Recording a 10 Strings guitar

S

SAM CA

New member
I've been recording guitars for many years but NEVER a 10 strings guitar before! It is definitely a challenge to get a good tone from those LOW strings especially when you have smaller note values because they keep resonating and muddying up the whole thing. This is just a test recording:



I'm using a pair of KM 184 with an Apogee Duet. It was a noisy night in the neighborhood, so I put them a bit closer than I would've liked. Hence the exaggerated squeaks, breathing..etc. We're planning to record more. I'll get a better sound next time...hopefully!
 
Last edited:
gecko zzed said:
... It sounds like someone keeping the sustain pedal down on a piano
Click to expand...

Yeah, doesn't? It's a lot worse when you hear it in person. I don't even know how people manage to play this thing. You would definitely need to develop special techniques as a performer...even more so as an arranger/transcriber for this particular instrument. It's so nice to have all these extra low notes available but the piece needs to be arranged carefully .

Another bad thing about this recording was me NOT knowing the piece at all. I heard it for the first time as I was recording my friend. This was done just for fun, but even then I normally like to get to know the music I'm about to record before hands. Then you know what to expect. It does give you an idea for Mic placement as well.
 
Seems partly a control -appropriate muting of the lower strings. (the previous low tonic continuing after the chord has changed.
How one would do that.. on such a wide neck? ...The right hand/wrist perhaps? Wow. Nice though!

I could see this being 'a non issue, in it's natural live context.. vs 'recordings. ...where it's natural to tend to be much less forgiving.
 
It is a control issue for sure, though in certain places it seems impossible to use the right hand to mute anything. It could also be an arrangement problem as well. I can see how this guitar can be perfectly fine with certain baroque pieces that have long sustained pedal notes to create tension.
 
Just a poor design for an instrument. You can build them, but it doesn't mean you should! The first pianos didn't have dampers - didn't take too long before the same problem made them invent them!
 
QUOTE Rob
'You can build them, but it doesn't mean you should!

Quote[ish] Jeff Goldblum- Jurassic Park
'They saw they could, but didn't stop to think if they should
Grins..
But then, that bit of chaos in music can sound rather nice. :)
 
Thank you asulger,

Good suggestion! I've been listening to a lot of 8 & 10 strings recordings. (not too many videos on mic positions). The arrangement has everything to do with it. The person who's composing or re-arranging pieces for these instruments MUST have a very good understanding of how it works or else better guitar techniques can help so much. Then again the mics need to be placed further back so everything else will definitely be less of a problem.
 
Last edited:
It was kind of the same thing with choir arrangements before Monteverdi. They were writing these huge out of control 8 to 12 part choir arrangements to a point where the catholic church almost banned polyphonic sacred music. Then simplicity was introduced back into the scene again and nobody missed those super complex arrangements. We can all live without a 10 strings guitar....but then there are those who can make it work and they do a great job. It's really nice to have that bottom range available.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top