Capricho Arabe (Serenata)

  • Thread starter Thread starter David Katauskas
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David Katauskas

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I set out to track the whole composition by Francisco Tarrega...but after 32 attempts, my fingers became too fatigued. Anyway...here is the first 1/3 of the song.

Please provide this noob some advice to make it good/better.

btw - this is a classical guitar piece


Thanks in advance!


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Not a damn thing. Seriously. it would be hard to improve on what I'm hearing. What's the chain (guitar, mic, preamp, etc)?
 
Not to bad at all BUt a TAD just a TAd bit down on the reverb. Sounds like your playing by yourself on a empty stage
 
Beautiful playing - very natural phrasing and articulation. Good EQ balance in the recording. Was this done with a transducer/mic combination? Sounds like it's got a lot of compression but it's not a squashed sound (sounds like an RNC on supernice mode). Sounds too like you're playing without nails, and in either case the tone is very complimentary to Tarrega's Romantic era style. Maybe just a little too much reverb (the tails get a bit electric sounding), but still, it suits the piece. Reverb sounds like you're playing in the Alhambra Palace in Granada.

OK, when's the D major section coming?

Tim
 
Thanks a ton for the feedback. I did cut the verb slightly. I also noticed some noise between 8-8.5K, so I cut it -3db. Sounds much clearer now.

Track Rat : thanks for the very kind words...here's my setup:
-Guitar : Ibanez (nylon)
-Mics : MXL901 at 12th fret, MXL900 at bridge
-Mixer : Behringer 802 (used for phantom only)
-DAW : laptop with nTrack

Timothy, knowing that you too play classical makes your words that much more appreciated. I tried a limiter, then a compressor, but for some reason they both added some distortion...? So I completely left them out. I only EQed and verbed...literally. The rest of the song should come soon...I actually still need to re-learn that last 2 minutes or so. :rolleyes:

Here's the updated version:
 
I tried a limiter, then a compressor, but for some reason they both added some distortion...? So I completely left them out. I only EQed and verbed
Click to expand...
I like the reverb better on version 2, but actually like the EQ better on version 1. Personally, I haven't found an EQ that I've liked the sound of used above 2 kHz - though I think the Waves linear EQ is great for the lower half of the spectrum. To my ear they always cast a veil along with the actual EQ tweak. FWIW, if this was my track, I'd leave the EQ as in version 1 but use a short (under a second), rich, dark reverb with a predelay of around 50 ms. Don't remember if the N-track reverb is EQable, but (and I do like the sound of reverb EQd in the high freq range) I'd cut the highs starting at about 2 kHz so I'd get the bright natural guitar attack combined with a darker reverb tail. SIR is great for that kind of thing, as you can EQ it within the plug and also control the initial swell and decay curve.

...surprised about the absence of compression. Maybe the compression I thought I heard was in the nature of the 12th fr/bridge mic'ing. I've always thought that placement on classical gtr helps control the lower midrange dynamics that can tend to swell so much with some types of mic placement.

Whatever the processing, it's great playing and I hope you'll post the F major and D major sections too.

Tim
 
David, listening on the laptop, so speaker system blows, but still thought it sounded very good. Beautiful playing. Obviously the speakers don't allow me to hear everything properly, but still heard a great tune.
Ed
 
Timothy,
The first version seemed much brighter, probably because the reverb was accentuating the highs...? After I took it down a few knotches, it was much less bright which I tried to compensate with the EQ. The results aren't the same. So, what I'll do is what you have suggested. I'll actually go back to square one, and then just shorted the verb. Hopefully this will leave most of the brightness in there.

Regarding the compression, since each mic was panned hard, I notice some muffling in the left mic (near 12th fret), when the higher notes are played. This is probably due to the absorbtion/dampening of my hand when it approaches the mic. Maybe next time I'll try the criss-cross mic positions. You have good ears...keep them safe :D

I hope to get the rest of the song tracked this weekend...but we'll see with this also being a holiday weekend.
 
Timothy,
I just checked out your website (www.timothylawler.com). You have some awesome material on there! I can only hope to play as cleanly as you someday. I know...practice...practice...practice.
Can you recommend any good songs (that include dummy charts?).
Dave
 
Hey thanks Dave. About repertoire available as charts or tab, I don't know of too many specifically but I have seen more and more available that way in the last few years. Wait... I can think of one... the Juan Serrano "Flamenco Guitar Basics" book is a great collection of solos that also includes tab. And the rasgueado parts aren't so athletic that they're too hard for somebody not already experienced with that particular technique. Fun pieces to play, and great party music - loud and rhythmic. I'm surprised that there isn't some kind of app developed by now that can take scanned print music and transfer it into tab. Maybe soon a Google print music translation tool? :D

Tim
 
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