Only two recording inputs to record three musicians?

**sgcim** · 08-04-2018, 03:19 AM

A pianist friend I play with wanted to record a jam session we had recently at his house, but his pro tools recording equipment had only four inputs, and his piano mic takes up two of those inputs.
That left bass, drums and guitar only two inputs, so he made me and the bass player plug into his keyboard amp, and recorded us directly from the two channel amp.

That left only one input, which he used for the drums. Is that the best solution to this dilemma?

**cosmic gumbo** · 08-04-2018, 04:38 AM

Results sound good, guy seems to know his stuff. I might do it differently, but it's hard to argue with something that came out so well.

**emanresu** · 08-04-2018, 04:57 AM

I'd just try using 2 mics for drums for a bit of spread as they are in live situation. I don't like drums being kinda "mono" instrument on a recording. It's a matter of taste of course. But your guy seems to know his stuff yes - sounds pleasant.

**MarkRhodes** · 08-04-2018, 09:26 AM

Sounds good to me.
I don't know jack about recording (-recording well, anyway), so I have no advice to offer, but I'm glad I heard this.

**rhl-ferndale** · 08-04-2018, 11:53 AM

Consider a transparent mic mixer up front (+ more mics, have the players chip in for the mic/stand fund) where you can get a wider array/dispersion before mixing down the signals into his 4 channel PT.

Patching a headphone monitor into the mixer is another useful option—hear what the mics are hearing, not only what your ears are telling you about the room and the player dynamics.

**robertm2000** · 08-04-2018, 02:14 PM

Proof that it is not in the equipment - but in the fingers! AND the ears of course!

**sgcim** · 08-04-2018, 03:42 PM

Thanks for the advice and kind words, guys. I'll relay them to our novice recording engineer/pianist.
I lowered my volume when I was comping for the bass solo, and forgot to turn back up enough when we traded fours with the drummer, so you can barely hear my fours with the drummer.

**neatomic** · 08-04-2018, 05:17 PM

it sounds good..fine..and nice playin

but i'd not record the piano in stereo..on 2 channels...a good well placed piano mic into a single channel would be fine...and then you'll have one track for each instrument

i get that it's the pianists show..but...hahaha..equality!

cheers

**gmek** · 08-04-2018, 05:44 PM

the recording sounds good.

the drums sound could use the most improvement to my ears. could try changing position or a different microphone.

a stereo room set up could be good too (possibly only using two mics total, or a mono mic on the piano?)

**ronjazz** · 08-04-2018, 08:05 PM

Unfortunately, the recording is good enough to show that the guitarist never bothered to learn the melody!

**sgcim** · 08-04-2018, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by ronjazz

Unfortunately, the recording is good enough to show that the guitarist never bothered to learn the melody!

I'm used to playing it in G like Tal and Jimmy, so when they called it on the spur of the moment, I was fumbling around to find it in Bb, the Real Book key, but not the 'real' key. Good catch!

**neatomic** · 08-04-2018, 09:59 PM

Originally Posted by sgcim

You got that right! The pianist calls the tunes, the keys, the tempos, the recording setup- everything!
If I were to tell him to only use one mic on the piano, he'd kick me out of his house!

what the good must endure!!!

cheers

**neatomic** · 08-04-2018, 10:21 PM

yeah well thats exactly what i meant..the good...

gotta bend a bit..extenuatin coicomstances (as slip mahoney used to say)

dont take it as a challenge to be conquered!!

luck

cheers

**sgcim** · 08-12-2018, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by djg

hey steve,

great to finally have a face with the name. sounds really good. i agree that the drums should get the second channel. no biggie. the playing is very enjoyable.

holger

Thanks, Holger. I've enjoyed your organ trio tracks. i remember you from the old RMMGJ Group days.

**ronjazz** · 09-13-2018, 04:46 PM

Submixing the drums would be a good solution: a small mixer with 4 inputs, 4 mics on drums, take some time to balance them, hit the red button!

**sgcim** · 09-13-2018, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by ronjazz

Submixing the drums would be a good solution: a small mixer with 4 inputs, 4 mics on drums, take some time to balance them, hit the red button!

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll relay it to the pianist/sound engineer. What about the second one with just guitar and piano?

**Artied2** · 09-27-2018, 04:57 PM

That sounded sweet. Nice.

**sgcim** · 09-28-2018, 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by Artied2

That sounded sweet. Nice.

Thanks. The pianist is still learning how to use the recording equipment he's got. He just picked up a thigamajig to expand the inputs from 4 inputs to 12, so he can mic things in stereo now.
He wants to record the guitar with a DI box (which neither of us have) direct into the board, rather than going through his amp (which is an acoustic guitar amp) with an XLR jack like he did before.
He also wants to mic my own amp in stereo, along with the DI box.

It's all experimenting at this stage, so we appreciate any suggestions/comments. We'll probably re-record Stella and Foolish Heart with his new stuff.

**Artied2** · 09-28-2018, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by sgcim

He also wants to mic my own amp in stereo, along with the DI box.

You may want to be careful about making your mix unnecessarily complex. You can end up just "smearing" your soundstage. If an audience was listening to you live, on stage, you (guitar) probably wouldn't be stereo.

**sgcim** · 09-28-2018, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by Artied2

You may want to be careful about making your mix unnecessarily complex. You can end up just "smearing" your soundstage. If an audience was listening to you live, on stage, you (guitar) probably wouldn't be stereo.

Yeah, the pianist is getting to be like a kid with his new toys!

**Artied2** · 09-29-2018, 11:07 AM

Been there, done that. (Still am.)

**sgcim** · 11-02-2018, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by Artied2

You may want to be careful about making your mix unnecessarily complex. You can end up just "smearing" your soundstage. If an audience was listening to you live, on stage, you (guitar) probably wouldn't be stereo.

We just had another session at the pianist's house, and the bass player didn't use an amp, just went through a pre-amp little box direct to pro tools, the new drummer had two mics, and I went through the pianist's amp again, both direct to pro tools, and with a 40 year-old Shure SM57 draped over the amp hanging in front of the speaker. Everyone was very happy with the results. The guitar sounded less thin, and less direct; a much more natural sound.If the pianist puts it up on you tube, I'll post it here.