Default to EZ (mic-pre-compressor chain, etc.)

[vvv]

So over the years I acquired a few things, a bunch o' mid-level pre's and comp's and quite a few mic's of various cost levels and types.

No matter.

Lately, I've been jacking a Luna or a Beta 58 or a Senn Mk4 or a Soundstar ore even a RE10 or 635a or old AKG into a VC1Q. (I use the dynamics when the furnace is kicking on.) Sometimes a Eureka. Both "strips", of course, are pretty close to pre-set for my voice, approach, material ...

I have to force myself to dig out and set up a nice tube mic or a nicer condenser - I usually just don't wanna take the time, prefer to get recording now.

Part of it is, writing, arranging, performing, recording often take place all at once, as I'm seldom setting up to record pre-written material.

Another part is, as long as I been doing this, but damn, the above stuff sounds just fine to me for what I'm doing.

To the point of silly, I've been using guitar FX and arrangements rather than break out keyboards. I do change out guitars, amps and pedals, and recording pre's (usually UA110, 710 or ISA1, lately), Lately, I've had a EV609 close and a Shinybox 23L a few feet back - sometimes I skip the ribbon.

I've been doing the same thing with bass. I have one (parallel) chain that I use, same pre's, compressor, mic and even amp. I just vary the pedals and basses. And playing style (ex., fingers vs. pick, etc.)

Anybody else find they leave the expensive and boxed stuff alone, just for the work-flow?

BTW, I think I wrote about this years ago, when I had much inferior equip that I learned to max its use, ex. a VC3Q on vocals and a VTB1 on guitars. This is different - I have nicer gear, or at least alternatives, but I find myself using the same stuff, that is convenient.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

My main workspace is at home these days and my biggest job at the moment is doing a tv soundtrack. We're writing and recording at the same time. I've got most things wired up and ready to go - drums are mic'd and pre mixed on the board (I'm working to 8 track so drums on 1 channel), piano and organ mic'd, bass into a B15 pre and then di. For the rest I have a small assortment of mics on stands ready to get quickly patched. Often a mic gets plugged in for one job and ends up being moved in front of whatever else needs to be tracked. I don't get fussy about pre amps. The pre patched stuff is all through the board (soundcraft 600) and the stuff that gets patched on the fly is usually through a McCurdy PE 2600.
Getting the idea down while it's fresh trumps everything else and the mic/pre choices don't make a huge enough difference to be worth derailing the process to set up another chain.
I used to run a commercial space and we had to reset and tear down every day. It was harder to get into the zone recording my own stuff there. The engineering end of the job would often sidetrack the musician/writer part.

[TapeOpLarry]

I have 100+ mics and I will use a Sennheiser 609 or Audix i5 on guitars, snare, etc. If it works, it works. There are so many factors that outweigh the minutiae of picking preamps and mics. Arrangement, performance, voicings, sounds, etc. BUT, having a variety of things at ones disposal is good.... And it's never that a vocal on a cheap mic sounds as detailed as a U 47.

[kslight]

Something I learned awhile back is the best tool for the job is the one at hand.

Why everyone with a smart phone is suddenly a photographer/video recordist... I may have so many keyboards but whatever is plugged in and in front me probably will get used. Same with mics/guitars/kazoos...

The solution if you want to use other gear is to have it pretty accessible/connected or on the patch bay so it isn’t a hassle.

[losthighway]

When I'm just trying to create something; hear parts, figure out layers I will go for fastest thing in reach.

I've been demoing stuff with a small diaphragm condenser** on a Blues Jr. amp purely cause it was there on a stand. Left it going through a compressor, just so I don't have to unpatch and repatch it when I lazily unplug the sdc to plug in an SM7 (also happened to be on a stand) to throw some vocal ideas down.

It's fun to make things without really thinking of proper engineering. I can really only do this when the intended audience is myself, or someone else I'm going to be collaborating with. Once something is thought of as a potential "release", I tend to start worrying about sounds and my gear palette.

