Recent content by Richard Monroe

A couple of suggestions- Hard- Pick up your fingers and put them down on the next chord or position. No slide, no noise. Easy- soak the tips of very your fretting fingers in hot water for about 5 minutes before recording. You'll be surprised how much less noise you'll get. Sliding into a...

I use B.L.U.E. Kiwi or Rode NTK for the main vocal mic, C414B-ULS or Neumann KM184 for most acoustic instruments, usually going into an Avalon AD2022 or a Joe Meek twinQ. The one surprising outstanding relatively cheap mic I've found is AKG C2000B. It was part of a series of mics intended for...

Orson- I'm well aware of the quirks of wood. I build wooden arrows for world-class archery competition, an almost lost art. A few traditional divisions still require them. Humidity has a huge effect, just like on guitars. I'm also aware of the inherent increased stability of laminates. Yes...

All I'm saying is that plywood isn't usually cited as a tonewood, and in the day, wasn't expected to improve with age. And of course, many hollowbodies and thin bodied electric-acoustics have laminated tops, but I don't think of that as a feature of classic arched-top acoustics. Once magnetic...

When I was recording my first CD, I needed a classical guitar for a session guy who was flying in with 2 electrics. I bought an Epiphone Selena signature guitar, used, which was adequate for the one cut we needed it on. I ended up trading it to my brother, who had an old Yamaha G65A, which had...

I'm baaack! I was a frequent poster for several years, and fell off the bandwagon. I recently rebuilt and cleaned up the studio. I previously recorded a full length CD with liner notes, overdub sessions, a release party, pro mixing/mastering etc. Now I'm working on the demo I never did...

Here's a blast from the past! I am an old-timer who hasn't posted in several years, but I'm looking for some advice. I have a pretty respectable mic cabinet, but my knowledge of PC's and social media applications is pretty poor. I have a buddy who wants to upgrade his audio quality for...

OK, I really didn't really know what forum to stick this in, so here it is. For 35 years or so I've been hauling an acoustic or a hollowbody through airports, trying to talk them onto the airplane or (gulp) checking them as luggage! (United breaks guitars!). And what do I do this for? It used to...

Just a heads-up. Sweetwater is blowing out AKG D3800M for $99.99 in the flight case. This is a supercardioid stage dynamic. It's comparable to Sennheiser MD421, but never caught on in the USA. Very feedback resistant, rather tricky to use as a vocal mic because of the tight polar pattern, it is...

It just amazes me how anxious everyone gets because the instrument is *them*. How many people post up on the guitar forum and ask"Can I play guitar?" Of course you can sing. Pretty much everybody can with sufficient practice and training. Musicians aren't born, they are made. Did you play like a...

You probably know I'm not one for posting up every $2.00 off deal I see, but this really is phenomenal! I think this model has been discontinued, and I prefer it to the replacement: Buy On-Stage Stands SB96+ Studio Boom Microphone Stand | Microphone Stands | Musician's Friend For the record...

OK- from this keyboard thing I know *nothing*! I bought a P95 for my wife for her birthday, 'cause it fits in the Neon a lot better than the Wurlitzer console, and she gets an organ also. It was the cheapest 88 key digital piano I could find that didn't feel and sound like a toy. Of course it...

OK, I did this as well as I knew how last year, but I'm going to do it again, and I want to do it better. Here's the deal- I'm recording a 60 voice choir with some high octane voices in a circus tent within 30 feet of a dirt road with trucks loaded with noisy exhausted athletes occasionally...

I've been building a microstudio for travel and certain remote applications built around a Zoom H4n and a pocket POD. The SONY ECM-MS957 stero mic is already identified as a keeper. What I'm looking for now is wicked small set of powered speakers. My best bet so far are M-Audio AV20's. Yeah, I...

I've got a MIM Jimmy Vaughn signature Tex-mex strat, which up to this point, has served me very well. It lives in a hard case, and is adequately hydrated. It has a V-neck, all maple. Recently, I took it out of the case, and the action was high, particularly on the bass side. A truss rod...