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Has anyone done or heard of such a technique? I was thinking of ways to brighten a mix and I thought about setting up two mics and pointing them at the tweeters and recording the entire mix just before mixdown. Maybe halfway between the tweeters and woofers for less bite. Or I expanded on the idea and thought maybe you could set up a decca tree and throw it across the room to capture some warmth or pan them to get some extra stereo effects.

Does anything like this ever happen? Or am I dreaming? Forgive me for the silly question, I have Boredom-ADD sometimes, so I just sit there and think of stuff to do.

Comments

Guitarfreak Thu, 04/02/2009 - 20:47

Halifaxsoundguy wrote: Sounds interesting, test it out and let us know.

I would! Except I don't have the green for a nice pair of studio monitors yet, I mean I could, but it probably wouldn't sound good...at all. I've been very busy lately, so if I get the chance within the next week or so I will try it out and let you guys hear some samples if it comes out alright. 8)

Guitarfreak Thu, 04/02/2009 - 20:59

dvdhawk wrote: Not that it will do anyone else much good because there will be a thousand variables making it unrepeatable for anyone else.

But if you can, please provide the 'before' and 'after' recordings.

You got it chief. Plus, don't the variables make it an art? I mean just look at all the techniques for miking a guitar cab...

cfaalm Fri, 04/03/2009 - 04:54

It is a well known technique for bringing a bit of life into the sound of a drummachine or triggered samples. They did this in the 80s on Linn drums and Simmons pads. These had a way of sounding very sterile. Re-recording them through the studio monitors added some real air to the sound.

You can probably do this with any material that you think would benefit from this. I can imagine anything you close miked or DI'ed and want to add some natural room sound to. It is a bit like reamping a DI'ed guitar.

There is one album of which I know where they did that with the Linn drums or so the band leader Andy Latimer said in an interview. Camel : Stationary Traveller. I think they did it on the track called Missing.

soapfloats Fri, 04/03/2009 - 19:48

I've used a similar technique when I didn't have enough mics/channels to set up a room mic for the drums.
Since I record in the sanctuary of a church, I have a large space to use - so I send the drum mix to a PA, crank it, and put a couple of mics up in the room.

It's worked pretty well for that purpose. I'm sure the effect is lessened as the room gets smaller, but hey.

ouzo77 Sat, 04/04/2009 - 03:31

Guitarfreak wrote: Hmm, the song or the entire album? Wow, it sounds like I was onto something, too bad it's already been discovered...

i think it was on the entire album, though the blending level might differ from song to song.
i would compress the hell out of that "ambience" track and mix it to taste.