2 things I want to check in this one...

[SweetDan]

Here's a short little thing (~1:22) I put together just today. In this recording and mix, I'm mostly concerned with a couple of things, though if any of you have technical tips that would help improve my work, I'm ready to hear the critiques.

1) How is the tone of the guitars (both rhythm and lead; ignore the uninspired and poorly played improvisation...this was just some noodling)? In general, I think the tone on the guitars works here, but I'd like a second opinion.

I recorded them both with a tele-clone running through a Vox AD30VT (modeling) amp, mic'd with an SM57 about 1.5" from the grille and pointed straight into the dustcap/cone junction. The amp model I selected is supposed to sound like a Fender Bassman, and I dialed in a bit of gain and quite a bit of high-end on-board EQ (mids about 50% and all but 15% of the lows cut out). I also used the on-board "COMP+CHORUS" f/x, with the compression all the way up, and a very light, quick modulation on the chorus.

2) I'm unhappy with and would like to fix the "clunkiness" of the mandolin, especially near the end (~1:15) when I go from playing a non-chordal "chop" to an actual chord; it's especially bad on the last chord. If I had to guess, I'd say the mandolin needs better playing and mic'ing technique, but I'm not sure. (Any mandolin players out there? I'm not...) What would you do to improve it?

I mic'd the mandolin with a Blue Spark (LDC), 8-9" from the instrument, with the mic positioned near the neck joint and pointed back towards the bridge, and was playing pretty lightly but with a medium/thick pick.

Thanks in advance for helpful suggestions.

 

[easlern]

Seems like the rhythm guitar at the start could use a tuning. The guitars don't have bad tones. The mandolin I think you know what needs to be done (gotta happen in the recording process I'd agree) but you might be able to help it out a bit by finding those pick freqs in an eq and dipping them a bit.

 

[mjbphotos]

Yeah, either that guitar is out of tune or has intonation problems. The mandolin - no tone at all, just a percussion sound to the choppiness. What kind of mando is it? I've got a cheap Washburn, and haven't recorded it in ages because it has so little tone, but used an SM57 rather than a condensor.
Guitar tones - is there going to be more to this song - like full drum kit, vocals? Hard to judge a guitar tone until its in the mix with everything else.

 

[SweetDan]

Some answers

The mandolin - no tone at all, just a percussion sound to the choppiness. What kind of mando is it?

An old Kay mandolin I dug out of my parent's basement. Nasty old thing, plywood, doesn't really sound good...the fretboard is warped and I can't play it up very high before the hump in the fretboard gets in the way. If I ever get a real mandolin (mid-range Kentucky or The Loar, or something comparable), this one's going on the wall as a decorative piece. But it's what I've got to work with for now.

(I actually did another scratch recording a while ago w/that mandolin -

- where I'm playing actual chords, in a larger room, into the same mic (Blue Spark), but the mic was 2-3' in front of the instrument.)

I was using the mandolin here more as a percussion instrument than for chords. The sound I was going for is something like the off-beats in this tune (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKyR8fw4s8k), though watching that video again very closely, I don't see which of the players is actually playing the off-beats, which are very steady and consistent throughout the entire take, even when each of the likely suspects (mandolin, guitar, or banjo) breaks into a solo. Maybe it's a washboard off camera? I can't tell now...

is there going to be more to this song - like full drum kit, vocals? Hard to judge a guitar tone until its in the mix with everything else.

I'm not sure where the tune is going, but probably no vocals and even less likely a full drum kit. If there was nothing more to this piece (and assuming the tuning/playing were better on the guitars), would the tones I captured for the rhythm and solo guitars stand on their own?

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Yeah, the tuning was the first thing that leaped out at me too (probably because it was the first chord )

So you weren't actually playing notes on the mando until about 1:15 then? Just plucking muted strings? It seems to work ok for that. (Heck, maybe your cheap mandolin is a better drum than mandolin!)

There's some timing issues throughout, but I guess if this is a tone demo that's not much of a concern.