Acoustic Guitar Recording 101

Yet another noob here, with 44+ years of noodling on strings and things!

@ WS - Simply an awesome post, kept me riveted until the last page.
Looks like I might have found a "home" here!
I'll just use what techno audio gear I have been able to acquire inexpensively and hope for the best, that is until I can shell out the dough for the NT5's and a good pre.
My "studio" is in its infancy. I do have the "luxury" of 10+ ft ceilings in an 1892 home :D

The last time I called Seagull they expressed no interest in building me a lefty, :confused: not the one I wanted anyway. So I have a Taylor DN3, really sweet, great smile factor.

I "dyin" for my Ebay'ed gear to arrive so I can begin the experiment.
(Hope I didn't screw up and get blue XLR's)
iMac 3GHZ, 4GB RAM, 10 TB Firewire, GarageBand, Alesis iO|2 (USB:( ), E-MU X-Board 25, AKG K240 cans, Samson C15 CL, Bluetube DP, Fostex PM-1's

Any chance I can get a "decent" start with this gear?
At least I have a "clue" as to mic placement, dbl trackin' and such.

Since I intend to record virtually every stringed acoustic instrument (bluegrass) I should be in a position to post some topics of "relevance" :cool:
Mic'ing a banjo has got to be a thrill :eek:

FWIW: Finding all the instruments left handed was quite a chore :(

Bottom line - Thx for taking the time to document your methods, even brave enough to share the naked leads :o
 
Great post!
I want to know a little more about the processing. Were the only two effects that you used a MBC and reverb, and what versions are you using? What daw are you recording in?
 
trunkdog said:
Yet another noob here, with 44+ years of noodling on strings and things!

@ WS - Simply an awesome post, kept me riveted until the last page.
Looks like I might have found a "home" here!
I'll just use what techno audio gear I have been able to acquire inexpensively and hope for the best, that is until I can shell out the dough for the NT5's and a good pre.
My "studio" is in its infancy. I do have the "luxury" of 10+ ft ceilings in an 1892 home :D

The last time I called Seagull they expressed no interest in building me a lefty, :confused: not the one I wanted anyway. So I have a Taylor DN3, really sweet, great smile factor.

I "dyin" for my Ebay'ed gear to arrive so I can begin the experiment.
(Hope I didn't screw up and get blue XLR's)
iMac 3GHZ, 4GB RAM, 10 TB Firewire, GarageBand, Alesis iO|2 (USB:( ), E-MU X-Board 25, AKG K240 cans, Samson C15 CL, Bluetube DP, Fostex PM-1's

Any chance I can get a "decent" start with this gear?
At least I have a "clue" as to mic placement, dbl trackin' and such.

Since I intend to record virtually every stringed acoustic instrument (bluegrass) I should be in a position to post some topics of "relevance" :cool:
Mic'ing a banjo has got to be a thrill :eek:

FWIW: Finding all the instruments left handed was quite a chore :(

Bottom line - Thx for taking the time to document your methods, even brave enough to share the naked leads :o
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Your welcome, trunkdog. And welcome to the board. I hope you have found a home here. Just remember, like any home, there's a good dose of dysfunction. Learn to work your way around the mine fields, and there's tons of great info, and great people, around here.

I look forward to hearing some recordings of your instruments. I've always been a rocker (an 80's rocker to be specific) but obviously I love acoustic as well. And maybe it's just because I've got all the guitars and amps I'll ever need, but I find that when I go into music stores anymore, I'm drawn to the banjos, ukes, and mandolins.

So maybe I'll be recording some of those sounds in the future as well!
 
mhuber24 said:
Great post!
I want to know a little more about the processing. Were the only two effects that you used a MBC and reverb, and what versions are you using? What daw are you recording in?
Click to expand...

Thanks! And yes, the only two effects used were a MBC and some reverb. If you think you're hearing more, it's likely one of two things: 1) if it sounds like some stereo widener, or even chorus, is happening--nope. That's just the magic of the double tracking process; or 2) you may think you're hearing some EQ changes between the raw and final tracks. You are, but it's not EQ--it's the MBC. The very act of compressing a signal in different frequency swaths will also EQ that signal. That's one of the reasons why I like it for acoustic guitar.

My DAW is Cubase 5. The reverb was CSR (which I think stands for Classic Studio Reverb) by IK Multimedia. It's actually 3 plugs--Hall, Plate and Room. I like it better than the stock Cubase 'verbs, but trust me, you could get similar results with a more standard reverb plug (or even an outboard rack unit). The MBC is the stock plugin that came with Cubase.
 
Dysfunction on a music forum, say it ain't so!!!!

Thx for the welcome and advice.

I need to nab a couple of them thar directional pencil mics (aka NT5) to do justice on capturing my acoustic instruments. But I'll certainly post me work ;-)
 
tombuur said:
Then I switched to some in-ear phones, and the spill almost disappeared completely! After this I will only use in-ear phones during recording.
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Kind of a random bump, but since the mp3 thread got bumped, I followed the link hear to reread this, and saw your comment... I've been meaning to try this myself. I mostly listen to my iPod on a set of Skull Candy Smokin' Buds, which aren't super hi-fi or anything like that but are pretty musical sounding, and while I haven't tried yet I've suspected that the bleed from a decent set of in ear buds would be very low. I'll be doing some acoustic tracking tomorrow, with luck, so I'll experiment and report back.
 
Nice sounds

I have always love Seagull guitars.
I own and record a Martin D-15 but I am curious about the seagull sounds.

Thanks, great post.
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
By the way, man, I linked this thread over at the site I run with a buddy, www.metalguitarist.org, because it really is a pretty awesome tutorial on how to get awesome results in a home studio. :) Hope you don't mind!
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Not at all! I'm flattered. (Oops, no blushing emoticon.) I've checked out that site--I'm not "metal" so I've never signed up, but nice work!
 
Great thread. I learned something and helped confirm a few of the issues I was sorting out in my home studio with stereo acoustic guitar recording.

The point I'm still the weekest on is the use of the MBC. I'd love to hear specifically what frequencies you selected and ballpart setting for the compressors on those frequencies.

Thanks for an excellent thread on a very interesting topic!
 
Chili said:
Thanks for sharing this Strat!! I think it's worth stickie status.
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I've been recording in stereo (nearly hard left and hard right), but because a majority of my recordings are simply acoustic guitar and vocal, the sound wasn't quite full enough for me. I just tried out your doubling and "opposite" panning technique, and I must say I'm astounded by the difference it made! A much fuller sound, while maintaining an intimate, acoustic sound. I have so much to learn...
 
Mchu86 said:
I've been recording in stereo (nearly hard left and hard right), but because a majority of my recordings are simply acoustic guitar and vocal, the sound wasn't quite full enough for me. I just tried out your doubling and "opposite" panning technique, and I must say I'm astounded by the difference it made! A much fuller sound, while maintaining an intimate, acoustic sound. I have so much to learn...

Cheers,
Michael
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I know you said you did pretty close micing but can you tell us about the room too
 
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