acoustic album

[daav]

looking for some general tricks and tips for recording acoustic stuff. I have some experience, and have read a ton, but am always larning, and kind of looking here for some tidbits to save time and improve my tracking.
I am starting to do some beginning tracking for a friend tonight.

Gear:
mics: SM57, SM58, Oktava 319, SP B3, RE27, 2 MXL603s

Pres: focusrite penta platnium (with compressor), DMP3, 4 channels of soundcraft pres on an M4 mixer.
These will go through echo layla 24/96 into cubase. Other than the possible use of compression on the input through the focusrite if needed, no effects during tracking

Instruments;
Guitars: Gibson jumbo (J18 or J180 something like that), old nylong string (this might be the primary instrument actually), really old (1910 or so) gibson mandolin.

Voice: male tenor, pretty high and kermit-like but on key and practiced, good singer. Not a lot of experience with recording mics though, we might have to practice using distance etc.

other stuff: might be adding some piano via midi controller and sampled piano, electric bass using a GK heads as a DI, could be micing a cab as well, but the cab ain't al that impressive. various electric guitars are poossible, but not likely. some hand percussion is probable and the drumset is an optoin, but this might be more mellow than that.

room: 23x30 basement area with mix of carpet and concrete floors in my studio space, 8 ft ceiling, some bass trapping, and lots of reflexion treatment with auralex foam. There is a set of stairs, a bunch of shleves and stored stuff, washer/dryer, funrnace, and a woodworking shop in other areas of the basement, so a mix of some diffusion and large metal boxes everywhere. I am going to try to fashion a treated space for vocals and miced recordings, I have these 4 ft by 8ft panels of construction foam with auralex glued to it, that i can make into walls of sorts.

type of songs/style: will be most influenced by Tom Waits with arrangments, non traditional rythyms, and a raw sound. Goes from old timey country ish to jazz or folk. If you know the Handsome Family, their songs are also a big influence.

So that is the scope of the project, any input at all is appreciated, i would really like to get some good tracks out of it, to have somehting good to mix later.

Daav

 

[Treeline]

I'd start out simple; have the singer use a stool, not standing or sitting. I'd put the Oktava up with a pop filter for the vocals, and try different mics for the guitar. The first I'd try would be a 603s a couple of feet out from the 12th fret and pointed at it, not at the body. Second (together with the 603s) would be the B3, again about two feet out, front, addressing the body of the guitar with the center focus on the bridge; stay away from the soundhole. That's three tracks at once, which is plenty. I'd work recording completely dry and focus first on levels; look out for boominess with that guitar.

Try to have him work with a click track through headphones unless it drives him crazy.

Good luck.

BTW, where in Vermont are you?

 

[daav]

I'd start out simple; have the singer use a stool, not standing or sitting. I'd put the Oktava up with a pop filter for the vocals, and try different mics for the guitar. The first I'd try would be a 603s a couple of feet out from the 12th fret and pointed at it, not at the body. Second would be the B3 again two feet out, front, addressing the body of the guitar with the center focus on the bridge; stay away from the soundhole. That's three tracks at once, which is plenty. I'd work recording completely dry and focus first on levels; look out for boominess with that guitar.

Try to have him work with a click track unless it drives him crazy.

Good luck.

BTW, where in Vermont are you?

Thanks, you are right that the boominess can be an issue.

i am in Burlington. My pal was in a band that played in town (nectars especially) a lot about 5-7 years ago called (before it became apparentl there was already a cali punk band with the same name) Strung Out. Kinda acoustic with heavy jam band influences (at the time anyway).

Daav

 

[Treeline]

Cool. I lived in Burlington for a long time; went to school at UVM. We've got a Homereccer up there and one down in Starksboro - I know VtGreen81 has played Nectar's. The only time I played there was at a guitar summit in 2003.

 

[Nick98338]

Three at once. OK, but get those mics separated as much as possible. Especially the large diaphram condensers. You want each mic to pick up only what's right in front of it, as best you can. Pick up as little as possible of the other stuff. Setup each separate mic as a separate mono track in Cubase. Easier to tweak and mix later.

 

[Micter]

I would strongly suggest that you record everything separately. It's just easier to deal with later on if there is some editing you'd like to do. If the guy can't play without singing then you are stuck.

 

[gummblefish]

I just finished recording an acoustic album. The way i did it was:

One 603 Mxl For guitar
One sm57 for voice
Gibson j200 guitar
I stood up whilst i played and sang at the same time
One take per song
Album recorded in 1 Hr 30 mins, All one take stuff. I wanted to keep a fairly live feel to it. Using a dynamic mic on the voice definetly helped keep bleed from the guitar off the vox, the 603 is almost omni directional so it picks up loads but the spill is completely usable and helps the feel of it. Also i would suggest working with natural reverb, maybe a room mic to mix in from time to time. I found hard wood fllors to be great. Then you can do overdubs if you desire.

 

[Ironklad Audio]

personally, i would track all the instruments in stereo, overdub the vocals afterwards, and not go anywhere near a compressor

 

[Treeline]

How's the tracking going?