How do I properly record acoustic instruments with a large dynamic range?

M

MrHarryReems

New member
What would be the proper way to record something like a flamenco guitar that can go from very soft to very loud?

The issue I'm having is that if I set my input gain for most of the piece, the loud strummy parts are way too loud and clip something horrible.

If I set the input gain to accommodate the loudest part, most of the piece is too darned quiet.

I tried setting a limiter on the track, but either that's not the appropriate thing, or I just don't know how to do it correctly.

Can anyone offer some guidance here?

I'm using the following: a pair of SDC mics (XY stereo configuration) -> Presonus Audiobox -> Studio One Artist.

Thanks!
 
Don't worry about tracking "too quiet" (it's nearly impossible). DO worry about tracking too hot.

It's not too quiet - It's dynamic, like it's supposed to be.

That all said -- If you could try some slightly more awesome-ish preamps, you might have an entirely different scenario...
 
Are you sure you are trying to track at an optimal level? If you are anywhere near peaking in Studio One, you are way pushing the input level.

I am joining the vague club. :)
 
I'm not sure I'm trying to track at an optimal level... I'm a complete newb, so about the only thing I'm TRULY sure of is that the power is on...

That said, it's nowhere near any kind of peak until I hit the really loud parts. If I lower the input gain down to the point where the loud parts are comfortable, I have to really crank the volume on playback to hear the softer parts at all.

If that's how it's supposed to be, then so be it. This is very much a learning experience for me, and I'm very grateful for the wisdom you experienced folks have to offer.
 
That is where mixing comes in to play man. You record at an adequate level. In your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation [Studio One]) you are targeting -12dBFS as your average input level. This is the equivalent of 0dB in the analog world. Well, kind of.

After you have recorded the performance into your DAW, you can use many things to help control the dynamics. Whether you wish to or need to, is of personal preference. Compression is one tool that you should read about first.

:)
 
Don't confuse "level" with audible volume. Track conservatively as per Jimmy's recommendations - the rest you deal with in the mix/master process.
 
According to what I've read on the Bruce A Miller site on the signal path gain structure page, amplifying the signal later in the chain (making a quiet sound louder) reduces the purity of the sound. I would equate that with blowing up an image on a photocopier, it loses resolution and gets ugly real fast. Mostly what I want is what goes in to come back out just like it went in. When I'm playing it live, both the softer parts and the louder parts are perfectly audible.

What am I missing? Please explain it like I'm 5. :)
 
Really? I have never heard, nor experienced such a thing. Of course, I would never use my printer to increase gain of a guitar track.....

This is just not a true analogy. There is no resolution loss in adding gain. Noise floor will come up, but it should not be an issue, if recorded well, in a decent room, with a decent mic, through a decent interface......

Well, if you believe 'BAM' then I suppose you need to learn to control your distance from the mic, like a good singer does.

Like you are 5? Well, little sweetie, you just need to place the little microphone thingy in a place that makes you happy. If one placement of your mics don't get it done the way you want, throw away the binky, and try something else. And pththtpthth! lol!

Sorry man, you asked. :)
 
Using a microphone reduces the purity of the sound. So does EQ'ing, compressing and anything else. Adding gain is the least of those worries...
 
jimmys69 said:
Really? I have never heard, nor experienced such a thing. Of course, I would never use my printer to increase gain of a guitar track.....

This is just not a true analogy. There is no resolution loss in adding gain. Noise floor will come up, but it should not be an issue, if recorded well, in a decent room, with a decent mic, through a decent interface......

Well, if you believe 'BAM' then I suppose you need to learn to control your distance from the mic, like a good singer does.

Like you are 5? Well, little sweetie, you just need to place the little microphone thingy in a place that makes you happy. If one placement of your mics don't get it done the way you want, throw away the binky, and try something else. And pththtpthth! lol!

Sorry man, you asked. :)
Click to expand...

Bad day Jimmy? :D
 
MrHarryReems said:
According to what I've read on the Bruce A Miller site on the signal path gain structure page, amplifying the signal later in the chain (making a quiet sound louder) reduces the purity of the sound.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about compression? That will certainly alter the sound, whether it's really in a negative way might be open to debate.

There's a huge variance in "acoustic instruments". While an acoustic guitar can have a large dynamic range, it's nowhere near as much as a trumpet or trombone.

You want the loudest sound you're going to record to be under the level of clipping. Having a mic that can handle the biggest hits the instrument will produce is of course important. How far you are from the instrument will have a bearing on how the instrument sound will be captured. Do you want a more up close sound or one that's more distant?

There are various considerations too - the room, the configuration of the mics if you're recording in stereo.

Experiment. Look at YouTube videos and see what results they get with the configurations they use - with the caveat of course that YouTube audio will only give an approximation of what the original recording sounds like.

Here's one that sounds pretty decent to me.

Flamenco Guitar Farruca - YouTube
 
What appeared to be the issue was that I had my SDC's too close to the sound source and they were getting killed on the heavy strums. I backed them off and readjusted the levels and the result was what I was looking for.

Now, I need to play with mic the positions a LOT. Thanks for the vid!
 
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