OK I'm an Idiot....Adventures in Recording

River19

Senior Member
So far with the new studio setup I have completed maybe 40 tunes or so......been pleased with the results so far but occasionally I have hated how much attic I was getting from the 12" tom.

I chased down the "thwap" a little bit by swapping out clear EC2S for a Coated Emperor, ok a little warmer not bad but still when mixing with cleaner sounds (ie. clean guitar not a wall of overdrive) I was still annoyed with the attack.

Meanwhile, I wanted to add a room mic, so today the AKG 420 came in, nice mic especially at that price point. So I got that setup and was running through some sound samples.......and there was that annoying attack sound. Went through each track and like normal it seems like it was my Overhead Snare side that seemed to always have the annoying frequency. As I was soloing it....I was like "you know it really isn't picking up much hihat or snare etc........but man that 12" tom"...... wait.....could I have mislabeled the "Tom" and "OH Snare" tracks all along?

Yup......now wonder when I made sure both overhead faders were the same the "attack" of the tom was too much for me.......because it was the friggin SM57 on the tom NOT the damn Overhead. Quick edit on my track template and problem solved. Dickhead.

So yeah, I am an idiot. Sounds great now......no issues.....nothing to fix with EQ, at least not that particular large issue.

It is what it is.
 
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If I had a nickel for every time I did something like that, I would have a dollar :) but still that’s 20 dumb things. At least you discovered it. That’s a good sign.
 
I withhold the right to do something stupid like this again at some point.........possibly several times in the next few years......
When I hooked up my 32 channel rack mixer, I made some gaffs while using it for a band rehearsal. The keyboard player has two keyboards with stereo outputs. Five vocals, two were wireless. Sax man was trying out a stereo fx pedal, bass had one input, guitar had one. My drums had 6 inputs and the percussionist had three (two for electronic drums, one mic for hand percussion. It made rehearsal much more complex for me, less enjoyable for sure.

The wireless stuff was the fussiest. The cable spaghetti triggered my OCD. It’s a work in progress, for sure, but the recordings really helped reveal our mistakes.
 
When I hooked up my 32 channel rack mixer, I made some gaffs while using it for a band rehearsal. The keyboard player has two keyboards with stereo outputs. Five vocals, two were wireless. Sax man was trying out a stereo fx pedal, bass had one input, guitar had one. My drums had 6 inputs and the percussionist had three (two for electronic drums, one mic for hand percussion. It made rehearsal much more complex for me, less enjoyable for sure.

The wireless stuff was the fussiest. The cable spaghetti triggered my OCD. It’s a work in progress, for sure, but the recordings really helped reveal our mistakes.

It's the side of "being a musician" that a lot of people overlook. Knowing the electronic and support gear game is huge to being a competent working musician.

Which is why I was partly laughing at myself and partly self loathing for that small oversight which lead to chasing ghosts......
 
I really wish I was lying here...

I once recorded an acoustic instrumental children's album. I figured out the Alphabet Song and recorded it. I then decided to try "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and I nailed it on the first take. I thought I was a freakin' genius.

Top that one for stupidity.

Good thing I didn't go on to record "Bah Bah Black Sheep."

The lesson here? Don't feel bad over simple mistakes. It's how we learn!
 
I really wish I was lying here...

I once recorded an acoustic instrumental children's album. I figured out the Alphabet Song and recorded it. I then decided to try "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and I nailed it on the first take. I thought I was a freakin' genius.

Top that one for stupidity.

Good thing I didn't go on to record "Bah Bah Black Sheep."

The lesson here? Don't feel bad over simple mistakes. It's how we learn!
Just change the key and tempo, then it's a whole different song!
 
I once recorded an acoustic instrumental children's album. I figured out the Alphabet Song and recorded it. I then decided to try "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and I nailed it on the first take. I thought I was a freakin' genius.
I was in the airport waiting for a flight while reading this. I didn't understand it. They're different songs. What am I missing? In the middle of DFW, standing in front of the large flight info panels I began singing these tunes. It took about 90 seconds until I realized why PorkPieGuy is a genius.
 
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