How to record real reverb

[lebouche]

Hello,

I'd like to hear how you educated people go about recording real room accoustics. I had a shot just for fun the other day in a nearby stairwell and the results wernt great... I tried with two nt1s, me and my friend were singing and playing guitar + banging a cowbell. We tried several setups but none sounded great although it does when you are there so I'm thinking of going back and trying xy.

I remember hearing bout Deep Purple recording smoke on the water in some hotel and running mics down the corridor to create delays.

Do any of you have any similar experiences?
I went to visit a studio recently and they told me they had real plates which they hang on springs. I'd also love to know how you mic those up.

Thanks

[Brendo]

You don't mic up a plate, a plate has two transducers connected, one playing audio into the plate, one picking up the plate's vibrations. Comes out to a standard output.

Here:
http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/plate/plate.php

[lebouche]

Well thats half my post satisfied. Thanks...I had images of someone standing between two sheets of metal singing!
:D

[lebouche]

p.s. any pics anyone? This is all I got from google with "Vocal Plate"

[lebouche]

Ok...how to make your own plate..
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/plate/fig2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/plate/plate2.php&h=267&w=450&sz=9&hl=en&start=6&tbnid=K9zbHoINn4LuTM:&tbnh=75&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2Breverb%2Bplate%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3 Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

[lebouche]

Still interested in real reverb storys...

[slabrock]

Hello,

I'd like to hear how you educated people go about recording real room accoustics. I had a shot just for fun the other day in a nearby stairwell and the results wernt great... I tried with two nt1s, me and my friend were singing and playing guitar + banging a cowbell. We tried several setups but none sounded great although it does when you are there so I'm thinking of going back and trying xy.

You didn't go and play live in the stairwell, did you?

Try taking a monitor speaker in the stairwell, run a recorded track or a mix of tracks through that, record the stairwell and bring it carefully into the mix. Recording the original signal in an echo chamber is'nt the way to go.

I once read an article where Jimmy Page explained, how he'd have his amps stacked opposite the studios big double barn doors. The hinges were well oiled and there was two guys opening the doors everytime he went for the solos.

Outside the doors were another array of room mics.

Peace,

Slabrock

[Brendo]

Ok...how to make your own plate..
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/plate/fig2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/plate/plate2.php&h=267&w=450&sz=9&hl=en&start=6&tbnid=K9zbHoINn4LuTM:&tbnh=75&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2Breverb%2Bplate%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3 Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

Did you see the link I posted?

[lebouche]

duuuuurrrrrrrhhhhhh!!
Sorry Brendo it was bout 3 or 4 am n I missed it.
Thanks though.
D:)

[lebouche]

You didn't go and play live in the stairwell, did you?



Slabrock

er yes....
We did, if you dont know you dont know! Now I get what your saying...you could use the reverb like a send and just add a little with your method.
You see the mistakes people make if they are lacking the knowledge!:lol:

[Swafford]

Yeah, mic the stariwell.

I'll occasionally run a speaker (you want a total shit sound, try a baby monitor wireless sender and receiver) to the tiled shower stall around the corner from my music making room and toss a mic in there. It's a pretty tiny, so it's not a grand sound. In fact I doubt I'd call it usable, but it beats spending time running wire from the basement to the new upstairs bathroom exhaust. For shits and giggles I'll sometimes sing into the out of tune piano close mic my voice and mic the strings. Sounds awful....one day I'll get that wire run.

[lebouche]

Yeah, mic the stariwell.

I'll occasionally run a speaker (you want a total shit sound, try a baby monitor wireless sender and receiver)

The thing is I dont want a shit sound...although that can be cool for little outros on albums n stuff.

In the stairwell when you are actually there it sounds beautiful and I figured there must be a way of capturing that.
I'll try the speaker approach, wont need to run much cable I can prob use an active with my MH.

Still wonder what the best way of picking up the sound is...guess fairly close to the speaker if I want the reverb without much delay...

[nobby]

A studio I recall from my youth had a storage area in the basement. They put a mic at one end and a speaker at the other.

The thing about that kind of setup is you can send the amount of signal you want into that so you aren't stuck with an all or nothing situation. You'd mix the wet with the dry signal.

[nobby]

The trick with the stairwell is to make sur you use one that doesn't have apartments opening up to it.

Otherwise you have babies crying, neighbors arguing, people shouting, "turn down that fucking racket!!" on your recording.

Unless that's the effect you're going for, of course.

[nobby]

Still wonder what the best way of picking up the sound is...guess fairly close to the speaker if I want the reverb without much delay...

If the speaker is close to the mic it will have a drier sound -- less room sound.

I wouldn't have it too close. Remember you can always mix less of the reverb in with the dry signal.

[lebouche]

Cool thanks,
No people normally around...its an industrial estate and normally dead in the evenings so I'll do it then.
Cheers,

[slabrock]

I wouldn't have it too close. Remember you can always mix less of the reverb in with the dry signal.

Remember, you can always move the reverb track backwards to compensate the distance.

Ordinary nearfields work just fine. I'd probably set a nearfield to first floor and then microphones one and three floors up, pointing away from the speaker; possibly one to the 7th floor attic door too, just in case i want that canyon echo
:-D

Then i'd have the tracks to pick from. Remember that you don't need the original dry signal in your echo track at all, and use reverberation sparingly. I think most of the cases you'll end up with something like 3% of echo, 97% dry signal, and it still makes a world of difference.

I once recorded a lead guitarist in a studio that had a huge underground car parking lot. I set up a secondary marshall stack on one end of the garage and placed a microphone to the other end of the cavern. I still had the dry signal fron the primary marshall stack in the recording room. And now comes the trick:

I wanted the solo to grow grander the further it goes. I stretched the echo track slightly so i could get it to begin from the same point the dry guitar begins, and then gradually build a natural time lapse. In the end of the solo the tracks were aligned again.

Peace,

Slabrock

[malice]

Yeah, mic the stariwell.



Yeah, and try it in mono as well. You would be surprised how great sounding a mono natural chamber can sound and how usable that can be in a mix.

Like puting a guitar on the left and the fx on the right.

malice

[lebouche]

I noticed that effect happens a lot on Otis Reddings Vocals...
Thanks

[Charles Dye]

Like puting a guitar on the left and the fx on the right.

That is totally one of my faves. :Thumbsup:

Luv doin that in a mix.


Great thread!


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