G note hum

[seeger01]

Hey there,

I'm having a bit of a problem at the moment with a particularly annoying boom sound when I record acoustic guitar. For some reason when I fret the bottom G or when I play the open G string (to a lesser extent) they seem to distort much more than other notes. Even when I cut the lows heavily, It's still slightly audible.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced a similar problem and could maybe help me out. I am playing a Yamaha FG-700MS into a Rode NT1-A if that helps at all.

Thanks

 

[Chili]

Where is your mic placed? Try moving it around to eliminate the boominess. Further up the neck, maybe.

 

[Dogbreath]

Where is your mic placed? Try moving it around to eliminate the boominess. Further up the neck, maybe.

That's what I was thinking. Either further up the neck or, if ya like the sound of the body, make sure you angle the mic away from the sound hole. Lots of boom there.

 

[moresound]

Is it resonating from the body of the guitar?

 

[Monkey Allen]

Your guitar might need some kind of quick or not so quick set up

 

[Armistice]

More info please...

Firstly, as you're recording acoustic guitar, nothing should be distorting... what do you mean by "distort much more than other notes"

Is this a quality of the guitar? ie. it has a noticable resonant frequency that's activated by these two G notes? (I have an acoustic that has a rattle on the 7th fret bottom string... it's not the guitar per se, it's the pickup electroncis & wiring inside that rattles... so I have to give it a bit of a shake to move the wires - could it be something like this?)

Or are you confident that it's only when recorded that this shows up?

 

[seeger01]

First up thanks for all the response. I have experimented with mic placement and I mostly do aim the mic at the 12th but this doesn't make a difference.

When I say that the distortion is more notable than in other notes I mean that the microphone distorts not the guitar. If I pluck the F,F#,Ab,A notes they are clear where as the G really jumps out.

Also I decided to see if the same thing happened with vocals and it does, even when I sing past, above or below the mic. When I was doing this my guitar was laid on my bed and the vocal note resonated in the guitar and sounded the G string! It seems I have a puzzle to solve with this one.

 

[haymedic]

i have the problem with G and A (on the Estring)... i just live with it, play around it, mic further away, etc... it probably has to do with resonant frequencies, intonation, math parabolas, sonic wave equations and shit like that.

...all that stuff you don't really need to know about to record your friend's bands now that we have protools.

s

 

[ocnor]

I mean that the microphone distorts not the guitar.

Then most likely you either have a broken mic or you have the interface/software gain stages set incorrectly.

 

[jlewis]

Could it be the room? Maybe those frequencies are resonating in the room, do you have treatment? Or maybe it could be a cheap guitar? I dunno, just some ideas.

 

[seeger01]

Yeah I've heard about all that room treatment stuff, but it's just this one note you know, and I only really record for fun.

Ocnor, I thought the same thing at first. I thought that maybe my mic was broken but then I thought why would it only be this one note?

I think I'm more on the same page as Haymedic. It's probably one of those son-of-a-bitch situations that you just have to live with. I'm no pro, but I can get my head around most problems, but with this one I'm stumped.

Once again, thanks for the advice

 

[bomji232]

Seems you've got three variables left: Mic, room, post mic electronics. Try changing them out one at a time if you can and you should be able to determine the culprit.

 

[haymedic]

the G is resonating in the body of the guitar... use a condenser further away and don't mic the sound hole.

that's what i think, anyways.

s

 

[grimtraveller]

Maybe it's the vibration of the universe. Or maybe the guitar is alive and trying to tell you it's worthy of a higher calling.

Seriously though, it could be a number of things but it could honestly be just one of those things in which a particular combination of variables just happens to add up to that 'boom'. I used to find in a flat I once lived in that if I put my acoustic standing up and played a certain note on the bass through the amp, the A on the acoustic would play. I've never known why. That's partly how the start of the Beatles' "I feel fine" was created {not in my old flat, though}
I would be inclined to take the guitar to someone that sets up or fixes guitars, not because there's anything wrong, but just to see if they have any ideas.

 

[ocnor]

Also I decided to see if the same thing happened with vocals and it does, even when I sing past, above or below the mic.

It seems that everyone is ignoring this sentence. At this point the guitar can be ruled out as the culprit. If the mic is "distorting" then it or the interface is either defective or the gain stages are set incorrectly. Those are the only two reasons for distortion. Now if the sound is not really "distortion" but rather a boomy sound at certain frequencies then it is most likely caused by reflections in the room.

 

[haymedic]

maybe you found the resonant frequency of the building?

if you have a synth, amp it and play all the G notes... if the house falls down around you, problem solved!

s

 

[seeger01]

Ha ha! I don't think I'll be trying Haymedic's idea just yet. But Ocnor I think you're on to something. Any idea's how I can eliminate these reflections that I may have?

 

[ocnor]

Ha ha! I don't think I'll be trying Haymedic's idea just yet. But Ocnor I think you're on to something. Any idea's how I can eliminate these reflections that I may have?

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html#big waves

 

[seeger01]

Ocnor I appreciate your help but it looks like I might have to do a lot of redecorating to get rid of these problems. I think I'll just have to bring my levels down when recording and try to combat it that way.

Big thanks to all you guys and gals for your time, input and help.

 

[Armistice]

G is over-rated as a note anyway... just stop using it, there are many others...