From the vault CHiTT Productions presents a live recording from the Buckhorn Bar: the Ghosts of Predators Past, the Neo-nostalgics, and Driftwood. Recorded on location December 14, 2007 at the Buckhorn Bar in Laramie, Wyoming.
All parties involved in the recordings retain their original rights to their creations. You are free to download and distribute this album for non-commercial purposes only.
Sample songs from the full album: Ghosts of Predators Past:
Neo-Nostalgics
Driftwood
Gear used in the recording of this show: Shure SM58 (vocals), Sennheiser e609 (guitars), Shure Beta 52 (kick and bass), Shure SM57 (snare), Sennheiser e604 (toms), AT2020 (overheads). Multitracked to hard disk.
If you would like to contribute some spare change to CHiTT Productions, click on the PayPal button in the side bar. Every little bit helps.
As I mentioned before, we didn't have our usual trusty supply of gear that night, but we came up with enough gear to record a minimalist setup. We ended up with 7 inputs separately tracked to our DAW, recorded with a flat EQ and no real-time processing so we could tweak the tracks during mixdown. As for our microphones, we were forced to go with what we could find or borrow in true guerrilla fashion. For the drum mics we acquired from a local band the surviving pieces of a CAD Pro-7 Mic Kit: a kick & snare mic and two tiny overhead condensers. For the guitar we found an Audix I-5 dynamic mic, and the bass was recorded through a DI box because the bass cabinet had a rattle and we were short a decent bass mic. The vocalist had his own SM58 which topped out our minimalist track list at number 7.
We weren't expecting spectacular results from this borrowed equipment, and well, the raw tracks at the end of the night confirmed our expectations.
First off, lest anyone be misled by the model name of the drum mics, rest assured there's nothing "pro" about those CAD microphones. Tracking drums for Dies Irae should have been a cakewalk-- the drum set was beautifully tuned and the drummer's a solid player, but these microphones couldn't keep up. The CAD kick and snare mics had no usable definition regardless of placement. There was so much excessive bleed between the CAD mics that EQing each to sound reasonable was a real chore, because for example, boosting the snare mic to get that "crack" meant that some other part of the drums would emerge with unnatural emphasis and mess everything up. No amount of EQ to the kick mic could make the "thwack" come out (although the bleeding snare became more apparent and even more awful sounding). Judging from the raw tracks, I'd suspect that both microphones have a frequency response similar to string & can telephone acoustics.
To make matters worse, the CAD CM217 overhead microphones proved completely worthless and crumbled under the decibels the drummer delivered that night. Even though the pad switch on the mic was engaged and the mic preamps were purring with plenty of headroom, the CAD overheads delivered audio that sounded like a truck dragging sheet metal down a gravel road. Check it out:
The final word is that this line of CAD mics officially suck and should be avoided for all recording purposes, unless you're absolutely desperate for drum coverage and flat broke (in which case check garage sales and pawn shop dumpsters). If you're at all interested in fidelity in your recording, you won't find it with these cheapie drum mics. (Studio gear elitists can emit a big "duh" here-- hey, we're just clarifyin') There are better alternatives for mic'ing drums on a budget, and these ain't it.
For the guitar, we ended up using an Audix I-5 dynamic microphone, even though we had access to a trusty SM57. At this point, the whole recording was turning out to be a microphone experiment any way, so we decided to check out the Audix mic first-hand. The I-5 has a reputation for having a brighter sound than a 57, and sure enough, the guitar tracks we got were lightbulb bright, and Brillo-Pad harsh. To be fair to the Audix, the guitarist was using a Mesa Boogey dual 12" combo with its settings unchanged from a recent jazz gig, so the rig was already a bit bright, but the I-5 seemed unable to translate any of the beefy end regardless of mic placement, even though the I-5 also has a reputation for a warmer low end. While this microphone might be suitable for other guitar tones, amp/speaker characteristics, or genres of music, using the I-5 on this occasion left our guitar without any warmth in the low-mid end of the spectrum. We wanted Dimebag, and all we got was a nickel.
