Album Project......First Album

TomCat

Many of you are probably aware of the album we are currently putting together.

It has certainly been an interesting project and a first for us......along with a huge learning curve and still learning more each time we move forward with the project. It has been a great (and expensive.... ☹) journey so far.

I have also to say that once the recording bug bites..... 8)

Here are a few pics of the current setup in "Tom's Lounge Studio" . I have given a list of what we are using elsewhere on the forum....
http://www.guitarforum.co.za/recordings/first-album/

We decided to get our own kit and do it in our lounge instead of renting a studio and putting ourselves under pressure by being on the clock so to speak. This has allowed us to be very flexible in our approach and learn/make mistakes without it costing us money in studio time.

I'm not recommending that this is the route for everybody but it seems to be working nicely for us.

Our original goal was to complete the project by the end of September for an October release but underestimated the time it takes to record and produce 10 songs part time in the evenings and weekend. To date we have only been able to "Complete" two songs with another 6 about 80% done.

I'll post a few more pics soon and keep you all up to date on progress.

IceCreamMan

where the empty beer bottles an overflowing ashtrays ?

good stuff Tom and best wishes going forward on this project

aja

IceCreamMan wrote where the empty beer bottles an overflowing ashtrays ?

That is why he is taking so long - he keeps going outside to smoke and get drunk :?

BMU

Cool. I know you have a list elsewhere but... what monitors are those? Just curious.

Manfred-Klose

I'm not recommending that this is the route for everybody but it seems to be working nicely for us.

dont under estimate the home studio, only the engineers ears.

The home studio looks like a cool envirement to work in and has a vibe to it.
I'm shure you'll get good results.

Regarding the recording on the drum set, nothing major, just get that drumset sounding good, and move in around in the room until you find a place in the room where it sounds best.

............dont be shocked when bands would want to come record at your house.

Gearhead

aja wrote he keeps going outside to smoke and get drunk

Somehow I do not think Tom is recording the sort of music one makes with a few beers in the system...

MikeM

Gearhead wrote
aja wrote he keeps going outside to smoke and get drunk
Somehow I do not think Tom is recording the sort of music one makes with a few beers in the system...

I thought, is this the same Tom we're talking about? ?

TomCat

LOL.......thanks for the encouragement.

Manfred....your comment is so true.......I've fortunately been in the pro audio business for 25+ years and done just about everything to be done there......I've always made it my priority to train my ears and always have a goal when mixing / engineering etc.......I agree that it is the engineer and not the kit that makes a difference......(within reason of course)

Another plus for us is that Mariann has a lot of audio experience as well and has a fantastic ear........

This album is primarily a worship type album with a few (hopefully) fresh approaches and we trust the end results will be well worth the effort going into it.

Our drum approach is to use Addictive drums as a plugin on Reaper and using Midi via an electronic drumkit to put down the patterns. So far the results have been very encouraging.

@Aja....were you referring to the clip I posted in the thread on Reaper and drum samples or is it a comment in general?...i.e...This one:
http://www.box.net/shared/mper5qo0xb

This is still not properly mixed as yet as we still need to lay down 4 vocal tracks on top of it, and generally get the mix to gel better, but it does give some idea of what we are achieving with the setup.

TomCat

@ BMU.....The monitors are JBL LSR2325P....very nice to work with although a little woolly in the bottom end....actually need a sub and controller to get the best out of them.

Some more info: http://www.jblpro.com/catalog/General/ProductFamily.aspx?FId=73&MId=5

aja

TomCat wrote
@Aja....were you referring to the clip I posted in the thread on Reaper and drum samples or is it a comment in general?...i.e...This one:
http://www.box.net/shared/mper5qo0xb

No sorry, I was just talking kak as usual. ?

You have some very nice toys BTW. I hope to have a similar setup one day.

And hold onto that lamp - architect style bendy lamps are becoming harder to find these days ? ☹ >☹

Manfred-Klose

i'll encourage you to record real cymbals. the way i record is to trigger the electronic kit for the kick snare and toms and just use real cymbals.

sometimes i even record the acoustic snare with, if it sounds good ofcourse.

BMU

TomCat wrote @ BMU.....The monitors are JBL LSR2325P....very nice to work with although a little woolly in the bottom end....actually need a sub and controller to get the best out of them.

Thanks. Reason I ask is I'm not totally happy with my Alesis M1 Active 520's. The bigger M1 Active Mk II's were magnificent. When they got stolen I replaced them with their smaller brothers and been regretting it. They're "ok" but they just lack something.

TomCat

Manfred Klose wrote i'll encourage you to record real cymbals. the way i record is to trigger the electronic kit for the kick snare and toms and just use real cymbals.

sometimes i even record the acoustic snare with, if it sounds good of course.

@ Manfred......Duly thanked..... :applause:

I never thought of going that route and it is an excellent idea.
We were having a lot of trouble with triggering the the hats correctly on the Yamaha electronic kit so I'm thinking of going electronic for the kick, snare and toms as the samples I have I'm very happy with, and using live cymbals and hats.

Just a thought.....There is a lot of tapping from the pads of the electronic kit and won't that be picked up by the cymbal mics (although I presume a lot of that will be masked by the sampled drum sounds) ?

AlanRatcliffe

Adding real cymbals over a triggered kit works nicely to add in lots of realism. The pad hits do tend to blend in and mask, esp. with the tom and kick hits. Works OK with snare too, but can smear the snare sound a little with some snare sounds (particularly, the higher tuned, less resonant snare drum sounds).

Upgrading your snare pad to one with a mesh head is a good idea as it reduces the pad sound a lot and allows you to keep recording levels down lower than a real snare will (which is the loudest drum in most modern kits).

TomCat

Yesterday evening we hefted the Tascam off to church where we have a Tama Star-Classic Drumkit set up on stage.

We then recorded Kick, Snare top, Snare Bottom, Hats, 2 x Toms and Stereo overheads onto 7 tracks using the following Mics:

Kick: - Beta 52A
Sn Top: - Beta 56A
Sn Bot: - AKG C451
Hats: - AKG C451
Toms: - 2 x SM-57
O/Heads: - 2 x AKG C451

Unfortunately I didn't have enough Pre's to include a second Kick but the results have been surprisingly good. I was impressed with the sampled drums but the results from the live kit have surpassed all my expectations and I am ecstatic with the results... 8)

What has really surprised me is the snare sound we got without needing to add any EQ at all. Some gating to clean it up and a bit of compression through a Stillwell Major Tom Plug-in (emulates a dbx 160A compressor) and the snare sits perfectly in the mix for both the verses and the chorus.... :woohoo:

We will be re-recording the chorus vocals tonight and then start the final mixdown.......song no.1 will then be complete........ :woohoo: :woohoo: