How long do you guys take setting up for recording?

[centurymantra]

I'm just curious about this as it's been a point of debate a couple of times with someone I'm currently playing music with. I'm not a seasoned engineer by any measure and am still in the learning/experimentation stage, tough I've come quite a long way at this point. Due to this, I perhaps am not Mr. Speedy on the set-up process, but I still like to be particular about getting mics and gear set up with care and attention to best of my ability. This guy is simply a musician, very serious about his craft and the experience of playing music and has very little patience for dealing with spending time on preparation for recording. On the same note, he really WANTS to be recording the process, his songs, etc. Just the other night, I was doing some set up to do a basic recording/demo of a song and he got in my face a bit during discussion about how I'd "already spent too much time setting up drums" at one point. I thought I was doing pretty well, having spent, maybe 20 minutes starting from scratch on room mics, kick drum, overheads, snare and bass DI. This also really leaves no room for trying different mics, pres, etc., something I would like to allow for if possible. That being said, there definitely have been times where I feel like I've spent too much time on getting things situated in various sessions with different groups and one can run the risk of seeing everyone get burnt out before playing has even begun. I also don't have a conveniently wired studio like what you would find in a professional setting with XLR wall plates, patch bays, etc. I'm pretty sure that, in a serious recording session, any pro studio or home recordist will commonly spend an hour or two on set-up, if not just for the drums. At any rate, these issues having come up, I got to wondering how long folks typically take to deal with setting up for recording. I'd be especially curious about time that folks spend on drums, but also single instruments...acoustic guitar, electric guitar, horns, etc. I was reading an article about Fleetwood Mac in which they spent 18 HOURS on a kick drum sound for the Rumours album, so I'm thinking I'm not doing too bad!

[tubejay]

It usually takes me at least four hours to get drums set up and miced. I could literally spend two days on it if the band allowed. For other things it's usually quicker. I can get a guitar going in a few minutes. For bass I usually spend at least an hour, unless I bring up the mics and it sounds perfect (which NEVER happens with bass). Aside from bass and drums, setting up everything else usually happens quickly unless you've got a singer with a bad voice. Then I can spend hours on that too.

[cgarges]

What a great question!

It usually takes me one to three hours to get sounds for a full band on most sessions I do. It depends mostly on the budget, really. For most things I do where the band is looking at less than five days on their entire project, I start getting antsy if it's getting close to three hours into a setup. Jazz guys are almost always ansty if tape isn't rolling in the first hour. And I don't like having to record antsy people.

I like to track the entire band at the the same time and go for keeping as much of it as possible, so I'm taking time to get the best sounds I can for all the instruments involved. I'm also generally working in controlled studio-type environments where access to plugging things in is well-laid out and things like the headphone setup already exist. I always try to get to the studio before the band with plenty of time to make sure that things that don't directly affect each instrumentalist or singer are already setup and "transparent" to their setup time. Like, running headphones and making sure that they work. I don't generally like to select or setup mics before I've heard each instrument, but occasionally, if someone's playing my drums or a studio's kit that I know and I've got a grip on what style of music they'll be doing or how the drummer plays, I might have the kit set up and some mics out in the general area of the drums, just to save some time. But I think it's important to be prepared for any eventuality. Getting hit over the head with a drummer telling you that he can't see the bass player after you've set up mics can add more (headache) time to the setup than waiting for the drummer to get situated before plugging in mic #1.

I'm curious to see everyone else's answers, especially people who record themselves or have setups in a non standard studio enviroment.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[sleep over jack]

i record in basements, living rooms, and barns.

for drums, i'll spend at least an hour or two just tuning.
then, about one hour placing mics and getting tones.
3 hours, start to finish, even with new heads. and the tuning takes up the lions share of the time.

but, it can also be done in 20 minutes if need be.

[Reuben]

Drums usually take me 1/2 an hour, often less. I will never understand the thing where a drummer has to sit there banging on the snare for an hour. Sure, I mostly record jazz/improv, but I simply don't get it.

On average I'd say setup takes me an hour. The only time I remember it taking longer was when the bass player was 2 hours late, or when we had a harp in the room with the drums and I really had to do some tweaking. Headphone tweaking can eat time, but we hardly ever need them here.

Many of the players I work with expect to be in and out of my place in 4 hours. I have to be fast. And that suits me fine, really.

[djimbe]

My personal goal is to have the first playback of initial drum sounds 2 hours after clients walk in. Doesn't always happen, but that's my goal. I generally have some idea what the client is looking for before they come in and try to get initial mics on stands and cables out and ready before they walk in the door. A little bit of pre-show set up may not strictly be "billable" time, but I figure it looks more professional and makes the action happen faster if I put in some preperation effort. Clients seem to appreciate that they're walking into a facility that looks ready to record in.

Any chance you have to do a bit a pre-setup for this person, I think you should grab it. Let 'em know through example that you're as serious about their session as they are, and they might back off a little...