Recording the bass was about a simple as it could get. The bass patched directly into a DI Box and fed parallel signals to his amplifier and our mixing board. Even though the bass was thick and full for the live audience, the signal we received was nothing more than what the instrument pickups delivered. Without the amp and speakers to shape the instrument's sound, the bass was expectedly naked and thin. We knew going into the live recording that in order to get a good bass sound we would either have to re-amp the bass track afterwards, or emulate a bass cabinet with an appropriate emulation plugin.
Here's a snippet of all the raw audio; first the bass, then guitar, drums and vocals:
After inspecting the raw audio, it would be totally forgivable for an audio purist to write off any hope for salvaging this experimental recording; after all, the overheads are massively clipping and the instruments don't sound as good as they did live.
Still, since guerrilla recording is all about doing the best with what you have, CHiTT set out to show that the darkest hour is just before post-processing. In the world of digital audio, nothing is completely lost, and with enough knowledge, the right tools, and a little hocus pocus, you can clean up anything. Here's the same audio snippet after a couple of hours of tweaking in the studio (with all tracks up at once):
In our final installment in this series, we'll cover exactly what we did to fix the tracks to the best of our ability and arrive at a fan-worthy bootleg despite using cheapo microphones.
Reverb is the spice of your audio. Without some sense of reverberation, whether natural or digital, your mixes will inevitably seem lifeless and boring. Too much reverb or the wrong type can unnaturally spoil your audio endeavors, like adding the wrong flavor to an otherwise good recipe. The key is using the right ingredients, knowing how much too add, and knowing when to stop when the mix is just right.
Here's a short clip from the Neo-Nostalgics upcoming album, a tune called John Barber. As with most guerrilla recording environments, the space in which we were recording didn't afford the best acoustics (no high ceilings, no wood floors, etc.-- a basement, basically), so we close-mic'ed every instrument to reduce the amount of room ambiance, since setting up a room mic to collect some natural reverb wasn't an option. As we expected, our final tracks were pretty clean and didn't have much of the unwanted room sound in the mix, but the tracks sound bare-bones dry and don't have that "sparkle" a nice room would provide:
In close quarter recording spaces, the trick is to fake ambiance with digital reverb while not letting on that it's an artificial addition. I start by searching for a nice effect that emulates the sense of real space, but I pay close attention to how the reverb colors my audio, especially if it adds unwanted mud that detracts from the fidelity of the dry source audio. On the other hand, some reverb parameters might react a little too brightly and actively on some transient peaks (like snare cracks or sibilant vocals) which will unnaturally emerge from the mix in ways that real acoustic reflections would never behave. This is a dead giveaway that you're using canned ambiance. To avoid this, I look for a reverb that provides "cutoff" parameters which allows control over what frequencies are included in the effect. For reverbs that don't include this option, you can always bounce a 100% wet signal to its own track and manually apply equalization to get the response you're seeking.
To fake the natural ambiance we're missing from the mix, I add the same base reverb effect to most of the instruments in small amounts. For starters, I'll often choose a small room or hall setting without a lot of bright coloration and a shorter decay time; we're shooting to make the audio sound like it's sitting in a unified space, but again, we don't want the reverb to sound distracting or unnatural. I'll add it to the drums first-- if the reverb blends well and sounds natural with the drums, it will probably sound alright with the rest of the instruments in the mix. I generally don't add any (or much) reverb to the kick or the overheads because reverb on these tracks often ruins the clarity of what we've recorded. For the snare and the toms, I'll add just enough reverb until I notice the effect, and then I'll back it off until I can't notice it anymore. I find the ideal amount of reverb occurs in the area between noticing it and not noticing it, but ultimately it's a matter left up to taste and the style of music you're working with.