** Side note: why is it no one ever talks about using small diaphragm condensers on guitar amps? My shure ksm141 seems to be the most accurate mic on a speaker cabinet. Accurate is not always best, but it can work well. I might get crazy and put up a SDC next to a ribbon when someone's actually paying me to do this stuff.

[losthighway]

And it's never that a vocal on a cheap mic sounds as detailed as a U 47.

I was talking to a client who'd been pushing himself to track more stuff in the garage either for release, or probably as preproduction for stuff they'll do with me. I complimented the good sounds they'd gotten with a spartan setup. He said he was okay with everything but couldn't get a vocal sound he liked to happen.

I realize sometimes the nicest signal chain you can put together is often the easiest (and therefore lazy), best vocal sound you can get. I can't count how many times the right mic through a nice pre and a tube compressor meant that mixing was picking a verb, and eq was nothing more than a high pass filter. No surgical sweeps of a band on an eq to find something, it just works right away.

[vvv]

I don't have anything like a U47, but I have a Sterling OceanWay, and a Sputnik, a CAD M9 and Trion, a Genesis, a few others on that level ...

And they can achieve better sound quality, those other mics, into my Summit and an 1176 clone, for example, than what I've been using.

But I'm working genres, or at least an aesthetic, where better sound quality is just another option.

klightsaid, "... the best tool for the job is the one at hand. " Yep, +1.

I do make an effort to switch out guitars and effects and amps, altho' I might do a cuppla-5 songs in a row first.

I reckon I should change default setups on the vocal chain, also, and make a new, "the one at hand", sometimes. <-- hella sentence, eh? )

[markjazzbassist]

yeah this is why i liked the tapeop interview with James Farber the jazz guy. It was a revelation for me. Everyone now is this preamp for kic, this pre for bass, this other pre for snare top, this 500 series pre for snare bottom, blah blah. he said he uses the console preamps for everything and if he wants a different sound he does it via mic selection. that really resonates with me because i can't afford to have a different preamp compressor and eq for every single source. i've been doing it with just my board's preamps but felt inferior, not so now.

it's easier for me to not have to patch everything, to just go in/out console to tape and to record. lazy = best

[kslight]

yeah this is why i liked the tapeop interview with James Farber the jazz guy. It was a revelation for me. Everyone now is this preamp for kic, this pre for bass, this other pre for snare top, this 500 series pre for snare bottom, blah blah. he said he uses the console preamps for everything and if he wants a different sound he does it via mic selection. that really resonates with me because i can't afford to have a different preamp compressor and eq for every single source. i've been doing it with just my board's preamps but felt inferior, not so now.

it's easier for me to not have to patch everything, to just go in/out console to tape and to record. lazy = best

People go crazy over preamp selections. I agree it’s nice to have a good one but it’s turned into one of those things that people put way too much money and time dwelling over while avoiding the things that matter a lot more.

[markjazzbassist]

yeah this is why i liked the tapeop interview with James Farber the jazz guy. It was a revelation for me. Everyone now is this preamp for kic, this pre for bass, this other pre for snare top, this 500 series pre for snare bottom, blah blah. he said he uses the console preamps for everything and if he wants a different sound he does it via mic selection. that really resonates with me because i can't afford to have a different preamp compressor and eq for every single source. i've been doing it with just my board's preamps but felt inferior, not so now.

it's easier for me to not have to patch everything, to just go in/out console to tape and to record. lazy = best

People go crazy over preamp selections. I agree it’s nice to have a good one but it’s turned into one of those things that people put way too much money and time dwelling over while avoiding the things that matter a lot more.

agreed. once the gear is halfway decent, upgrading to a premium preamp/eq/comp/mic/etc in my estimation will only effect the sound in maybe a 5% difference. for some that's the "pro" difference. for most it's not noticeable and not needed.

