Sara Smile... single-mic band recording

[Aaron Smith]

I've been doing Jam Night with a couple of friends for the last few months. All of us have played in bands in the past, and basically got tired of the rigamarole that goes along with it... we decided were we just going to hang every few weeks and work out cover tunes that we like to play.

One thing that has been fun is trying to get respectable-sounding video clips with a single microphone. I figure that if the bluegrass guys can give a live performance around one mic, we should be able to get a decent recording that way. It takes some practice, but it's a lot of fun once you figure out how to get set up. We got this clip with my Ipad and an Apogee Mic; quick edit in iMovie, and here it is.

It has been interesting, and surprising, trying to record all sorts of electric and acoustic instruments at the same time. In the clip below, my old J-45 cuts through very well, even with electric guitar playing over top of it. The tele is being played through a Princeton Reverb at about 4 on the volume... it sounded crazy loud when we were playing, but very balanced in the recording. Just shows you how directional amps can be. My fiddle isn't nearly as loud as I thought it would be. My dobro is super-loud almost anywhere in the room.

We're having enough fun with this that we've started booking a few shows. I'm toying with trying to do live performances around a single mic, just for kicks.

http://youtu.be/pAKiPrawX78

[fitness1]

That was really cool.....I was thinking while listening (before I read your entire post) you should be doing some gigs.

I think you are going to find in most places, unless the crowd/room is near silent and attentive, that the single mic gig will be pretty tough. Once you get the level of the mic up enough, it will be picking up all the room noise.

Have fun - you guys are sounding great.

[Raggamuffin]

Very nice indeed. Tight vocals & nice playing. I'd love to sit and listen to you guys for a long time. And I'd give you a good tip when I was done!

[weeder]

Nice! It's cool when you're all on the same page!

[ADK]

Nicely done!

[Aaron Smith]

Originally Posted by fitness1

That was really cool.....I was thinking while listening (before I read your entire post) you should be doing some gigs.

I think you are going to find in most places, unless the crowd/room is near silent and attentive, that the single mic gig will be pretty tough. Once you get the level of the mic up enough, it will be picking up all the room noise.

Have fun - you guys are sounding great.

I agree, it would take just the right environment to get the single-mic thing working live. I think I'm tempted to try simply because of the hassle of doing it the "regular" way, with live mics and instruments all over the stage.

[Psalad]

One of my favorite songs and you did it justice!! Good job.