appealling I grant you, and I am a purveyor of the diy approach, but the reality is unless you are a really really good engineer it will take you days getting what an engineer in a studio will get in 1 hour.

Places like Peter Maher's Middlewalk Studio in Cloughjordan seems ideal for what you want to do - a great sounding room in the middle of nowhere, you get that far from the madding crowd vibe and the room is a model for acoustic based stuff. You will take back great sounding raw tracks to mix, you wont need to do much to make it sound good.

Hope this helps.

omen80

SeanHurley wrote: »

How many songs are you looking to do? How complicated are the arrangements? Will the songs be played live as in will the band perform as a band rather than individual tracks being recorded?

The answers to those questions should have bearing on what you should do in my opinion. It might be a hell of a lot cheaper and efficient for you to rehearse like crazy and then go and rent a small studio for a few days and record the tracks live. The type of music you are talking about is not the type of thing you will be doing to a click - you will want the songs to ebb and flow and not beat detective it to death.

If you are doing say ten songs and are intending on recording them live, 2 or 3 days will be more than enough to track all you need (basic live takes plus whatever overdubs you need to do). As Paul said you can mix it at home.

As has been said already acoustic stuff is the least forgiving with regard to recording, room, mic technique etc all play a vital part and can be heard if got wrong.

The idea of renting a house in the country and recording your album is very appealling I grant you, and I am a purveyor of the diy approach, but the reality is unless you are a really really good engineer it will take you days getting what an engineer in a studio will get in 1 hour.

Places like Peter Maher's Middlewalk Studio in Cloughjordan seems ideal for what you want to do - a great sounding room in the middle of nowhere, you get that far from the madding crowd vibe and the room is a model for acoustic based stuff. You will take back great sounding raw tracks to mix, you wont need to do much to make it sound good.

Hope this helps.

We would be talking about 12 songs, with maybe 3 live tracks. Most of the stuff I would rather record separately, just because it makes mixing so much easier. But the "live" vibe would be nice on some tracks, especially for this kind of music.
I'll check out the studio you are talking about, it sounds like it's something we could use.
Thanks.

PaulBrewer

Middlewalk is one of the finest studios in the land. The studio was designed by Munro Acoustics and Peter has a fine selection of mics and pres down there.

petermaher

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Middlewalk is one of the finest studios in the land. The studio was designed by Munro Acoustics and Peter has a fine selection of mics and pres down there.

And he's a really nice guy.

omen80 wrote: »

We were thinking of going somewhere quiet out in the country and getting most of it down.

You won't get a quieter and more out in the country studio than Middlewalk I think.

Also I don't think 14 hour days are a good idea.

madtheory

I agree 14 hour days are not a good idea. Back when I started I soon learned that there is a point of diminishing returns with sessions like that. You'd always end up redoing the things done from about hour 10 onwards.

For example, I just finished Phil Brown's book. Seems to me the only reason 14 hour days were done was to save time and money for busy touring bands. The only way people sustained that level of work was by using stimulants/ illegal drugs. A lot of the people he worked went through divorces and died young. Mr. Brown ended up with colon cancer.

O and yes, Middlewalk is lovely!

studiorat

14 hour day was the average day before you could save every single setting at the click of a mouse. Arrive at 10 leave at midnight, lots of breaks, again I suppose the analog way of working had lots of natural breaks build in. And lots of coffee!!

Where do you think the studiorat thing comes from?

Anyway check this out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu5Qq2CSkjk

dav nagle

12 is my limit, then I turn into a complete dick.

EMPI

Hey Sean,
I could sort you out if you mail me eli@elimusicproductions.com then we can talk.

Regards,
EMPI