Default recording chains, etc.; lazinessossity

[vvv]

The racked PM1000 channel I have is my go-to guitar amp pre not least because I don't have it in my XLR patch-bay so I just leave a mic cable plugged in and hanging onnit. I probably like the ISA1 better for amps, or the UA110, but convenience in recording is like location in real estate.

And so it occurs to me, I often grab vocals thru the Eureka because I have its compressor nicely defaulted (I don't use the EQ other than the pass-filter) for my vocals, requiring very little if any tweaking no matter what mic. Or a VC1Q, same reason.

By the same token I have a dbx160XT set for my DI bass touch, and a 166A set for when I split amp and DI (linking the channels and letting the amp side lead means I don't have to time-shift for phase; I go into a The Brick and split out to the amp.) And I have a VC3Q set for a dubby bass sound (what I often combine with the The Brick into the 160 or a 1176 clone). Warm-up, and instant bass tone.

Likewise, I have a RNC that I can plug any pre into for a quick vocal, and a RNLA where my default setting is awesome as second or only compressor on vocals, and works on amps, too. (I do always have to tweak acoustic guitar compression, But I usually do that ITB for transparency.)

I have mic clips mounted on my guitar amps so that a E609 is always on one, a AKG D1000E on another, a EV N/D 308B on another, and a Superlux PRA-628 on a fourth. Easy to switch the mic's between the clips ...

I leave a MXL880 on a stand for a quick room or M/S mic (usually with a Cat Pipes Durham in-line); even tho' my Shinybox23L sounds 2x better, the MXL is never in the way ...

I always leave a mic onna stand in front of my recording bass amp, switching the mic out every week or three (currently have a Kickball onnit.)

I'm so fucking lazy lately I even have a bunch of my fave vocal mic's mounted in desk-stands to record vocals - what means I use certain expensive or fragile mic's like tube mic's less often, because of the convenience; I just take the desk-standed mic offa the shelf and plug it in at my mix position.

I'm even less likely to use nice pedals when recording because they require breaking out and setting up my pedal board, and it's easier to just grab whatever is laying around unmounted and use that (everybody's got a spare distortion pedal, for example, not the fave but usable for that quick lead.)

I have a cheap Alvarez bass onna hook in my bedio that I hafta remember to not always use, and I hafta remember to switch out the guitar on the stand next to the mix position - when a fave is there I might go weeks without changing it (ex., I have a old G&L F100 that I can get nearly every long-scale neck sound I want out of, plays like buttah after 30 years in my mitts.)

Vocal chain, instrument EQ, room verb, guitar verb, gate pre-sets in the DAW? Check.

I even have templates for my bandcamp album covers.

Yooze?

[joninc]

I think there's a lot of value in having stuff hooked up and ready to go.

if it's making you more likely to make music - great.

If you are producing other people then I challenge you to mix it up more just for variations sake - even once a week, swap the vocal mic/pre and guitar that hangs by
your desk.

If my expensive mics aren't getting used, it's hard to justify keeping them around.

I remember hearing Daniel Lanois talk about not wanting the band to show up till everything was set up for them and ready to go. I really like that.

They don't want to get bogged down in the technical (usually) - they want to make music and strike while the ideas are hot.

I try to have a bunch of stuff ready to go all the time. The drums always have atleast a few mics ready to go and ditto for gtr amps and stuff. I can usually be rolling on any idea in a few minutes. I at least want the pre/comp/eq chains ready and plugged in to the converters so then I only have to swap the mic and I am go to go.

that said - i will change my micing techniques and choice of mics a lot (that's actually the fast part) from day to day but the gear is plugged in and ready.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

i've been doing the same basic drum recording setup for the last ten years. the rooms have changed, the drums and tunings change, but what mics and where they are has been more or less the same for ages now.

if i bother to mic a real amp anymore, it's almost invariably gonna be a 160 on it.

my big innovation on bass was switching from using the di on the drawmer 1969 to a little labs di into dav pre. sounded like someone sprayed silicone through my whole system.

with plugins, i almost never use presets. i hardly ever check out the presets when demoing a new plug, and i rarely save any of my own either. is that weird? i feel like it's weird.

[vvv]

I do think that's weird.

Rather than OT this thread, I started another:
Pre-sets past, passed, and now

[Drone]

I've seen me power on the mixer and hit record, without taking the cover off it. Mind you, I only use it as a glorified preamp.

[floid]

Dude, you gotta do something about those reflections at you mix position.

[vvv]

I've seen me power on the mixer and hit record, without taking the cover off it. Mind you, I only use it as a glorified preamp.

Yeah, but still, you may be the winner!

[digitaldrummer]

I also have a bunch of pres setup and dialed in to record drums (which I do quite often so it make sense). Over the years I have messed around with changing a few but usually when i found a sound I liked, that pre stayed on that drum almost permanently. Why fix it when it ain't broke?

[Snarl 12/8]

I used to do this. One of my favorite things I ever recorded was about an hour from concept to done. Couldn't have done that without everything set up and ready to record my "one man band."

To wit: Project Yes

I don't know what the fuck I do now...

...If anything.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

At my home studio there are a few things roughed in. The drums are always mic'd, plugged into the board and ready to go. There's usually even a drum mix roughed in because I often bounce all the mics to one channel on my 4 track. Same with the piano. It's permanently mic'd and ready to go.
When I'm recording other people at my shared "real" studio space I don't have the luxury of leaving things set up (and every project is different so it doesn't make sense). Even then I have recording chains that I always go back to - drums through a McCurdy PE2600 mixer, outside kick LDC to the Chandler Germanium then to a DBX160, mono ribbon room mic to an altec 1612B pre-amp/limiter, vocals almost always go through a custom racked 1970's McCurdy preamp into an LA3A.
In both cases it's about getting good, known, reliable results quickly. I'd rather swap a few mics and focus on the music then spend an hour auditioning every mic/pre-amp/compressor combo on a snare drum. At home I just want to hit record and go. At the studio I want to have the band tracking within 1.5-2 hours of walking through the door.

[frans_13]

I also have a few channels / combinations that give me quick/good results - if it works on soundcheck, it's faster/ more time for fun and experimenting. Doing my shootouts on off days and trying combinations I don't think will work...and learning a lot when they work despite what it thought. In my head there are little "building blocks" what to do in situation X.

[vvv]

I also have blocks in my head.


I am lucky enuff, also, to have a few options with stuff.

That means, I have some "B" defaults, even the odd "C" default.

But the lazinessossity thing is really effective for efficiency, and since my defaults are among my best recording chains, well ...


... I'm even starting to barely with a twinkle in my eye and a ghost a million miles back in my mind consider streamlining my recording space/gear/options ...

Sacrilege!