Low Ceiling

The band arrived with the arrangements finished and no interest in playing to a click. That decided the method: everyone in one space, line of sight, and the takes kept whole rather than assembled.

What that costs and what it buys

Recording live means a mistake in the third verse is a mistake in the whole take. It also means the tempo moves the way the band moves, and the drummer responds to the singer instead of to a grid. On this material the second was worth more than the first.

Bleed was treated as part of the sound rather than as a problem. The overheads carry most of the kit, the room pair carries the band, and the close microphones are there for definition rather than for level.

The mix

Mostly balance and space. The corrective work is concentrated on two things: keeping the vocal legible against a guitar that occupies the same midrange, and keeping the low end even in a room that was not even.