[kslight]

yeah this is why i liked the tapeop interview with James Farber the jazz guy. It was a revelation for me. Everyone now is this preamp for kic, this pre for bass, this other pre for snare top, this 500 series pre for snare bottom, blah blah. he said he uses the console preamps for everything and if he wants a different sound he does it via mic selection. that really resonates with me because i can't afford to have a different preamp compressor and eq for every single source. i've been doing it with just my board's preamps but felt inferior, not so now.

it's easier for me to not have to patch everything, to just go in/out console to tape and to record. lazy = best

People go crazy over preamp selections. I agree it’s nice to have a good one but it’s turned into one of those things that people put way too much money and time dwelling over while avoiding the things that matter a lot more.

agreed. once the gear is halfway decent, upgrading to a premium preamp/eq/comp/mic/etc in my estimation will only effect the sound in maybe a 5% difference. for some that's the "pro" difference. for most it's not noticeable and not needed.

It gets real goofy on the synth sub forums.. People every day ask what preamps they should buy...for their synth/drum machine...

Like if your synth doesn’t sound right...turn some knobs or plug in some effects or buy a different one. A preamp isn’t gonna solve that. Just plug it into the line input...

[Recycled_Brains]

I tend to just grab whatever I know is a good multi-purpose mic. For instance, if I'm going to try and get down an acoustic guitar idea or something... I just grab my M160 or 441 because I know I'll be happy with it. Preamps? Who cares? Which ever one happens to have a mic cable hanging out of it.

I typically don't bother with compression or EQ in these situations because I'll spend more time tweaking that stuff than playing the instrument.

Most recently, I had an idea for some lap steel parts for my band's new album. I just went direct and used a UAD amp sim and delay plugin that basically mimics what I normally play through and rolled with that. I knew if I spent the time setting up my rig, picking a mic, etc., I would have lost the spontaneity.

What is funny about all this stuff... I wouldn't be nearly as casual about another bands stuff unless I read the room and knew that time was of the essence.

[Recycled_Brains]

yeah this is why i liked the tapeop interview with James Farber the jazz guy. It was a revelation for me. Everyone now is this preamp for kic, this pre for bass, this other pre for snare top, this 500 series pre for snare bottom, blah blah. he said he uses the console preamps for everything and if he wants a different sound he does it via mic selection. that really resonates with me because i can't afford to have a different preamp compressor and eq for every single source. i've been doing it with just my board's preamps but felt inferior, not so now.

it's easier for me to not have to patch everything, to just go in/out console to tape and to record. lazy = best

I don't think that is being lazy. It's being smart. I'd take 16 of the same pre over racks full of different shit 100% of the time, unless those 16 channels are something particularly bad.

[Nick Sevilla]

yeah this is why i liked the tapeop interview with James Farber the jazz guy. It was a revelation for me. Everyone now is this preamp for kic, this pre for bass, this other pre for snare top, this 500 series pre for snare bottom, blah blah. he said he uses the console preamps for everything and if he wants a different sound he does it via mic selection. that really resonates with me because i can't afford to have a different preamp compressor and eq for every single source. i've been doing it with just my board's preamps but felt inferior, not so now.

it's easier for me to not have to patch everything, to just go in/out console to tape and to record. lazy = best

I love James Farber's work. I also try to use console's preamps, and use different mics FIRST when hunting for a sound.

People get SHOCKED, shocked I tells ya, when they hear the differences between just microphones.

Another thing to try, is to use the SAME MIC, and use different mic preamps instead.

Always try to simplify the signal chain as much as possible, and when multi micing, do try to have as much uniformity as possible. It helps to eliminate as many variables as possible, so you don't end up in a Faustian Nightmare.

[vvv]

The change of mics, IME, is a bigger difference than just changing the pre, and changing the pre and compressor is, also.

FWIW, I often find myself using the same pre and mic on rhythm guitars, even the same amp and guitar, and then completely changing for the lead (in a 3 guitar-ish song). Accent guitars might be a different set-up, also, but I like the right-left rhythm bed to be almost the same, sometimes just varying mebbe the amount of reverb, or adding a delay or flanger, or changing pick-ups if the same guitar.

Gawd, I love this stuff!