[Red Rockets Glare]

holy cow. am I rushing it? Unless there is a major tuning problem I have drums sound on tape for folks to listen to in an hour. Tom, care to confirm this?
Granted, I've been in my studio 180 days so far this year and have a pretty good method for picking mics and pres after listening ot the drummer in the room, but FOUR hours on drums? Whoooo, I love noodling around as much as the next guy but that is a long time to be getting sounds.

[drumsound]

GREAT TOPIC!

I would say it's usually about 3 hours until we cut the first take. If my drum are being used I often have the set-up, tuned and mics roughly in place before they get there. If the drummer brings his/her own gear part of the time used will depend on them. I will have mic out in the live room, but not on stands or cabled up because there's more confusion and possibilities of something getting damaged, which will really fuck with the ju-ju of the session. I'll usually tune the drums that others bring in, explaining that I work and play in the a lot so I know how it'll react. That?s about 10 minutes or so. Then I have the drummer just play I listen a bit and then go into the control room and get tones. Then I set up the bass so the drummer can take a little break. Get the bass, then gtrs and keys if there are keys (rare in my world).

I have everybody in the room with headphones because the amps are in isolation. I then, get a headphone mix that everybody's happy with. I have them play a bit and I might add some compression or EQ once I've heard everyone together.

Now here's the cool thing... Once they have a headphone mix, i go for a walk. I tell them that it's time to get used to the headphones and the room without someone looking over their shoulder. I tell them to play a couple fun things and get comfy and I'll be back and 5-10 minutes. it really helps the comfort level of the first day.

I come back and away we go.

If it?s a shorter session, I work quicker. I had a band last week that only brought guitars. I had everything in place and miced before they walked in. We were tracking in 45-minutes.

If it's a full record project we might start with a half-day that's only for getting sounds and headphone mix and then leave. I call those tech days, where none of us are worried about takes, we're get prepping for the week ahead.

[joeysimms]

holy cow. am I rushing it? Unless there is a major tuning problem I have drums sound on tape for folks to listen to in an hour. Tom, care to confirm this?

Yeah, confirmed. Granted, there weren't any glaring tuning issues with the kit, but yeah, we were taping sounds and listening back before the first beer got warm!

In my own experience recording friends (for MY songs), it used to take me an hour or less, total, as well.

So, it's not just you Raymond.

[curtiswyant]

My band did some test tracks in my bedroom studio last night. Within a 1/2 hour, everyone was mic'ed, tuned, headphoned and ready to go. We spent the next two hours laying down test tracks, listening back, with me engineering and playing at the same time. We still need to fine-tune the drums and work on the guitar tones a bit but, overall, in under 3 hours we were getting decent tracks.

[Russian Recording]

For a standard rock band (gtr, bass , drums) it usually takes about 3-4 hours to get sounds confirmed. This varies quite a bit with the task at hand. Usually the kick durm and the bass guitar take up the most time. Im also a neat freak so I run all cables meticulously for ergonmics and ease of trouble shooting. I always tell the band ahead of time (before they come in) that setup and getting sounds takes some time, but it saves time in the end when you put your faders up and the mix is already 80% there.

mike

[Doublehelix]

I always reserve the first night *just* to getting the drums setup, and I usually don't charge for this service. It is worth it for me to spend 2-3 hours (or more if necessary) getting things right, and without the guitar player, bass player and vocalist whining and moaning about how long it is taking, and "is all this really necessary?"

BTW...the rest of the band members are banned from the studio during this exercise!!! (Or at least they know that there will be no tracking going on that night.)

If the expectations are set up front, no on complains. "Monday is for setting up the drums, and we start tracking on Tuesday." Simple. No arguments, no fuss no muss.

It helps me to get a great drum sound in a relaxed environment, and I can be sure that I didn't cut any corners due to impatient non-drummers.

It is an easy way to reduce stress, and at the same time, produce the best product that I can. It is worth giving it away "for free". (I usually find some way to charge it back anyway...30 mins here are there...).

[parlormusic]

I always try to get the band to set up the drums etc. and dial in the mics and placements the night before the session. I usually do not charge for setup time unless it gets rediculous. I always leave it up to my discression. As far as experimenting with different mics, I may try a different mic during setup, but I'm always ready to quickly switch back to what works best for me if I can't get the sound I'm after.

Setup for me takes about 3-4 hours to get everything placed and rough dialed in.

[Fletcher]

Could be as little as 20 minutes, could be as much as several days... it depends on the quality of the players, the goal of the session, the vibe of the record, the budget of the client, and whether or not I could give a shit about the project [it's not pretty... but it is a factor].

In the "I don't give a shit about the project" realm then it usually takes longer because I use it as a platform to experiment with all kinds of goofy shit I probably wouldn't do if it were an "important" project... the idea being to try to find some new sound in there somewhere that might inspire me to start giving a shit... or maybe discover a new technique or two to be pulled out of my ass at an appropriate moment.

It's all relative... hopefully relatively good; but not always.

[Rigsby]

For two guitars, bass and drums it'll take me two and a half to three hours on the whole, that's all the tuning, mics up, headphones etc and seeing how it sounds. If the kit's in good shape it can take a lot less time, it's usually the kit or tuning fretless instruments precisely that takes up the time.