I agree with the importance of a full stomach when recording. Hell, for most of you who know me, you know that I stress the importance of a full stomach when doing much of anything.

Also, don't hesitate to drink a little when you record - don't get blotto, but a couple nice brews really help to settle the nerves.

An interesting anecdote about our pending recording. We have a friend who works at Hyde St. Studios here in SF, so we'll also be getting a killer studio at a somewhat reasonable rate. In talking with him, I found out that we'll be recording in Studio D, which provides the best way for a full band to set up in a single room. Not only is it the room in which Green Day recorded "Insomniac", it is also the site where one of the most influential songs of our generation was recorded....

That's right folks -- "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground. We've been cracking up about that so much recently that we're really tempted to make some sort of hidden track....

~B~

pyrobob
However, it does help to have what I call a psudo-producer, someone that knows what you guys sound like and can explain it to the engineer.

Building on what Bob has suggested, bringing a "psudo-producer" in can be a great idea. When I listen to play-back, it's very easy to focus only on my guitar part and essentially ignore everything else. If everyone in the band does that (and it's easy to do) the overall sound/vibe is ignored as the various band members hear only their individual parts. IMHO, you don't want to toss out an exciting live take just because the drummer thinks the closed highhat sound is too "pingy" or keep a dead sounding take just because the Fender bass player finally nailed that tricky part in the chorus.

I personally think that it helps to have someone you respect, someone you trust, someone who knows what you sound like, acting as a liasion between the engineer and the band.

Have a great time, Danny! I'm sure you'll make terrific music!

Cheers,
Chuck

norcalhodad

SurfBandBill
That's right folks -- "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground. We've been cracking up about that so much recently that we're really tempted to make some sort of hidden track....

~B~

"Do the Humpty Hump. Yah, do the Humpty Hump..". A case of Hennessy for Bill and his crew at their next recording session. Surf is finally connected to 2Pac!

Joe,
Surprisingly, Hennessy is usually Rodd's drink of choice, so I imagine there will be at least a flask full at the recording session. I'm more of a scotch guy, but variety is the spice of life. After all, we have to have something to pair with all that Pabst Blue Ribbon!!!

~B~

Hey Danny,
Maybe moving the mic closer the cabinet will capture the tank sound better.

Also, you can experiment with recording the guitar dry and sending the presiously recorded track to the tan and back into another track. Sometimes Amp Farm can get you what you ae looking for on the final mix as well. You are in a tricky spot right now sound wise. Anything recorded with effects on is pretty much a "One Time Deal". Which sucks for anyone with a reverb signature sound. But recording one take dry gives you a little room digital magic and blending with the reverbed take.

Hope this might help. These are things we have had some success with.

Headphones are always a pin to record live with. We are about to go through that soon.

-RT

ask you tech if he has experience with this thoug - it's differnet from recording the wet and amped signal. also, if you already have trouble getting into it with headphones, you might want to give up a bit of sound quality for 'vibe' and record wet after all.

in my eperience, the mic picks up 'splash' better when the mic is furtehr away from the cab, rather then closer to it. I got best results with the mic about two feet from the cab. but - live obviiously it's close mic'd, I set the reverb's dwell and mix a tad extra, and got compliments on the sound. granted,we've been very lucky with sound people, live.

if you have time, experiment a little bit. it's a hassle and quite demotivating, but personally I think it's better to spend an extra hour on getting your sound, and have to rush your last two takes, then to have an extra hour tracking, but have all perfect tracks with a sound you think isn't good. ymmv.

WR

Rules to live by #314:
"When in Italy, if the menu says something's grilled, don't assume it is."

https://www.facebook.com/The-Malbehavers-286429584796173/

Danny,
Two things I'd like to add:
1. I agree with WR about the mic distance. "Normal" practice is to really close-mic the speaker, but I found that doesn't capture the wet sound. Sounds scratchy and annoying ...moving the mic about 2 feet or more and playing with its aim will help you get what you want. You can add room mics, too.
2. I know how you feel about the headphones...what I did in the past when over-dubbing guitar parts, is just sit in the control room (the amp was in the recording room, of course), and listen to the playback through the monitors. This way you can really tell what you sound like (you are going to be mixing using the monitors, why not know what you're going to sound like in advance).

I'm not knocking recoding dry, or mixing 3 different tracks, but you might end-up with a "too modern" or overpolished sound. I'd try to get the guitar track to sound good through the monitors with amp settings, mic choice and placement (no processing like eq). If you get that right, you're saving yourself a lot of work later in trying to make it sound right after it's recorded.

Good luck,
Ran

The Scimitars