You've opened up a beehive ;) theres a free spectrum analyzer vst plugin i use from voxengo, you could use that to find out what frequencies that loud bassdrum is using and cut some of that out from that recording. it sounds like the mic is way too far from the band, and your recording is picking up most of their sound from their PA speakers.i can hear the vocal bouncing around a big hall recording live instruments is hard to just pick up quickly.. one approach is close miking each instrument and appropriate levels on each mic before pressing record. i do use a hardware compressor for recording drums, some people dont.. you could do that after the fact too, but the very first thing is to try to get the signal sounding as good as possible with NO eq. so that would encompass a good mic(s), mic positioning, and then _possibly_ some compression with limiting. just using 1 mic will give limited results, good to have something that can record multiple sources/tracks simultaneously.. i use some presonus gear for that (most of their firewire stuff is mac compatible). you'll almost definitely just need to experiment with mic placement. and the right microphones will go a long way.. what are you using out of curiosity? you might get some better results with a matched stero pair of small diaphragm condensers, i use these with drums with good results: http://www.zzounds.com/prodsearch?q=nt5&button=search%2Fheader&form=search (you can order through downtown sounds in northampton), using somthing like a single NT-1 might be acceptable with the right placement. ive seen people recording grateful dead shows with similar. anyhow, just some of my thoughts, its not my job or expertise but ive spent a lot of time doing this myself with sometimes very good results. im curious what the pros will offer you for advise. live sounds isnt what im doing in a home studio. one thing for sure, just like in programming : garbage in / garbage out, it needs to sound as good as possible before any processing or any added compression after the fact will bring down your loud percussion, but also just augment the noise. if youre stuck with certan gear or methods and eq is all you have left, then you can use a parametric eq to scoop out certain frequencies such as his /crowd,certain drums... etc, but it will never sound as good as something cleanly recorded. one helpful tip if youre not doing it already: find some way to test your mic placement /recordings while youre setting up, maybe with some insulated headphones: i use these things called drumphones from vic firth for that, very helpful. blocks out other noises so i can hear what the mic hears. hope that gets you started on the road to better results- finally, talk to Jim at downtown sounds if you go in for any mic purchases, hes more up on various mics available and lives and breathes this stuff. Will Loving wrote: > ** The author of this post was a Good Dobee. > ** You too can help the group > ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area. > ** If you did, we all thank you. > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > I'm looking for a quick tip or two from anyone who might have > experience with audio editing on improving some live recordings I've > been making recently at contra dances (with the permission of the > musicians, of course). I'm using a Zoom H4 digital recorder ( > http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1901 ) which > does an excellent job, but my lack of experience with post-production > is becoming clear as I try to figure out how to improve the overall > recording and deal with some issues particular to the kind of music > I'm recording. > > I've posted two short clips (uncompressed WAV) that illustrate what > I'm trying to work with, the wonderful band Nightingale, and > particularly Keith Murphy's Québéquois style foot percussion. > > http://dedicationtechnologies.com/loving/music/PercussionClip1.wav > http://dedicationtechnologies.com/loving/music/PercussionClip2.wav > > The foot percussion is too loud and creates spikes throughout the > waveform. What I'm hoping for is someone to say something like "try > setting the EQ to ...." or "use a compressor (or limiter) set to > (approx)..." Any suggestions on improving overall quality would also > be welcome. At some point I'd love to sit down with someone who really > knows this kind of editing and get a more solid foundation, but for > now I have to learn it in bits and pieces due to time constraints. > > I'm on a Mac, and my available tools are Soundtrack 1.5 which I'm > somewhat familiar with, Audacity which I'm a little familiar with but > find pretty clunky compared to Soundtrack, and possibly an old copy of > Amadeus. I also have the latest GarageBand but have never used it for > Audio editing. My preference would be to continue with Soundtrack, but > I'm open to trying something else (probably GarageBand). I'm guessing > that the filter settings will be similar regardless of the app... > > Many thanks in advance. > > Will > > Will Loving, President > Dedication Technologies, Inc. > > > > -- > > William M. Loving > Dedication Technologies, Inc. > 7 Coach Lane > Amherst, MA 01002-3304 USA > will at dedicationtechnologies.com > Tel: +1 413 253-7223 (GMT --5) > Fax: +1 206 202-0476 > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net > Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net > > You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech Discussion list. > If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members > page on the Hidden Tech Web site. > http://www.hidden-tech.net/members -- Sincerely, Matt Lampiasi 413-303-9167 florenceit.net <http://florenceit.net> - sun powered -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.hidden-tech.net/pipermail/hidden-discuss/attachments/20080219/d2864147/attachment-0005.html