Damn 'pick' sounds with acoustic guitar

[Saxter]

Hi all,

Just wondering if you have any advise re: pick sounds. I should point out that it may infact be sound reflections from the hallway that I'm recording in. I'm recording at the moment in my hallway - high ceiling and wooden floors - and it has the deepest, richest acoustic sound to the natural ear. However maybe it is too live to record in? I have a large condensor mic pointed away from my hands, aimed about at the join between body and neck at a distance of about 12 inches. The sound is very warm but there is this infernal clicking sound on playback. Would this be the pick or maybe reverberations. I have to say that I have never recorded in the hall before and have never had this problem before. I must admit that I'm new at this and don't really understand too much about sound reflections.

Any suggestions?

Cheers in advance

 

[toyL]

...generally, the human ear can recognize three distinct parts to a "sound"--direct sound, early reflections, and late reflections...in musical terms, these roughly correlate to attack, sustain, and decay...direct sound travels on a straight line to your ear (or microphone), and is therefore unaffected by your "high ceiling and wooden floors"...if the attack of your pick-hand was heavy enough to cause these "infernal clicking" sounds you would have noticed them before you moved into the hall...right?...so, if you haven't changed your recording method otherwise, the clicking anomaly must be the result of either early or late reflections caused by your hall...now then, the question (and solution) becomes--are they caused by early or late reflections?...answer--you'd have to have a VERY heavy pick-hand (attack) to create audible (recorded) late reflections--reflections from your high ceiling...wooden floors, on the other hand, could easily create early reflections from even a subtle attack...this should get you started...gotta go for now...if no one else comes along to help with a solution I'll be back.

 

[Ronan]

It actually sounds like you have a great starting point. Try moving the mic around and try to find a position that points away from the pick, and also if you are loving the sound to your ear, try moving the mic back some more, maybe even try putting it up by your ear. If the guitar sounds great in the room that is more than half the battle right there.

 

[Saxter]

Thanks Ronan and ToyL good feedback.

Maybe I could put a small piece of carpet on the floor directly where I'm recording to dampen the sustain and move the mic back to greater capture the warmth of the space. I'll try it and let you know.