Would it be safe to record like this?

[Haydenr25]

My brother recently acquired a "Blue Yeti Microphone" (he's a huge gaming nerd and got one for christmas) and said that I could use it for recording band practice if it was safe and the volume wouldn't damage anything.

The quality of the microphone is great, and it's rated to handle:

Max SPL: 120dB (THD: 0.5% 1kHz).

Of course not knowing what DB rating our practices run at, would you reckon practicing would hit anywhere near this volume? We don't aim to deafen ourselves at practice, but the room isn't the best acoustically wise. Do rehearsals hit anywhere near this rating or am I overthinking this?

Link to the microphone:
http://bluemic.com/yeti/#/specs/

[woodman]

Chances of you exceeding 120 dB in rehearsal are slim, but that spec is only one of many. I'm no expert, but I would be careful running that thing at band-cranking level. Watch your meter like a hawk. ... A lot of times, you can set levels that seem to have ample headroom, but on that second bridge, maybe you get fired up and the red light pegs.

Trial-and-error on mike placement is worth the time and hassle. Look for the sweet spot.

What's your recording situation?

[Frodebro]

120dB is pretty freaking loud, the threshold of pain is 125dB.

[woodman]

Right, Frodebro. 120 is brain-jacking loud. But the fact that the mike can handle that sound pressure doesn't have much bearing on how it would sound at that spl. Start out conservative and work up, rather than working down from pain threshold.

[String Tree]

If it sounds distorted on playback, check the GAIN control.
You may have to turn it down.

Sounds like fun, go for it.

[Boyd]

I had one of those microphones and it died after the first day for no apparent reason so I returned it. That makes me wonder how robust it would be for applications where it isn't just sitting on a desktop at home.

Maybe they are fine - probably just got a bad one - but I'd treat it very carefully so you don't break your brother's new toy.

[Old Cane]

That does not sound safe to me at all. USB is well known for causing instant death, sterility and STDs.

[Frodebro]

Originally Posted by Old Cane

That does not sound safe to me at all. USB is well known for causing instant death, sterility and STDs.

That's why you slip the foam thingy over it.

[Old Cane]

Oh, I thought that was a......nevermind.

[Lunchie]

I have a blue yeti and its no good for guitar recording. It distorts too easily.

[Haydenr25]

Hey guys, had a chance to record some covers yesterday afternoon. I'm aware the gear we're using is god awful, but we get the room for free once a week. Not sure if posting links to my music is aloud in this forum, if it isn't then i'll remove it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFlood...d?feature=mhee

We had the mic on a table just infront of the webcam, drumkit at one end and amps facing us at the other. Not an ideal layout I know, but it's alright given the circumstances.

[woodman]

Posting your recordings is allowed and encouraged around here!

Recording live in a room like that, you take the bitter with the sweet ... that room is cruel (the cymbals, yikes). But if that's where you have to record, well, ya gotta make the best of it!

I would try moving the guitar and bass amps toward the back of the room, facing the same direction as the kick (i.e., toward the mike), to get a little better definition. You could experiment to see how far back sounded best. As is, the drums are really hot (to the point of clipping something — the mike or the input) and everything else — including the vocal — is sort of buried. (I know if you tell the drummer to tone it down, he'll say yeah yeah yeah and ignore you!)

Really, your only control over the sound is placement. So you have to move the gear around to create a "mix." Get the mike as far away from the drums as possible. And watch your input levels. Good luck!

[Haydenr25]

I'm the drummer myself! Haha. Yeah we get the room for free once a week for 2 hours so I can't really complain at that, even with the shocking gear/acoustics of the room present. How do you think we sounded as a band despite the mix? Some parts are sloppy in my drumming I can see.

[woodman]

Originally Posted by Haydenr25

I'm the drummer myself! Haha. Yeah we get the room for free once a week for 2 hours so I can't really complain at that, even with the shocking gear/acoustics of the room present. How do you think we sounded as a band despite the mix? Some parts are sloppy in my drumming I can see.

Woops — sorry, no diss on the drumming intended, but the room is pretty harsh on them. I guess I assumed you were the guitar player. As a band, it's evident you're in the early stages of recording, but keep working at it — it's an invaluable tool for critiquing yourselves and growing as a unit.

[Haydenr25]

Originally Posted by woodman

Woops — sorry, no diss on the drumming intended, but the room is pretty harsh on them. I guess I assumed you were the guitar player. As a band, it's evident you're in the early stages of recording, but keep working at it — it's an invaluable tool for critiquing yourselves and growing as a unit.

No offence taken mate, I know the room has shocking acoustics but we get it for free so no complaining from me. The kit isn't in the best shape either, but as it's a school music room it wouldn't be worth tuning it once a week just for the kids to thrash about and knock it all out of tune.

That was our first attempt at recording as a band, just to get some rough videos done and onto the internet.