tips for first recording

[whopiecushoon]

hey, i am going into a rehearsal studio on tuesday to record a indie/rock/alternative band. i have done a lot of mixing, recording on my own, but this will be my first time producing a band. if anyone can help me with some questions it would be great.

1) when using overhead mics for drums, what exactly is the point, or what are you trying to capture?

2) for songs that have a looseness to them, or are uptempo, bright, but have a vocalist that has more of a rough edge, what are the best ways of tracking a vocal like that?

3) for overdubbing parts, which instrument should be paid the most attention to in a uptempo, rock song?

if anyone could help with those, or give any more general tips on recording a band, it would help.

 

[JohnTheRipper]

1). When using overheads for everything except brutal metal, you want to capture the kit as a whole. Don't just think about capturing the cymbals. You need to nave a good ammount of snare in them, you need to have balanced toms in relation to the rest of the kit, and if you use the glyn johns technique you should place them to have a solid kick in there as well. The bulk of the sound should be achieved with the room and overhead mics, then just bring up the close mics to make sure your kit is balanced. Here's what you can do with just 2 crappy mics:

For metal, use bright mics for overheads and just shoot for capturing the cymbals, and use the close mics for the bulk of the sound.

2). Just use your ears and make sure the mic fits the singer well. If he has more of a rough edge, you could use a brighter mic like a u87 to complement those upper harmonics, but make sure sibilance doesn't get in the way.

3). That depends on each and every song. But generally speaking, in an uptempo rock song the most attention goes to the kick and bass. They need to keep the song kicking.

Hope this helps, and let us know how it went!