99positions

[mexicancounciloffood]

thats my band.......and i'm pleased to announce we will be tearing into our first demo in a few weeks.....After 1 and 3/4 years playing together i'm glad to finally be bringing something to the table. Any ideas or advice for recording is much appreciated.

[hellsbells58]

Recording takes time, don't rush it or you won't be happy with the final product.

Make sure you get the best possible sound out of the recording before being done with it. Post-mixing can only do so much, get the most out of your pre-mix.

Don't clip.

Use a metronome, or a guitar track based off a metronome.

Make sure your songs are properly down and tight, especially for the drummer, it makes it a lot easier for the rest of the band to do their tracks over the top with a solid beat underneath.

Our band records as follows:
Drums (to a click or rough guitar track)
Bass
Guitars
Vocals

Make sure you use enough mic's for the drums. My advice would be at least one mic each for the drums, with special ones for the bass that pick up lower frequencies. One mic for the HiHats, One for the Ride, and 2 or 3 overhead Dynamic mics pick up your Crash(s) and other cymbals.

A good sound tech is worth his weight in gold. Be nice to them, and ask his opinion on how your drums sound, and what you could do to improve them.

Overall though, have fun and try to make recording seem less of a job and more of an exciting journey. Recording gets very tedious sometimes when you aren't in the zone, so make the most of what you can, and if something isn't working, leave it and come back to it later.

HB58

[vinnysimmo]

Enjoy it!

[Jobby]

And ... don't try to be 'fancy' with fills and tricks and such. Playing the basic groove well always sounds a million times better than someone trying to get in everything they can.

No-one apart from drummers generally notices this stuff anyway, what they notice is whether the song grooves or not.

You're a musician first, a drummer second!

Good luck man; I'm sure you'll have an absolute blast!!!

[bongobro]

Interesting name, mcf...

look forward to hear'n the finished product!

[Lafirin]

I agree with Jobby 110% !

[mexicancounciloffood]

actually i'm going to be doing guitar....
remember the drummer that i used to complain about....he's doing the drums....its a really good jazz drummer thats recording us so i'm hoping he will give our drummer some tips.

the band tends to rush songs etc...i.e. they'll do one take and think that they don't have to progress on it. anyway enough of my moaning....i'll do my best to enjoy it.....we're not paying for it....so....heheheh

[bongobro]

hey, mcf, sounds like you've at least patched up the differences for now?

If you're not havin' to pay for it, maybe you'll get a chance to polish things up a bit...

[mexicancounciloffood]

well he's a dinger when it comes to commitment and all that. like its absolutly nothin personal against him but he really just needs to get a better concept of drumming. like sure he's not the worst in the world....but i dunno

here;s hoping...

[mexicancounciloffood]

Here's a few pics of us at our pre-demo rehearsals. All of these photos were taken by a chair would ya believe.

Us in front of a plane we found outside the rehearsal rooms. (I'm the tall guy)


Thats Kevin our drummer!


Me messing with the mixer!


Us setting up. Richard on bass and me kneeling.

[mexicancounciloffood]

Well we recorded the demo in the confines of a garage yesterday.
It wasn't really an ideal situation i must say....we were under a 5 hour time constraint to record 4 songs.... we hadn't practised in ages so we were incredibly rusty....we were in a shed.... there were some people hanging around that were into their theory so i felt a bit intimidated...My multieffects thing was broken so i felt a bit stranded..I definatly fluffed a solo or too.....but then again this was my and our first demo experience and I guess we were happy with it i mean its good for 5 hours work....I'll let ye know when the mixing is done so ye can have a listen....at the mo its very raw and loose..and garagy.

[bongobro]

Will be interesting to hear how it sounds when you get a mix on it, bro'... keep us posted!

[mexicancounciloffood]

ok guys.......it's alive.....i'm expecting criticisms cos the toms weren't miked properly..i'm playing guitar btw..

So give it a listen......we recorded 4 songs......but i only got 2 up so far.....
in order of personal preference...1st The Gentlemen, 2nd Shame, 3rd Obsessed, 4th Lover's Lies.

Note this was our first time recording....and I guess its ok for 5 hours work!

I know there are problems but have a listen and give out to me and stuff...and don't under any circumstances watch that awful video on our page...

http://99positions.bebo.com

[el presidente]

couple things. You're young, you'll get better. I used to make recordings like this too.

The advice I would dispence would be 1. loosen up the top head on your snare. You're really choking it and it doesn't fit into a rock recording. And if you have the available tracks the next time you record, mic the bottom of the snare and turn it way down when you mix. It helps add to a "snarey" sound.

And second. Metronome. Practice with it. Record with it. Make your bandmates learn to play to it. The 2 things that make a recording sound amatuer the most are the drum sounds and the timing. It took me too many years to realize this, that's why I tell you now.

[mexicancounciloffood]

hey thanks for the criticism....our drummer's sister bought him a metronome.... he doesn't use it..... i suggested using a metronome on the day...they said it would take too long......i said again it would be better to use one....they said iron maiden don't use one......i said we aren't iron maiden.....no metronome used...:(

the drum miccing was highly inadequate....what more can i say.....i didn't have a part in miccing the drums as the producer is a fantastic drummer and i thought he would have everything sorted,

He uses a chad smith signature snare....(he doesn't like the chilis so i don't really know why he has it) and yes its tighter than a knat's ***...but he's the drummer in this band not me....

as i said this was done in 5 hours...

[el presidente]

yeah using a metronome to record when you have never used one before is a bad idea. It does take a little time to get used to it. But in the end not only does the drummer need to learn to play to it. EVERYONE does. It makes for much easier recording.