How Remix Helped Capture the Magic of a Live Irish Session
Capturing musicians playing live in the same room delivers unmatched energy, but it comes with technical limitations. Our Remix real-time stem separation plugin helps solve one of live recording’s biggest challenges: bleed between microphones. In this article, we explore how Remix made it possible to record an album entirely live—preserving the feel while still achieving a polished, professional mix.
“If you’ve ever attended one of these gatherings, you know how free-flowing and energetic they are. Players sit in a circle, often very close together. Lovely for a pub, but a nightmare for a recording session,” says Robert.
Recording a Live Ensemble in a Massive Barn
The band’s request meant recording everyone live together with no isolation, yet creating a modern, polished sound — not a “live record.” Robert was fortunate that Ishna’s ensemble consisted of acoustic instruments, which avoided the overpowering issues of electric amps, but instruments like the Irish whistle and piano could still get energetically loud.
The solution? A massive 1700s barn in New Hampshire, with 35-foot ceilings and a floor space almost the size of a football field. Robert assembled the entire contents of his studio on-site in just 14 hours: analog desk, HD Pro Tools rig, microphones, stands, and cables.
“With decades of experience recording every kind of ensemble, the trick was to capture the sound I needed while getting some isolation between instruments. This way, when I mixed later, I’d still have control,” he explains.
Robert relied heavily on ribbon microphones and used the null points on classic Figure-8 mics to isolate instruments. The Irish whistle next to the acoustic guitar, for example, did not overwhelm the guitar mic — a trick he applied to every instrument.
“When I returned to my studio in New York City and listened to the recordings, I was ecstatic. It was all exactly what I had hoped for.”
Editing Live Recordings: A Challenge Until Remix
Live albums recorded this way are inherently like jazz sessions — any edits affect all tracks simultaneously. For Ishna, even vocal takes were recorded live with the band, meaning minor mistakes or alternative words could have been nearly impossible to fix.
“Years ago, if we wanted to swap out a single word, the answer would have been an absolute ‘no’,” Robert says. “But then I used Remix.”
By adjusting the Vocal slider in Remix, Robert could reduce the original vocal bleed in the other microphones just enough that when he inserted an alternate word or phrase, only the new vocal was audible — no remnants of the original.
“It worked beautifully. And, critically, it did not degrade the sound. I could even adjust bleed from percussion or piano when the room filled more than expected. Remix gave me control I simply wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
Why Remix Stands Out
According to Robert, what makes Remix unique is its transparent, high-quality processing. In an acoustic, live-recorded session like SlÍ Amach, any degradation of the original sound would have been unacceptable.
- Reduce bleed between tracks without affecting sound quality
- Isolate instruments or vocals for creative or corrective edits
- Maintain the natural timbre and energy of a live performance
Get a free trial and discover how Remix can transform your live recordings. Remix is available as an individual plugin or as part of the Remix Bundle and Acoustica Premium packages.