Head-Phone Monitoring

[John Bell]

Release The Peach recorded 3x new tracks in my studio on Monday, using their Roland V-Drums, a directly DI'd active bass guitar (XLR straight out of the guitar into the desk), 3x keyboards and 1x vocal. The lead guitarist Vic, didn't play but listened on cans, so we had 5x separate monitor mixes.

Unfortunately, I only had 1x 4 channel Behringer PowerPlay Pro-XL head-phone amplifier, so I had to rig a another aux send via a zoom guitar pedal that had a phones output.

So I now have purchased another Behringer unit and racked them into a new 3U Gator rack and snaked them up ready for next time. These units are great, with their individual mixing, EQ and mono/stereo switching and muting.

I also purchased 2x Beyerdynamic DT 250 head-phones, to replace my old, road-battered Sennheiser HD280's. They sound more detailed to me and are more comfortable and lighter. The only down-side is that they have less ambient sound rejection.

Now ready for some mixing-down over the bank holiday week-end. John.

[John Bell]

I used 1 of my new Beyerdynamic DT250 head-phones to
mix-down the Jaywalkers last recording session.
They are a 3 piece, consisting of drums, bass, guitar, with all 3 on vocals.

The session was recorded live as usual, ( no overdubs except for repairs), with the 4x JBL MRX 512 monitors on the floor for the guitarists and head-phones for the drummer.

The DT250's are so revealing, that I had a hard time sorting the harsh O/D peddle distortion in the lead guitar breaks and the vocal spill from the main vocal monitors. You can hear everything in minute detail.

Next time I will insist on all head-phone monitoring and less vicious use of harsh peddles. John.

[John Bell]

I am now getting more comfortable with the DT250's.

I mixed-down Release The Peach's last 2 studio sessions, with just a quick listen on the 1.3k monitoring rig, to check the kick and bass power.
The cans punch really well, so I don't crank them for long periods.

The reflection filter did a great job on Judith's voice in the "vocal booth"/ entrance hall and the Beta 58 and pop shield captured her angelic but powerful voice really well.
I still had a bit of cymbal leakage through the door, so I will have to treat the studio side as well.

I am now on early shift and suffering from sleep deprivation.
What with 2 late nights of LED stage lighting gigs, after-show studio wind-down until 04:30 with Elliott and studio mixing session over the week-end, I am a tad knackered, but very happy. John.

[John Bell]

I finally persuaded my band to use 3 of my new Beyerdynamic DT250 headphones instead of the 4x JBL MRX512 monitors in my studio.
I still use my Senheiser 280's with the greater external noise attenuation for the drums.

No more moaning that they can't hear their vocals over their very LOUD guitars, without bordering on feed-back.

Everyone has their own mix and the mic cable and adapters extension leads, give plenty of freedom of movement.

The recordings are clearer with greater separation and instead of cranking up the guitar amps, they can be kept at their sweet spot and the monitor levels adjusted instead.

No chance of taming the bass player though, unless I can strap an 18" driver to his back, as he likes to make the earth move and he's bigger and meaner than me. (truck driver)

John.

[John Bell]

I will have the great pleasure of recording a demo for KROSFIRE, in my studio on 27th March. We go back a long way and we used to support each other's bands on the road.

They are more than happy to use my back-line and kit, which are already set-up, so getting to grips with the recording session should be straight forward.

If I need to , I can borrow another SE Reflection Filter from my project band's bass player, Snowy, who has the same one in his small home-studio.

It will be an all-headphones session, using my Beyerdynamic DT250's and combined with the SE's, it should sound very good.

I will let you know how it goes and find out if it will be available to listen to on-line. Cheers, John.

[John Bell]

The demo recording session for KROSFIRE, in my studio on 27th March, eventually went very well.
Alan had brought his very loud Avedis Zildjian custom cymbals and very loud Yamaha snare to the session.
Even with the SE Reflection filter on Paul's vocal mike, it was impossible.

So I put Paul, the filter stand with an SM58, DT250 headphones, his guitar and peddle-board in the "vocal booth" (treated corridor), leaving the Marshall 50w Valvestate combo in the live room.

It worked a treat, except that as Paul in not a loud singer, I had a lot of gain on his mike and it picked up the acoustic sound of his strings on his electric guitar.

As Paul prefers to play and sing at the same time, we wont be laying down a separate vocal track.
However, as a demo it rocks and is a true reflection of their live performances. John.