Canadian Musician - March/April 2021 | Page 27

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Finding the Right Balance When Recording Live Off the Floor

By Kevin Dietz

Bands often want to capture more of a “ live feel ” in the studio ; the setup , vibe , and energy they ’ re used to during rehearsal and shows . But they also tend to want to go back and fix parts , edit performances , and make sure their recording sounds polished and professional ( to whatever degree suits their music ). As a recording engineer or producer , how do you find the balance between a live , energetic sound of the band in a room , but also be able to punch in and fix parts , edit between takes , and so on ? The setup and workflow of the recording session is the key to keep things moving and achieving that balance .

Recording a band live-off-the-floor requires a decent amount of space , and the best option for this will invariably be a recording studio with numerous iso booths or space to separate instruments and amplifiers . Ideally , you ’ ll want to be able to isolate the instruments as much as possible . This might seem counterintuitive to achieving a live feel , but keeping the drums , bass , guitar , keys , and vocals acoustically isolated will allow you the flexibility to do punch-ins / fixes on individual instruments , and comp between takes without compromise . The key here is capturing the energy of the band in the recorded performance , not necessarily the sound of all instruments in one space , spilling into each other ’ s microphones ( which can certainly be done well and creates a sonic vibe of its own when done properly , but the trade-off is less flexibility in terms of comping , punch-ins , and editing ).
Generally , this setup tends to look like so : all of the musicians in the main room with the drums , and all amplifiers or acoustic instruments set up in separate iso booths or other rooms . The singer , of course , should always be in their own acoustically-isolated space if capturing the vocal live is desired as well .
One of the most important aspects of this setup is to allow for line-of-sight between all the players – musicians are used to rehearsing and playing their music in close proximity to one another , and a big part of that live energy is their ability to non-verbally communicate , musically , in the moment . This goes a long way toward creating a familiar and exciting environment for performers , and can be accomplished by running lines to their isolated amplifiers while keeping the players themselves in the same room .
Another very important factor is getting a great headphone mix for everyone . Most ( if not all ) professional recording studios have headphone mixers that will allow each player to individually dial in their monitor mix . Once the band has a great mix happening , they ’ re ready to rock .
At this point , I like to run a take of the song from top to bottom , letting the band know that they can use this opportunity to adjust their headphone mixes , and also give myself the opportunity to adjust any levels or sounds in context before going for keeper takes . Of course , always hit record — you don ’ t want to miss a potential great take , part , or idea that might come up during that first “ rehearsal ” take .
Once the band has played through and recorded a few takes ( and things are starting to feel good ), invite them into the control room to have a listen . This is a great way for the musicians to get perspective on how things are sounding , how the performance is feeling overall , and discuss any details or tweaks to the performance that are needed . More often than not , the next couple of takes after this listening break will be the best of the bunch .
Once you have a great overall band take ( or a great take compiled from sections of multiple takes ), you can listen back with the band to identify any parts that need a punch-in , or need to be substituted from a different take . Because the instruments are isolated , it ’ s relatively seamless to cut between takes of individual instruments , and punching in is completely seamless , as each instrument maintains its sound just as it was while the whole band was playing . The immediacy of doing punch-ins and fixes on the spot helps to maintain that live energy , as opposed to redoing parts at a later date .
By taking the time to get the setup right , the sound dialed in , and headphone mixes sounding great , I find that this method of recording can be very efficient while also maintaining the feel and energy of a band performing as one , as opposed to recording each instrument on its own and building the production one element at a time . Of course , any given recording method should be used where it best suits the music and artistic vision , but in general I find this workflow allows for lots of flexibility while still maintaining the energy and expression of the band or artist .
Kevin Dietz is a Juno Award-winning producer , mixer , and recording engineer who has worked with Randy Bachman , The Glorious Sons , Protest the Hero , dvsn , Alexisonfire , and more . To find out and contact Kevin , go to www . kevindietzmusic . com .
CANADIAN MUSICIAN 27