More simple acoustic music experiments

K

K-dub

Well-known member
This piece was recorded with an AT4050 (through a Peavey VMP2) up about a foot or so from guitar level, and pointed down at the 12th fret (slightly angled toward the sound hole), set a little over a foot back from the guitar's face.

During mixdown, the single track was cloned two more times -- leaving three tracks total. On the second track a high pass filter was employed, and the channel was panned full right. The third track employed a low pass filter and was panned hard left.

The original track is panned center.

The result is a much larger, psuedo stereo image (lows left/highs right) for the guitar that holds up in mono. The vocal was done through a Karma k58 tube mic w/ the GE 5 Star tube swap through a Trident "Celebration" channel strip.

 
Double track instead of faking it with track cloning, to me that never works to well, it misses the spacial effect double tracking produces.

The guitar sound is really nice. Perhaps I would try to capture a little more low end since the guitar is the only instrument in the track. When in a full mix, the sound you captured is great, but here I think it lacks a bit of beef. Just my opinion though. But great sound quality!
 
Gotta agree kdub.
I'd either go mono with it, or double track the part.

Admittedly what you've done sounds way better than most copy/paste affairs, but I'd still tend towards the natural.

Like the song though. It's nice :)
 
I like the lyrics and the song. It's very creative. I'm a big REM fan, so I would suggest adding a mandolin and calling it a day :)
 
I gotta echo what the others said. Trickery rarely works out. I think it would better with a more natural approach and thoughtful miking/mixing techniques.

Maybe a close mic on the acoustic like you used, and a room mic blended in would give you the mono yet full sound you're going for.
 
The low guitar will give fewer stereo cues when played on a stereo in a large room.
I understand the fiddling but have to agree with others that tracking the extra guitars would be nicer. Alternately you could add the tiniest delay 100% on one of the panned guitars and the same on the other but with a slightly diff. delay time, (though again itsy bitsy), and remove the filters.
 
wallystripes said:
Double track instead of faking it with track cloning, to me that never works to well, it misses the spacial effect double tracking produces.

The guitar sound is really nice. Perhaps I would try to capture a little more low end since the guitar is the only instrument in the track. When in a full mix, the sound you captured is great, but here I think it lacks a bit of beef. Just my opinion though. But great sound quality!
Click to expand...
Double tracking the guitar on this song would create a different effect, but I think it would sound like an effect ... whereas this doesn't sound like a doubled guitar, it sounds like a single guitar. Not that the idea is wrong, it just leads to a different sound. With all the picking going on here, it might be a challenge to duplicate every exact note.

Agreed on the low end challenge, but having to capo the guitar in order to bring it to the right key for my voice ... it is what it is as an acoustic guitar w/ vocal. Thanks for the comments!
 
Steenamaroo said:
Gotta agree kdub.
I'd either go mono with it, or double track the part.

Admittedly what you've done sounds way better than most copy/paste affairs, but I'd still tend towards the natural.

Like the song though. It's nice :)
Click to expand...

Thanks S -- I carved a frequency pocket for the vocal to sit in -- can you tell?
 
Greg_L said:
I gotta echo what the others said. Trickery rarely works out. I think it would better with a more natural approach and thoughtful miking/mixing techniques.

Maybe a close mic on the acoustic like you used, and a room mic blended in would give you the mono yet full sound you're going for.
Click to expand...
Interesting thought, G. I think I'll try that next -- put a mic on the guitar in similar fashion and then point another one set to cardiod at the back wall. That way, I might be able to avoid direct sound phase issues with the sound coming from behind the mic, while picking up the room sound from the reverberation off the back wall ... which happens to be at the top of a stair well -- which always makes for interesting reverb.
 
rayc said:
The low guitar will give fewer stereo cues when played on a stereo in a large room.
I understand the fiddling but have to agree with others that tracking the extra guitars would be nicer. Alternately you could add the tiniest delay 100% on one of the panned guitars and the same on the other but with a slightly diff. delay time, (though again itsy bitsy), and remove the filters.
Click to expand...

Good idea Ray. That will thicken things w/o necessarily sounding artificial -- meaning "like an effect" versus a more "natural" presentation. The thing is that when one does an a/b between the single track and adding the cloned tracks, the sound (imo) improves. It basically sounds the same, only "bigger and thicker".
 
I thought the guitar was a bit boxy. Don't know if it was the EQ tricks, the reverb (or whatever) or the original recording. Sounds like it's in a different spot from the singer.

Did you do some sort of widening on the vocal too? I'm hearing something strange on the edges in the low end. It doesn't sound centered.
 
TripleM said:
Oh and while I'm at it, there are some cool chord changes in that song.
Click to expand...

Fuck you and the best ears I've ever known. You got shit no one else guessed. Yes ... the vocal was ever so slightly widened.

Just admiring ... and thanks, T.

K-
 
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The guitar sounds right heavy, but the mix between guitar and vocals is really nice. Great song....
 
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