Session times: 12:00-16:30
Vamika are a 4-piece band from Preston. We had met once before to discuss recordings, but I hadn't heard any of the songs they want to record, so everything was brand new.
Kev, the drummer, arrived first and as we unloaded his kit, Amy (vocal), Damien (bass) & Dave (guitar) turned up.
Kev uses a (rather dusty) 5-piece purple Mapex kit, with 3 toms, Sabian crash, ride and hi-hat cymbals. It was mic'd up with the Samson 7 mic kit. Kev's drums were a bit boomy and the snare rings for ages. Lots of sticky tape was applied which reduced the ring a bit, but I'll have to sort out what is left with some eq and gating.
Damien's bass amp was set up in the stairwell and the line out brought up to the desk.
Dave's Line6 guitar amp had a headphone/line out which also went into the desk.
Amy was set up outside the live room at the top of the stairs with the sE2200 mic.
We managed to record the drums for 4 songs this session: I Escaped You; Long Way To Venus; Vampire Nights and Heading To Something. As this is the first session, we concentrated on getting good drum takes. The guitar, bass and vocals being used as a guide and will be replaced in subsequent sessions.
I Escaped You starts with guitar, so after we agreed the tempo, I put down a click track for the first few bars until the drums come in. This will help later on when we record the guitar part proper.
Long Way To Venus is an up tempo, fairly quick, rock track. Kev struggled to get a take that he was happy with, so, after a few attempts, we decided to move on and come back to it later in the day.
Vampire Nights also starts with just guitar, so another click track was set up. This is a more laid back and moody track. I can hear lots of atmospheric sound-scapes in my head, but I'm not really sure what the band are after yet.
Heading To Something starts with guitar (there is a pattern emerging here). I suspect Dave is having problems remembering this one as the chords in the chorus and the ending are all over the place :-) At least he didn't put anyone else off; it's a good job we won't be keeping his parts. Kev managed to click his sticks as the cymbals faded out at the end of the song so we had to re-do the final 10 seconds just to get the last beat. He played a few times along with the previous take until we got one that matched closely enough that the cut wasn't obvious. I can fix that properly with some judicious editing.
It is important to remember that, when recording, everyone should be silent at the beginning and ending until the recording has stopped. Fortunately, this time it didn't take too long to sort out, but you don't want to have to re-record a 10 minute song just because someone dropped a stick or a chair squeaked when the final fade out is happening!
We had another go with Long Way To Venus which Kev nailed in one take. Perhaps he just needed to loosen up a bit.
It was a very hot day, so we called the session at about 4:30, I made some quick mixes and the band took away a CD of the day's work to listen to.
They are due back in the studio next Sunday, so Kev left his drums set up, which should mean we can get more tracks done next time. If I get a chance, I'll try putting more tape on the toms to reduce the ring, but I'm not going to dust them!
Vamika are a 4-piece band from Preston. We had met once before to discuss recordings, but I hadn't heard any of the songs they want to record, so everything was brand new.
 |
| Damien, Amy, Dave, Kev |
Kev, the drummer, arrived first and as we unloaded his kit, Amy (vocal), Damien (bass) & Dave (guitar) turned up.
Damien's bass amp was set up in the stairwell and the line out brought up to the desk.
Dave's Line6 guitar amp had a headphone/line out which also went into the desk.
Amy was set up outside the live room at the top of the stairs with the sE2200 mic.
We managed to record the drums for 4 songs this session: I Escaped You; Long Way To Venus; Vampire Nights and Heading To Something. As this is the first session, we concentrated on getting good drum takes. The guitar, bass and vocals being used as a guide and will be replaced in subsequent sessions.
I Escaped You starts with guitar, so after we agreed the tempo, I put down a click track for the first few bars until the drums come in. This will help later on when we record the guitar part proper.
Long Way To Venus is an up tempo, fairly quick, rock track. Kev struggled to get a take that he was happy with, so, after a few attempts, we decided to move on and come back to it later in the day.
Vampire Nights also starts with just guitar, so another click track was set up. This is a more laid back and moody track. I can hear lots of atmospheric sound-scapes in my head, but I'm not really sure what the band are after yet.
Heading To Something starts with guitar (there is a pattern emerging here). I suspect Dave is having problems remembering this one as the chords in the chorus and the ending are all over the place :-) At least he didn't put anyone else off; it's a good job we won't be keeping his parts. Kev managed to click his sticks as the cymbals faded out at the end of the song so we had to re-do the final 10 seconds just to get the last beat. He played a few times along with the previous take until we got one that matched closely enough that the cut wasn't obvious. I can fix that properly with some judicious editing.
It is important to remember that, when recording, everyone should be silent at the beginning and ending until the recording has stopped. Fortunately, this time it didn't take too long to sort out, but you don't want to have to re-record a 10 minute song just because someone dropped a stick or a chair squeaked when the final fade out is happening!
We had another go with Long Way To Venus which Kev nailed in one take. Perhaps he just needed to loosen up a bit.
It was a very hot day, so we called the session at about 4:30, I made some quick mixes and the band took away a CD of the day's work to listen to.
They are due back in the studio next Sunday, so Kev left his drums set up, which should mean we can get more tracks done next time. If I get a chance, I'll try putting more tape on the toms to reduce the ring, but I'm not going to dust them!
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