After the drums are sounding good, I'll add a small amount to the rest of the instruments to bring them into the same "space," trying to find the right amount that sounds natural for each instrument and always auditioning the wet/dry ratio with the rest of the mix. Keep in mind that the more reverb you add, the more "removed" the original audio will sound from the mix, and the more predominant and possibly distracting the fake ambiance becomes. As a general rule of thumb, you don't want the effect to overtake the natural balance of your mix, so in most cases, a little bit of reverb goes a long way. For my tastes, I find that the snare and the toms will receive the most amount of reverb (e.g. 5% to 15% wet), and every other instrument gets the same effect in less amounts (anywhere from 1% to 12% wet). If I choose to apply different reverb effect to other instruments, I have to be careful that the different settings don't create a conflicting sense of space (unless of course that's the effect I'm going for) and aren't adding subtle tonal and EQ imbalances. Simply put, you don't want different reverb settings to conflict with one another. If I do use different reverb settings for different instruments, a tiny amount of small room reverb added to all tracks will hep smooth over the overall finish and bring all the tracks into a sense of unified space.
After auditioning several reverb settings for the Neo-Nostalgics track, I decided on a lively, bright, medium sized room, to give the overall mix a live jazz club feeling. The reverb turned out brighter and more active than I usually choose for a mix, but in this case, such a decision seemed appropriate for the feel and style of the music. The vocals have a different reverb plugin with a slight stereo delay effect, but I added a tiny amount of the original room reverb to to the vocal to soften the edges and place the vox in the same "room" as everything else. Overall, the room reverb is most apparent on the snare and the guitar, and the vocals now have a shimmer they didn't before, but the cumulative effect is still subtle:
Check back soon for a compilation of links to the most useful free VST reverb plugins available on the web. While you'll get better, more natural sounding results from the higher-end and more pricey plugins, there's still a lot of quality reverb plugins for free that will still do your recordings justice.
As another addition for your guerrilla field manual, several short video tutorials on the basics of recording guitars. CHiTT Productions weighs in with other insights after the jump.
Recording guitars on fly? The slightest microphone adjustments, not to mention the microphone you pick for the job, can be the difference between a full bodied sound or weak tracks. Remember, isolation is key in guerrilla recording, because your room might not be ideal. The best and clearest recordings most often come by capturing a faithful representation of the source material without a lot of unnecessary coloration or haphazard experimentation. You want your tools to be as transparent as possible, only adding that coveted "character" (whether from a mic or an effect) only when it's necessary.
Often we choose to record with one mic as the "transparent" mic in a close-mic position (with as little room sound as possible, positioned at the "sweet spot" of the instrument/speaker). If we've got extra tracks to play with, then we'll add another mic for experimentation, maybe off axis or placed further back in the recording space. Once the mix is sounding pretty balanced in its later stages with just the dry mics laying the foundation of the mix, then we add the tracks with more daring mic positions to spice the overall flavor or character. We might even choose later on to swap out the experimental track for the conventionally mic'ed one if it sounds good, but we'd hate to be trapped down the road with a mix full of experimental mic positions that can't be used because we weren't hearing something right at the time. While and entirely close-mic'ed mix will sound, well, like a closely mic'ed mix, unless you're recording in the Taj Mahal of locations, you're probably better off letting digital reverb liven up a mix while guerrilla recording.
The quickest and truest way to get awesome tracks while guerrilla recording (since in the field we don't have the luxury of a sonically balanced mix station/control room) is to get a pair of Extreme Isolation headphones and a 30-50 ft. headphone extension cable. Get right up in the thick of it with your isolation headphones on and solo the channel of instrument in question and move the mic around until you get that sound. What's that sound? Shoot for what you imagine it would sound like if you took your headphones off and stuck your ear right close to the speaker or instrument (pain threshold notwithstanding). Let the music be as dirty as it wants to be, but good guerrilla recordings come from being as clean as possible right up front (i.e. good gain structure, isolation, conservative mic placements, etc.). We experiment in the field when time and tracks permit, but save most of the fun for the non-destructive mixdown stage.
