We Love Bleed!

Oh, we are talking about instrument bleed here. The one that happens when musicians are playing in the same room with all the amps and drums together. Bleed picked up by all open (recording) microphones present in the same room.

This recording method is definitely NOT for all bands and music genres but when done on the right source material it can give results that are sought after. Anytime there is a need to have a live feel, a natural homogeneous record it is wise to consider this way of recording.

There are definitely music genres that are not compatible with it. If you are working on a precise and tight metal record, where instruments should focused in their range that's not the way to achieve this. But if we are talking about jazz, blues and old-school rock'n'roll... it could be the best possible option. That's especially true when the band is doing this for the whole life (playing rehearsals and shows always all-together).

However, this way of recording asks for some additional requirements, like:

• A well rehearsed band. Mistakes are not welcome here. As instruments are picked by multiple mics the editing possibilities and "fix-it-in-the-mix" options are reduced to a minimum.

• Proper sound at the source. The sound coming out of the amps and the drums should be the one you want to have on the final record. Unwanted sounds could not be erased.

• The right room. The recording space will have a huge impact on the sound. A nice sounding room will help glue sounds together. On the contrary a bad sounding room will give a stamp to the sound which could not be removed.

• Mic selection and placement. This is an important one. You should experiment with the choice and placement. Figure-of-eight mics are great with side rejection. Acoustic barriers/panels are also welcome options. Condenser mics can pick a bit more of bleed but this usually sound nicer than from dynamic mics. Listen to the bleed and check in context as well.

A lot of bands and recording engineers/producers are afraid of this recording method at first. Probably because it reduces the options to "fix" something later or because they can not have complete control in post-production. But once you try it on the right recording session you'll want to do it more and more :)

#musicproduction #recordingwithbleed #livestudiorecordings