recording death metal band tonite.....need advice

[josh hates you]

i dont usualy record death metal. more hardcore and punk. i have a feeling im gonna be dealing with alot of drum sound issues. and issues with guitar tone. usualy distorted guitars that heavy sound brutal in a room and like trash on a recording.

im using....

alesis hd24

mackie 1604

presonus tubepre(only outbourd pre i have)

presonus acp 88 compressor

alesis 3630

mics
akg d112 - kick and bass
sennheisser e604(3) toms
sm57 - snare..guitar?
octava mc012 (2) - OH..guitar...vox
octave mkl2500 tube mic vox...guitar

i record everything then transfer it to pc for editing and adding effects/mixing. or mix it straight off my board if there is no need to edit or add effects (punks bands........)

my room is fairly small 10x14 or so.

i was thinking of running to guitar center and grabbing a preamp to use then return it after the sessions but that might be a little overboard.

thanks in advance.

[trodden]

WIll this be tracked live all at the same time?

how many guitars? Bass? drums?

[josh hates you]

http://www.ascendancymetal.com

there is a link to their site. their last cd was done live by whomever.

they want to try doing it track by track this time.

single bass drum. 4 toms. 5 cymbals.

two guitars. one bass player.[/url]

[Brett Siler]

I do a lot of heavier bands in a small room as well. I also usually do them track by track.

What I usually do it record drums first and have the bass or guitar (sometimes both) going in direct for the drummers reference, then retrack the bass and guitar later.

I would probably just do close micing the drums and overheads. Anymore mics in that small room and things will probably get sloppy, and to cramped for comfort.

If the drummer is good at what he does and the mics are in phase all should turn out well.

Also I would get that kick mic right up in there a couple of inces from the beater head to get that clicky attack that way you won't have to eq the shit out to get it to sound like Deicide(or who ever) when mixing.

[trodden]

http://www.ascendancymetal.com

there is a link to their site. their last cd was done live by whomever.

they want to try doing it track by track this time.

single bass drum. 4 toms. 5 cymbals.

two guitars. one bass player.[/url]

meaning track by track as in overdubs? Will the whole band be playing together and recording that? or will some of the guitar tracks be scratch tracks?

How many pres are on the mackie?
do you have access to borrowing any other mics?
Can you throw amps out in a hall for some separation?

[josh hates you]

yeah i can throw amps in the hall. i was gonna do a scratch track for guitars as reference for the drums. do the drums in one room with the guitarist(amp down hall) headphones for each. after the drumtracks are done then add rythm and lead and bass and then do vox last. but im not opposed to keeping a scratch track if it sounds good and then maybe overdubbing the solo to make it more present.

another reason for tracking everything one at a time was so i could use some of the same mics on instruments. sometimes i put the sm57 close to the speaker cab off axis with an mc012 about 5-9 feet back or so. and we may double track if needed.

the mackie has 16 pres. i have about 2 1/2 hours so i dont have time to borrow a mic or two.

i was thinking about submixing the drums without the OH and sqaushing the hell out of them then adding that to the drum mix underneath to fatten up the tone.

[Kevin Kitchel]

I would do a pretty normal drum setup. Just try three things, and if they don't work, then drop em.
1) Get some more distance between the 57 and the snare, sometimes with blast beats this helps things breate more, sometimes not.
2) Use the Oktava as a "room" mic that you can process with a room reverb totally wet later for a room sound.
3) MONO TOMS!

I record metal too, and these things work for me!

[chetatkinsdiet]

my advice would be to hide your expensive liquor.
...on second thought....hide all liquor and anything expensive in the house....
later,
m

[chetatkinsdiet]

Really, I think the separation issue is the biggest here. I'd try to get the guitarists to use pods while tracking drums. Who knows, you might get a few decent tones on there and use them in conjunction with a real amp to make for a nice, fat sounding geetar.
later,
m

[trodden]

akg d112 - kick and bass
sennheisser e604(3) toms
sm57 - snare..guitar?
octava mc012 (2) - OH..guitar...vox
octave mkl2500 tube mic vox...guitar

Ok, yeah, i'd get the guitar amps out in the hall.

for drums, well its all subjective.
I'd use the 57 on the snare
d112 on the kick

use 2 of the e604's on two of the toms and the remaining e604 to pick up the other two toms, if you can wedge it in there between the two. as for overheads,.. with metal it can be tough... some like that really wide spread stereo spread on the cymbals... but with you set up. i'd put either one of the mc012's or the MKL 2500 as a mono overhead and let your tom mics use the cymbal bleed for stereo placement of the drum set.
Now you've got two mic's left for either two guitars or a bass and a guitar or two mics on one cabinent, be it bass or guitar. I'd discuss with the band about which way they'd feel most comfortable doing it. Some people hate/or just Can't overdub without the rest of the band playing along..and its like pulling teeth for them. If that is the case, get that person taken care of and let the other deal.

Or, only use 2 of the e604's for the four toms and then you gain another mic to be used in your bass or guitar situation.

I find that keeping a "scratch" track is great when it comes to saving time and making the recording flow.

[housepig]

If the drummer is good at what he does ... all should turn out well.

if he's not, you're in for hell. most DM drummers I knew when I was in the scene wanted to have the perfectly-on-time, super-tight drum sound, even though they couldn't actually *play* like that.

if he's a double-kick drummer, be prepared for his single hits to be much louder than his double-kick work (his feet may switch position when he gets into ricky-ticky mode, and the volume of the kick can suffer since he's not hitting as hard).

good luck.

[Kevin Kitchel]

The setup at Unisound wasn't too diffferent than yours, and that was one of the best metal studios ever!

Also, I'd recommend tracking bass last. With a hard hitting bass player, you could tune with a tuner, and then listen back after recording guitars and wonder why the bass is so sharp. I've been suprised how far down I have to tune a bass.

Also, what PC program are you using, and what interface. There are some free plug-ins that might help you get a good kick trigger going on, or you could use the Drumagog two week demo for this project if you can use PC DirectX plugs.

[trodden]

If the drummer is good at what he does ... all should turn out well.

if he's not, you're in for hell. most DM drummers I knew when I was in the scene wanted to have the perfectly-on-time, super-tight drum sound, even though they couldn't actually *play* like that.

if he's a double-kick drummer, be prepared for his single hits to be much louder than his double-kick work (his feet may switch position when he gets into ricky-ticky mode, and the volume of the kick can suffer since he's not hitting as hard).

good luck.

word.

Its a great day recording this style of music when the drummer is freakin' awesome. It will make you job a lot easier for sure and the whole overdub process much easier.

[josh hates you]

thanks for the advice. i'll let you know how it goes.

[Brett Siler]

I have done a large condenser mono overhead on metal before and have gotten great results.

Check it out: http://www.hxcmp3.com/bands/4678/

Check out any of them except for "The Prisoner." I did not record that.



Also use two mics for metal guitars. They will like the fullness of the amp sound.