andrew dodson

I’m about 98% done with the Jonathan Creek mix.  So far, I’m ahead of schedule.  My goal was to have something by Monday, but it looks like I’ll be done by tomorrow (Sunday).  I’ll spend another two or three days next week recording at Cedarmore again, and hopefully will get some usable stuff from their band.

The main problem with the last Cedarmore recording stemmed from poor mic placement on the drums, and only around 200 people in attendance.  This week, Cedarmore has 400, so that will make a huge difference in being able to hear the crowd singing.  J-Creek had around 500 this past week.  The performances should also be better, as the band has now had another week of playing together under their belts.

Here’s what makes mixing a live recording a bit easier (in case you’re wondering):

• Good musicians.  A lot of bands think they can crank out a live album, only to find even the best of mix engineers can’t make ‘em sound like pros.  Knowing the songs and playing them well is a must!  This seems to be a fairly obvious point, but plenty of bands have attempted live recordings only to find they’re not quite good enough yet.  “New” bands (even if they’re good musicians) fall into this trap too.  They don’t have enough chemistry or familiarity of the songs yet to be able to pull off a live recording.
• Good vocalists.  I separate singers from the instrumentalists solely based on the fact that if you can’t sing well, not too many people will enjoy listening to a live recording.  Being able to hit the notes in pitch consistently is a must.  Yes, there’s always the possibility of over-dubbing or using an auto-tune plugin, but where’s the fun in that?  People are more willing to forgive a few band mistakes in a live recording than they are for a vocalist who doesn’t stay on pitch well.  This goes for backup vocalists as well.  If the harmonies aren’t on pitch, it’s not pleasant.
• Good gear.  You don’t have to have a $4000 drum set or $2000 guitar to sound great live, but you have to at least know how to make your gear sound good.  This is usually an issue with drummers who don’t know how to tune their drums well (I’ve been there, trust me!).  But, this issue also comes up with guitarists who have poor tone because of their gear, or just poor tone selection from song-to-song.
• Good crowd.  One of the big differences between the J-Creek and first Cedarmore recording is about 300 more people at J-Creek.  Since it’s a worship album, you want to hear the crowd singing, and that was an issue at Cedarmore.  But, in general, a big, energetic crowd helps the listener get the feel of the concert.
• Good room.  Another difference between J-Creek and Cedarmore is the size of the worship centers.  Cedarmore’s has a pretty small stage, low ceilings and is fairly small (more of a “club” setting).  J-Creek is a big, wide-open room with plenty of room for the sound to fill up the room.  The instruments (particularly the drums) have more room to “breathe.”

Just my $0.02.