Does this short sample recording of acoustic guitar/vocal sound ok?

M

Martin321

New member
I posted this topic elsewhere, but I think I put it in the wrong section, so I've re-posted it here.

This is a recording of me playing and singing the Mississippi John Hurt tune called "My Creole Belle". It was recorded live (singing and playing at the same time).

I would like to get some feedback regarding the recording quality, keeping in mind I'm going for a soft, relaxing, low sound.

Do you think the vocal tone and guitar tone are clear enough on the recording? Is the overall volume of the recording loud enough? Can you detect any technical faults in the sound?

Any comments welcomed. Thanks

Playing My Creole Belle by Martin321 - picosong
 
Hiya mate, nice acoustic playing.

Your recording is a little odd though - sounds like you're down a well!
The acoustic has a boomy quality to it, like you've recorded it with the mic pointing straight at the sound hole. How did you capture it?
The vocal also has shitloads of reverb on it? Did you record this with the mic way away from you and your guitar in a really echoey room?
 
Yeah, the reverb is a bit inconsistent between the two instruments. On a simpler mix like this, you definitely want both instruments to sound like the same space.

I might EQ the guitar to lessen the attack a little; make it mellower, but that's a personal taste thing.
 
I liked the guitar playing. I thought it sounded pretty nice. It's missing a little high end, but not bad. This mix is ripe for a stereo mic'd guitar.

I thought the reverb, especially on the vocal, was a little strange sounding. I would go for something more natural sounding, and much dryer. A pitchy note or two on the vocal, but it kind of gave the song a nice charm.
 
JDOD said:
Your recording is a little odd though - sounds like you're down a well!
The acoustic has a boomy quality to it
The vocal also has shitloads of reverb on it?
/QUOTE]

I close mic'd everything using one mic for vocal and the other for guitar, so that's why it sounds boomy. I quite like that sound, but maybe others don't. To my ears, when I record with the mics at a distance it all sounds a bit thin.

I thought I was using not much reverb, but maybe I need to cut back on the reverb. The room I record in is small with no echo and well carpeted.
Click to expand...
 
Martin321 said:
JDOD said:
Your recording is a little odd though - sounds like you're down a well!
The acoustic has a boomy quality to it
The vocal also has shitloads of reverb on it?
/QUOTE]

I close mic'd everything using one mic for vocal and the other for guitar, so that's why it sounds boomy. I quite like that sound, but maybe others don't. To my ears, when I record with the mics at a distance it all sounds a bit thin.

I thought I was using not much reverb, but maybe I need to cut back on the reverb. The room I record in is small with no echo and well carpeted.
Click to expand...

Where is your mic pointing on the guitar? Straight at the sound-hole?
Click to expand...
 
It's positioned near the body join and pointing at the 12th fret, it's about 4 inches in front of the guitar. This gives me that warm sound that I like. But maybe others find it too boomy. It's always good to get feedback on this. Thanks.
 
Martin321 said:
It's positioned near the body join and pointing at the 12th fret, it's about 4 inches in front of the guitar. This gives me that warm sound that I like. But maybe others find it too boomy. It's always good to get feedback on this. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Strange, I thought it sounded boomy like you'd pointed it too close to the soundhole - must be the reverb giving it that boomy quality.
 
It sounds more like it's miked at a distance, but there is an oddness to it. The picking is usually quite prominent on this style, and often difficult to remove, but you've managed not to record it? Perhaps just a guitar and mic mismatch. Although if you like mellow, maybe you subconsciously eq'd it to sound this way?
 
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