first shot at acoustic guitar

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patlang12

patlang12

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A friend of a friend came over to my friends house where we were attempting to record some drums. He has an amazing martain guitar so we decided to try to record it. I put one gxl1200 condenser on it. I then put it in the computer and added a little bit a effects. We tried to record with 2 mics, but by the time I had the mics in the right spot we were told we couldn't record anymore. Ok, well tell me what you think of it. the song is called acoustic

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/patlang12music.htm
 
I am listening on earbuds, so I can't really comment too much on the overall tone. It sounds like you captured the guitar pretty well, though. Good woodiness. Not too harsh. I thought I heard some clipping at around 1:17 and a couple of other places (especially during the strumming at the end). For a single guitar in a sparse folk arrangement, I think you about nailed it. Your friend can play, too. Good job!
 
Yeah he is a really good player. I didn't have much time to try out mic postitions and we were only able to use one mic, and we recorded it in a garage. I think in a day or two we are going to have more time and will try it again in a bedroom with two mics. Are bedroom generally better to record acoustics compared to untreated garages?
 
Oh yeah and I forgot to say that it wasn't too hard because that guitar sounds so great anyway, and he is a great player too.
 
patlang12 said:
I think in a day or two we are going to have more time and will try it again in a bedroom with two mics. Are bedroom generally better to record acoustics compared to untreated garages?
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I doubt it. Bedrooms are generally small and square, which leads to a lot of early reflections and a "boxy" kind of sound (guess where the term comes from?). I record in a spare bedroom and am always fighting with boxiness. Close-miking makes it less noticeable, but then you have to deal with increased pick and string noise. Hanging heavy blankets or other dense material in selected spots may also help. Recording at a bias (not directly facing a wall) helps, too. The guys in the studio building forum know a lot about acoustics and could probably point you in the right direction for treating recording spaces appropriately. Of course, having a good player and a good guitar will determine the bulk of your sound, so don't get too hung up on acoustics unless they become problematic on your recordings. Good luck.
 
Well when I recorded this little song I used one close mic. I never got to record with the two mics, but when I set them up I had one up close and one a little farther away and you could definatly hear some of the room, which didn't sound very nice.
 
i like it.

like scrubs said, nice 'woodiness' to the sound... might not work quite as well in a mix with other instruments? i dont know what others think, but personally i'd be happy with it as a guitar sound!

and it doesnt sound like the type of thing you learn in lesson one of "so you want to learn to play guitar..." :p

so yeah, sounds good!

andy
 
andydeedpoll said:
i like it.

like scrubs said, nice 'woodiness' to the sound... might not work quite as well in a mix with other instruments? i dont know what others think, but personally i'd be happy with it as a guitar sound!

and it doesnt sound like the type of thing you learn in lesson one of "so you want to learn to play guitar..." :p

so yeah, sounds good!

andy
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From what I have been told, there is not going to be any other instruments.
 
noodles2k5 said:
It's really hard to mess up an acoustic recording. I've heard amatuer recordings sound a lot better than professional ones.

I was just clicking around you site and noticed that the ending of "Ska" sounds extremely like Lighter Fluid by Jehovah Pimento. hahaha
http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Jehovah_Pimento/index-1.html
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I just went and listened to that. You are right about them sounding similar, but I think I like mine better. :) If I remeber right I think the chourus sounds just like a blink 182 song, so... Maybe they copied me!!! ;)
 
Thanks for all of the good words. Does anybody have some critizizm so I can do it better next time. Maybe if I tell you the placement of the mic that will help. The one mic I put out there was a gxl 1200. It was placed at about a 60 angle at about the twelth fret a few inches away. I then put it in the computer and split the track. I panned the two tracks right and left. On one of them I put some reverb and boosted the lows a little. Then I copied the clean track and put a lot of chorus on it. It sounded bad by itself, but fit in well with the guitar. I will have access to another gxl 1200 that I will probably use on the guitar as well. Anybody have some suggestions where I should put it? Any other things I could improve on?
 
patlang12 said:
Thanks for all of the good words. Does anybody have some critizizm so I can do it better next time. Maybe if I tell you the placement of the mic that will help. The one mic I put out there was a gxl 1200. It was placed at about a 60 angle at about the twelth fret a few inches away. I then put it in the computer and split the track. I panned the two tracks right and left. On one of them I put some reverb and boosted the lows a little. Then I copied the clean track and put a lot of chorus on it. It sounded bad by itself, but fit in well with the guitar. I will have access to another gxl 1200 that I will probably use on the guitar as well. Anybody have some suggestions where I should put it? Any other things I could improve on?
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read this

If I had a criticism, it would be some boominess at the beginning of the track. From the placement you describe, this shouldn't have been a problem, but if the mic was angled toward the soundhole, you can get some boom. Other than that, the clipping that I already mentioned. Watch your levels during tracking. You might need a little compression on the way in, because he is a pretty dynamic player. However, focus on mic placement first. If you get that right, you won't usually need compression. Sometimes moving the mic as little as an inch in any direction can dramatically alter the sound. Make sure the guy is totally still while recording for that reason. Wear headphones to monitor him playing while you are placing the mic. Once you've found the sweetspot, you can place the second mic anywhere to add what might be missing from the 1st mic.
 
The mic was angled at the soundhole, so that may be where a lot of the boom is coming from. Any other suggestions?
 
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