Since guerrilla recording is often without a budget, chances are you're not going to have golden mics at your disposal. Never fear, budget mics still can kick some serious burgeios butt, and you'll never end up missing the cash you would've spent.
For electric guitar speaker cabinets, the Shure SM57obviously ranks as the most accessible and time-tested solution for close mic'ing speakers. The best part of this mic is that it still turns up in yard sales, 18 years old, dented and still working; still a perfect addition to the mic stash, and it can mic just about anything else in a pinch. But for ~about~ the same store price as the 57 the Sennheiser e609 wins the day for guerrilla recording, even if it is just a little too pretty. It makes close-mic'ing a breeze because it hugs the grill and its supercardioid pattern rejects bleed from other instruments in your small recording space or live situation (works great for toms too!).
For acoustic guitars you've got to go condenser. The SM57 sounds too "rugged" and unintentionally lo-fi in most applications (although there are times it can actually clean up some really bad sounding instruments). Ideally we'd love to use condensers with crystalline rapport-- of course, everyone would, but they're hard to come by on a beer budget. Rode mics, such as the NT-5, seem to be the mid-pro level choice for honest and accurate mic'ing, but for the price, we've never laid our hands on a pair so we can't vouch for its authority (any donations?). More modestly priced are the awkwardly vessel-like AKG C-1000s. Nice presence with clarity, but enough bottom end to feel the wood of the guitar. If you're recording in a suitably vibrant room with little extraneous noise, the standard cardioid pickup pattern will pick up a nice amount of room sound. If not, the hypercardioid capsule will tighten the pickup pattern without sacrificing too much range.
On even more of a budget? The AT2021 is a versitile small diaphragm condenser that just works. Although it's a little active and bright in the high end while still managing to be less articulate with the high-mids, its still a reasonably impressive and budget-minded choice for recording detailed instruments. The selling point is that the AT2021 comes only with the AT2020, its side-adress bigger brother, sold as the AT2041 package. With a little searching you might find both for lower than its minimum advertised price, costing only about as much as a new SM57 in a store. Both mics share the same capsule design, take high SPLs and are very versitile, whether overheads, vocals or instruments, without adding too much flamboyant color.
In times such as these, artists and thinking people must fully embrace the tactics of the guerrilla in order to survive. Organize in small bands, know your master plan and create backups, always stay on the move, strike quickly and with vision in order to take advantage of the adversary's inefficiency and immobility.
Guerrillas thrive on the unknown and use it to their advantage, turning the flaws of the system into opportunities for upheaval. While bureaucrats spend time trying to maintain control of territory and capital with tired old traditions, guerrillas know that the true prize is in the heart of the people, and only through unconventional exploration can this gem be revealed.
In keeping with this rich and empowering tradition, CHiTT Productions practices the art of guerrilla recording. The adversary is the big-business culture industry, with its spit-shined factory lineup featuring uninspiring permutations of the same product asking extortion prices. The revolutionary goal, therefore, is to produce an entirely different form of culture which rivals the methods and productions standards of the mainstream without compromising our underground ethics or driving us into serfdom. In this mission we understand we are the underdogs and our tools aren't nearly as pretty as the bourgeois elite, but underneath the grit in our work there's an authenticity all the money and studio "magic" in the world couldn't buy.
The tactic of guerrilla recording is to travel lightly and with purpose; bring only the things you need to get the job done right, know your tools, move into the new environment quickly, take stock of your resources, setup operations, and roll the tape to capture the vibrancy and spirit of the creative process as faithfully as possible.
