Studio time - what gear and how to prepare?

Yep that’s a better and more detailed way to put it. It’s a real nice bit of aggressive bite.

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Another aspect of my playing that requires attention :joy:

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I think it’s a thing that takes a really long time to become natural. well here we’re in a studio mood, you could use a thing-to-mute-the-open-strings (don’t know the name) if it makes you sound and/or feel better. you have a lot of rights in studio :grin:

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Fret wraps (just talked about them in another thread (again)) - yes, thought about those, but I use open strings a bit. Still, definitely worthwhile checking out!

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yes ! did not remember the name :sweat_smile: I don’t see myself use this but, in a pure studio context, I’m in a “why not” logic. if it helps to get a better result overall … I remember one time wrapping a sock over the neck for a particular guitar take. worked pretty well.

I also use a lot the open strings, it’s a playing style. it gives a particular tone that I like, much more raw and organic than fretted strings in my opinion.

well it was just to say that you have a lot of liberty in studio. it’s also a time to be open minded :grin:

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go @joergkutter!!

Congrats on the studio time.

I don’t have much to add here at all.
Y’all got deep into things!

Relax relax relax and enjoy!!

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I’m learning a lot from @terb’s experience here!

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It will take hours to get drum set miked and gated and mixed. After that, it goes a lot faster. A click track and scratch vocals so it’s easier to know where you are in the song. The drummer can lay down maybe 15 tracks then mix down and add bass, guitars,vocals, keyboards,brass etc. I would plug bass into a direct box and you can later experiment with many parameters. The only thing is my experience is so outdated that mix down of drums is prob not necessary in the digital age.

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I suspect this varies a bit from studio to studio. I practice in a recording studio every two weeks, but without recording. In that studio it is basically plug and play. There is already a drum kit there and mic’d up. Amps, Mics for Singers, and everything else is already ready to go too. The mixing board already has everything set to a default even mix. They even have cameras everywhere if you want to record video of the session.

Of course if the drummer wants to use their own kit or guitarists their own amps and such then it will take longer to setup. The people I play with aren’t fussy about this stuff though. I reckon around 30 min to setup, but we haven’t officially done this yet.

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The one time I helped a drummer carry and set up his kit it took about 1.5-2 hrs.

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I’m headed back to the studio today for a session. Drummer load in is 10, I’ll show up at 11 and watch and listen to the 2nd hour of drum sound set up.
There’s usually 2 mics on a kick, 2 on a snare, one per tom, two overheads, sometimes a hihat mic, and then room mics to get ambiance. Takes a long time to get all that dialed in.

Most studios have materials there, and most pro players will bring their own.
I’ve had drummers use studio gear before, and it’s great if they’re good at re-heading drums and tuning a kit, but there’s usually some work involved to get things sounding good.

Today is an upright session, so (as long as the upright doesn’t pick up any weird buzzes or rattles, which it does sometimes) my set up should be about 10 minutes.

One hideously expensive vintage mic on the upright, and a DI line for the pickup. Done.

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Have fun. I’d love to try upright some day. Not practical right now though in the mad house. Not sure what my back or legs would think of it either.

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Ha! Thanks. All went well.
If you don’t have to play upright, DON’T!!
That’s only… 45% joke.
It’s really hard to play, hard to make it sound good, hard to store, hard to fix, hard to transport, hard to amplify…
It’s hard.
It’s a dedication and a way of life. You gotta really get IN to it.

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I’d love to try it though, or the cello. My favorite instrument I ever played was the violin, which I played a couple years during the college/university time. My second favorite instrument to play is the bass. I have gone with a bass this time around because it is more laid back in terms of practice demands and fits my life better right now. I was also asked to play bass in a trio, which kicked things off this time around.

However, I still have a classical itch to scratch and just love acoustic string instruments in general. So I’ll likely try an upright bass or cello at some point. I have scoliosis and a vascular and bone issue in my right knee, so that’s why I say I’m not sure physically about upright bass. I think cello could work though and it is halfway between the two instruments. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I think sometimes the Universe just wants me to play bass. Maybe. Crazy opportunity just arose, don’t know if it’s worth it, or just a bad idea, but, as usual, I said yes! An old buddy of mine is in town, and crashing at my place, he came specifically to record music (he’s a drummer with 30+ years touring/gigging experience) with some guys he’s been collaborating with remotely. I was like, cool, would you mind if I watch one day, this stuff is really interesting to me, as I recently learned to play bass.

Turns out the bass player they had is a complete no-show, so my friend convinced me to come jam with him and the guitarist (a Berklee grad from decades ago - both these dudes are 15-20 years older than me - complete opposite of the fellas I’ve been playing music with lately, who are in their 20s). I was like - this is way f#@king out of my league, but 2 jam sessions later, they’re both okay with me learning basic basslines of their songs and recording on Tuesday. WTF?! Really don’t know what to think, but I gotta cram the next 2 days, I told them we gotta slow this shit down to my pace of learning if you’re really serious, and they’re okay with that. It’s metal, and they play in drop d tuning (C#, G#,C#, A#), never done alternate tunings.

I think they’re just using a $40/hour place, usually just one guy acting as the sound engineer, and they said we’ll be there about 6 hours. So I’m just gonna roll with this, and told them not to expect too much, but will do my best.

Thank goodness for this, and all these other forum threads, or I’d really be completely clueless here!! I’m not sure if this is going to be fun, or just stressful :stuck_out_tongue:

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that is awesome

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@Vik Damn, dude, you’re killing it! Good for you!

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Good for you, @Vik . . . and good luck with your expanding career! :+1:

(Just like the Universe :wink: )

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It’s called “karma” :grin:

Holy shit, that is so freaking awesome! This is literally a “let’s-throw-this-kid-into-some-seriously-deep-water-and-see-how-he-swims” moment that is both terrifying and a fantastic learning experience!

Just enjoy the ride, @Vik! Every minute of it!!

(Oh, and report back, of course!!)

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Yeeeeah, @Vik! The universe demands you play more bass!
Way to step up.
And, also, this:

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