Recording small wind band
Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 11:14 pm
I have some friends that play brass instruments (trumpet, cornet, and hopefully a trombone). Between them and my clarinet I've been thinking it would be fun to arrange and record a small band jazz piece.
To start out, I'm considering arranging a backing track with virtual instruments to fill in the gaps. I think percussion and an acoustic bass would suffice, but I have no experience arranging virtual percussion. If I understand correctly, the two major options on Linux are hydrogen and drumgizmo. Can somebody recommend a good starting point? Any recommendations on a good kit for jazz/swing/blues would be helpful.
Then there's the matter of mics. I have a matched pair of narrow diaphragm condenser mics, and two dynamic vocal mics. Between two interfaces I have three mic inputs. Given that, I'm thinking of setting up the condensers as a pair in front of the brass players, treating the brass section as a single track with a stereo profile, and then capturing the clarinet on a separate track with a dynamic vocal mic. Does that seem like it would be a reasonable mic setup?
For now I'm trying to avoid being a gear head. As much as I would like to splurge on a Focusrite 18i8 and more/better mics, I first want to prove to myself that I will follow through and do it without spending more money.
Edit: Another question I have is whether it is a good idea to put headphones on everybody to monitor what we're recording, or to use studio speakers in the room. We at least need to hear the backing track, but I've found that when I'm recording myself playing a wind instrument I hear my own instrument loader than it is being picked up by the mic, regardless of whether I'm monitoring with headphones or speakers.
To start out, I'm considering arranging a backing track with virtual instruments to fill in the gaps. I think percussion and an acoustic bass would suffice, but I have no experience arranging virtual percussion. If I understand correctly, the two major options on Linux are hydrogen and drumgizmo. Can somebody recommend a good starting point? Any recommendations on a good kit for jazz/swing/blues would be helpful.
Then there's the matter of mics. I have a matched pair of narrow diaphragm condenser mics, and two dynamic vocal mics. Between two interfaces I have three mic inputs. Given that, I'm thinking of setting up the condensers as a pair in front of the brass players, treating the brass section as a single track with a stereo profile, and then capturing the clarinet on a separate track with a dynamic vocal mic. Does that seem like it would be a reasonable mic setup?
For now I'm trying to avoid being a gear head. As much as I would like to splurge on a Focusrite 18i8 and more/better mics, I first want to prove to myself that I will follow through and do it without spending more money.
Edit: Another question I have is whether it is a good idea to put headphones on everybody to monitor what we're recording, or to use studio speakers in the room. We at least need to hear the backing track, but I've found that when I'm recording myself playing a wind instrument I hear my own instrument loader than it is being picked up by the mic, regardless of whether I'm monitoring with headphones or speakers.