Recording different instruments in Multi-Track. HELP!!!!

D

danbs10

New member
Hi, please help.

I want to record an acoustic guitar and keyboard at the same time but I do not know what techniques to use.

Basically, I want to record the guitar acoustically through my mic and I want to record my keyboard via a direct input into my mixer.
The problem is that I do not want the mic to pick up any of the keyboard as I want the keyboard signal record recorded exclusively through the direct input into my mixer.
Is this possible without having to record both instruments separate in multi-track mode? I am assuming whatever the answer to this question is will solve most of my feedback issues. I also record a ukulele and singer and find that the instrument mic (AKG C2000b) picks up the vast majority of the vocals which are being sung into a Shure vocal microphone!

I hope I have made sense.

Many thanks

Dan
 
What you're doing is multitrack recording. You want to avoid overdubs though right?

You want to multitrack live with no bleed?


If so, turn down the keyboard speakers and put on some headphones.

Your mic will still pick up the physical sound of the keys but it shouldn't be enough to matter.


With the two mic setup, the best you can do is experiment with the nulls on your mics pattern.

Try your best to point the mics in such a way that you exclude unwanted instruments to the max possible degree.

You may get better results just using a stereo pair and recording them as a live performance.
 
I don't think you will have a prob if you are using the line outs on the keyboard. If the keyboard has built in speakers, they should mute when you use the line out jack. If not then you don't have anything to worry about unless your keyboard has noisy action. :cool:
 
You should be monitoring both instruments through your recording system's input monitoring facilities, on headphones. If the keyboard has speakers you may need to put a 1/4" plug (use a spare guitar cable) in the headphone jack to silence them.
 
^^^^^^What everyone else has said.
Just be careful that your mics don't pick up the sound of fingers on keys. A couple of weeks ago, I was trying an experiment where I was playing sax, trombone and flugelhorn samples out of my stereo speakers and miking that to try and get a brass section. When I listened to the first recording {which happened to be the sax}, even though I was well behind the mic, you could hear my fingers pounding on the keyboard. I thought it was because of my sensitive condenser mic so I changed to a dynamic. Same thing.
 
A couple of other considerations are the pick up pattern of the mic and the acoustics of the room (which, in turn, dictates how you lay things out).

Assuming a cardioid mic on the guitar, it will have very much reduced pick up directly behind it. Therefore, if you arrange your recording session so the piano is directly behind the mic, it will be in the null point of the microphone and pickup will be greatly reduced.

Acoustics come into it because sound has a nasty habit of bouncing off walls--but, if you can manage it, placing the guitarist so there's something non-reflective behind him, this will reduce the amount of sound from the piano getting into the mic. Even sitting in front of a set of heavy, soft curtains can help a lot.

Finally, don't forget that sound follows the inverse square rule. This means that, if you double the distance between the keyboard and the guitar, you will quarter the level of the sound arriving between the two.
 
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