finally, one of these videos with a good band. It's rare to see a "how to record ___" video that ACTUALLY sounds this impressive. I'll have to come check out your studio sometime, it seems like an incredible environment with some killer engineers!!
What you should try is have the live vocals be your “scratch vocals” and then have the vocalist record after the live band recording and have that be the official vocal take. Some people like to blend the scratch take and the final take to get a more natural mix to make the final take sound like it really was part of the original recording but to each its own really. Having background music isn’t bad either if it’s just the scratch take underneath the final take. It helps in some ways keep the authentic atmosphere all together.
The concept of "mic bleed" has troubled recordists for about a hundred years. without seperate rooms for every instrument, it is impossible to avoid.. and often, a recording that *completely* lacks bleed actually sounds *worse* than a recording with carefully mitigated bleed, yes. worse... let me reiterate: *A RECORDING WITHOUT BLEED SOUNDS WORSE THAN A RECORDING WITH BLEED* You are not making a mistake; you're just mistaken in your execution. This "unfortunate" side effect of live tracking has bred some of the most unique and soulful.. and dare I say.. "human" recordings of all time. Think of Motown. Think of the Beatles.. or James Brown. Think of every recording before 1975. The concept of drums bleeding together with guitars, vocals being "all over the room mics", big brass instruments essentially being present on *every mic*.. and so on... these are inherent when recording bands live. But, when used to your advantage, "bleed" is one of the most useful and loveable things about recording music. You'll crave it when it's missing. You'll listen to old records and think, "damn, that sounds terrible in the BEST way possible and we will never achieve that level of simplicity & musicality again". I have been recording bands for about 3 years and I learned VERY quickly that this "background sound" you're dealing with is actually a lethal goddamn weapon when wielded correctly. Wield it like you would a gun. It's dangerous when used incorrectly, (or drunk...) but, when mike bleed is used by a skilled professional, it is quite the useful tool. It's irreplaceable and inherently human. Mike bleed is like a controlled fire. It's the only way to get things done sometimes. You have to tame it, and plan it, otherwise you'll get burned. *get good at utilizing mic bleed* . let it in. let it become your friend. Understand what upsets it. Understand how it can make your recordings better, and most of all... understand that it is irreplaceable, and it is "more familiar than foreign" at the end of the day.
I can almost certainly guarantee you it's a 48 channel console, tons of outboard gear in a big control room... with a bunch of VERY expensive ProTools HDX hardware probably located in a small computer closet with LOTS of expensive converters & computers! ;) the interface is literally the least important variable in this sonic equation. The "selling points" of an interface for a million dollar studio are a bit different from the selling points of an interface for a consumer or project studio. Myself included. I sunk about $4k into an Avid Carbon interface simply because of DSP and max-ing out my track count for live recordings. Recording live bands is a whole other animal. the struggle is real, son!