Backing vocals in the control room--FUN and EASY!

[drumsound]

I spent a good portion of my day cutting backing vocals in the control room. The initial idea was that we could get ideas down easily and quickly, see what we liked and then (if needed) record in the booth with the fancy mic.

This was the hired session singer's (Jeff Greeneberg of 100 Year Picnic) idea as we were not working on his songs, but the songs of the artist I'm producing (Matt Robinson). The singer had work mixes of the tunes, and had also played drums on some of the cuts.

I had an M88 with a little Aulralex triangle shaped thing near the couch. That mic has great rejection and I don?t' foresee any problems using all of the great things we got today.

The best part was how much we could get done. We (the artist and I) could say "I like that" or "try this" or whatever and the singer's reaction was instant. It was easy to check things and resing, alter or edit an idea. What a pleasure this was!

[themagicmanmdt]

for real. you may think i'm crazy, but main vocals in the control room works, too. that is, unless you need the super-duper fanciness of a vocal booth.

[drumsound]

for real. you may think i'm crazy, but main vocals in the control room works, too. that is, unless you need the super-duper fanciness of a vocal booth.

Ive done that too. I really liked it for the BVs because the parts were not set in stone as often the melody is. It was the comunication that I really loved.

[Aj]

I really liked it for the BVs because the parts were not set in stone as often the melody is.

<b>It was the comunication that I really loved.</b>

Welcome to the wonderful world of a one room studio. Communication is so much more efficient when everyone's in the same room, sitting nearby. The vibe is incredible too. Used to have a separate control room... now I would never go back.

Aj

[mjau]

Tony - I want my 10% finder's fee for Matt, cool?

[drumsound]

I really liked it for the BVs because the parts were not set in stone as often the melody is.

<b>It was the comunication that I really loved.</b>

Welcome to the wonderful world of a one room studio. Communication is so much more efficient when everyone's in the same room, sitting nearby. The vibe is incredible too. Used to have a separate control room... now I would never go back.

Aj

I don't think I'd want to do a whole band this way. Or even loud guitar overdubs, but for BVs is was quite nice.

[drumsound]

Tony - I want my 10% finder's fee for Matt, cool?

Remind me and I'll send you a CD.

[Nick Sevilla]

I really liked it for the BVs because the parts were not set in stone as often the melody is.

<b>It was the comunication that I really loved.</b>

Welcome to the wonderful world of a one room studio. Communication is so much more efficient when everyone's in the same room, sitting nearby. The vibe is incredible too. Used to have a separate control room... now I would never go back.

Aj

+1

I also have used the one-room approach. It is SO much better. The communication lag / misunderstanding of a talk back mic and glass walls, just disappears.

I usually have a headphone cue setup, just as if the control room were an isolation booth. This way, if I need to turn off the speakers to track, we can all get on headphones, for less bleed issues. The control room becomes the iso booth, and vice versa.

Cheers

[Aj]

I really liked it for the BVs because the parts were not set in stone as often the melody is.

<b>It was the comunication that I really loved.</b>

Welcome to the wonderful world of a one room studio. Communication is so much more efficient when everyone's in the same room, sitting nearby. The vibe is incredible too. Used to have a separate control room... now I would never go back.

Aj

I don't think I'd want to do a whole band this way. Or even loud guitar overdubs, but for BVs is was quite nice.

My set-up is, for me, the best of both worlds - it's a "one room" studio, but I have a couple distinct ISO rooms. For loud guitar overdubs, the amps are in ISO... but thanks to snakes/cables, the player is out in the room with me (and any other interested parties). Always. No one's ever "on the other side of the glass."

And yes, when recording a whole band live, we're all in one big room together. But don't knock it 'till you try it! It can be a religious conversion experience!

Aj

[drumsound]

Ann Arbour can't be that far... I should try a whole band sometime. How do you get your phase relationships right? Is it always print and check?

[Nick Sevilla]

I really liked it for the BVs because the parts were not set in stone as often the melody is.

<b>It was the comunication that I really loved.</b>

Welcome to the wonderful world of a one room studio. Communication is so much more efficient when everyone's in the same room, sitting nearby. The vibe is incredible too. Used to have a separate control room... now I would never go back.

Aj

I don't think I'd want to do a whole band this way. Or even loud guitar overdubs, but for BVs is was quite nice.

My set-up is, for me, the best of both worlds - it's a "one room" studio, but I have a couple distinct ISO rooms. For loud guitar overdubs, the amps are in ISO... but thanks to snakes/cables, the player is out in the room with me (and any other interested parties). Always. No one's ever "on the other side of the glass."

And yes, when recording a whole band live, we're all in one big room together. But don't knock it 'till you try it! It can be a religious conversion experience!

Aj

+1

Try viewing some Daniel Lanois, producer. He uses the one room to great effect. I went to his old studio, a converted theater in Oxnard CA, and it was all set up as a "live" situation, where the artists would go onstage, and where the seating used to be, was all the gear, console, computers, etc... the vibe was great!

Cheers

[Jay Reynolds]

I really liked it for the BVs because the parts were not set in stone as often the melody is.

<b>It was the comunication that I really loved.</b>

Welcome to the wonderful world of a one room studio. Communication is so much more efficient when everyone's in the same room, sitting nearby. The vibe is incredible too. Used to have a separate control room... now I would never go back.

Aj

I don't think I'd want to do a whole band this way. Or even loud guitar overdubs, but for BVs is was quite nice.

My set-up is, for me, the best of both worlds - it's a "one room" studio, but I have a couple distinct ISO rooms. For loud guitar overdubs, the amps are in ISO... but thanks to snakes/cables, the player is out in the room with me (and any other interested parties). Always. No one's ever "on the other side of the glass."

And yes, when recording a whole band live, we're all in one big room together. But don't knock it 'till you try it! It can be a religious conversion experience!

Aj

+1

Try viewing some Daniel Lanois, producer. He uses the one room to great effect. I went to his old studio, a converted theater in Oxnard CA, and it was all set up as a "live" situation, where the artists would go onstage, and where the seating used to be, was all the gear, console, computers, etc... the vibe was great!

Cheers

One of the best things about Teatro was that it increased name-recognition for Oxnard. Ox-nard. Awesome.

[roscoenyc]

AJ,
I've got a similar setup that we describe as 'no control room plus'
Console in the room w the drums. whole band plays there but we have one decent sized ISO w sight lines and another amp room.

It is my second 'no control room' place. I really, really love working that way.

[drumsound]

I've actually talked to Daniel Lanouis about this briefly. He really loves it.

Pete Wiess' Verdant studio is this way as is Wavelab, Craig Shumacher's place in Tucson AZ.

[thieves]

i'd really love to have a control room simply for recording drums. all of my own recording experience has been in basements/bedrooms/attics and i have a hard time hearing how mics are picking up drums without them being isolated. a lot of the mic placement has been guesswork, then going back and trying to improve upon the placement by listening to some playback and re-positioning mics... but even then, i know i'd have a better idea if my monitors were in an isolated room and i could just have someone bang on the drums while another person moved mics around.

i guess what i'm trying to ask is how do you 'one room studio' guys effectively mic your drums?