CHiTT Productions specializes in multitracking live band setups-- this means that each element of the band is individually recorded on its own track, up to 12 tracks at a time and up to 48 tracks total, so each instrument can be fine-tuned afterwards for the perfect mix. The recording process is simple-- we come into your home territory with our laptop and DAW and size up the acoustical situation. You jam in a small basement? An aluminum storage shed? A cardboard box? Not a problem. We can make the trickiest recording environments produce quality recordings. We'll arrange our instruments and mics for optimal acoustic isolation and setup shop in a flash. After a quick but organized line & monitor check, and a quick playback test to see how the situation sounds, the band is ready to record.
In order to get the best out of your guerrilla recording, your group should be aware of the following suggestions and tips:
Practice, practice, practice. Often bands don't realize that their material is a bit rusty or "unsure" until they hear their recordings played back to them. Spend the time to really listen to your music (turn the volume down for starters, or play acoustically if you have to). Sit down with your band mates to hash out the dirty details of each song's arrangement, dynamics, tempo, notes, etc. Unsure of what your mates are doing during a particular part of a song? Figure it out before your scheduled day to record, because all the inconsistencies will appear later on the tape for everyone to hear in high fidelity. You don't really want to waste your time (or ours) fixing problems with overdubs later, do you?
Toubleshoot sonic problems before your day to record. What's that ringing when the drummer hits the toms? Why doesn't the kick drum have any "oomph?" What's that noise coming out of the guitar players speakers? Buzzing frets? Loud ventilation system/roommates, etc.? The list of potential problems is endless. It's always best to give us your sweetest sounds from the beginning, and weed out the bugs beforehand, because if it sounds bad going in, it's going to sound bad coming out. Be eternally picky; this is your art.
Tune, tune, tune. The dustbins of audio history are filled with otherwise great performances ruined by out-of-tune instruments. Tune often and with great care, as if the lives of your loved ones depended on it. Every time the recording stops or a song ends, every tunable instrument should resynchronize to its glorious tonic calibration. Unless you are certifiably blessed with perfect pitch, you should own an electronic tuner and make sure that it is perfectly matched to every other tuner in use during recording. If your instrument cannot stay in tune, borrow one that can. Your listeners will thank you later.
Know what you want to accomplish with your recording session beforehand. What songs are you going to record? Do you want to play the songs straight through like a live show, or do you want to work on one song at a time until every element is layered and nuanced? Do you want to experiment with your sounds, or do know exactly what sound you're after? Keeping a clear aim of what you want to accomplish keeps the process running efficiently, since both time and money are limited resources.
Communicate effectively with the recording engineer. Need some more of an instrument in your headphones? Not pleased with the sound of that reverb? Too much guitars in the mix? Just say so, because we're not clairvoyant and it's not going to hurt our feelings. We'll work with you to make sure you get the sound you're after.
Be patient. Audio recording is a laborious process to get right. While we've got the process down to a quasi-science and move pretty quickly, setup and tweaks take a little time. The more everyone can stay focused on the process and not get sidetracked, the more time can be spent recording.
Check out our featured artists for examples of our work. If you're interested in recording all or part of an album, whether a live show or in your jam space, contact us to discuss your options and check our availability.
CHiTT rolled in to the Neo-Nostalgics' practice space to do some on-site guerrilla recording Tuesday.
Gear setup went quickly and seamlessly until we ran into a nasty electrical buzz, which is a common malady in many home-based electrical situations. After tracking down the buzz and eliminating it with a trusty $0.69 ground lift adapter, the Neo-Nostalgics rolled through their songs in two easy sets. Drums were multitracked with a mic and a track for each piece in the drum set, a Shure Beta 52 on kick, Sennheisers on the snare and toms, and AT2020s for stereo overheads. Keys and bass were recorded direct, and the guitar cab was recorded using a Sennheiser e609, isolated in a separate room in the basement.
All in all, we've got 8 tracks spanning 9 or so songs, with vocal tracks anticipated to be completed in an upcoming session. Mixdowns will come soon afterwards, so we'll keep you posted on the developments.
Supporting independent artists since 2005 through music and video production, audio recording, art design, event promotion, band management, live sound reinforcement, and DIY tips & tricks.
