Getting rid of pick sounds

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leavings

leavings

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Anyone know what frequencies to lower if I'm trying to make the sound of the pick hitting the strings less prominent? Right now it sounds too far up front, scratchy and in your face. I don't want to eliminate the sound, but I want to make it sound a little more natural.

Could this be a problem of mic placement? I have two mics about 4 feet away to either side, and then two more up close, about 1 foot away.

Let me know if you have any solutions.

Thanks, Peter
 
Pick sounds are "spikes". If you analyze the frequency spectrum of that type of sounds, you'll learn that are very wideb and sounds. It's basically impossible to filter out. Maybe somebody knows some trick, but yes, it's mainly a question about mic positioning. Use a cardoind and put it right in front of the strings, around band twelve. That would get a recording with a minimum of pick sounds in most typical situations. Experiment with the other mics to enhance the sound. Pointing at the soundhole is usually good too, but then you have to be careful not to pick very close to the sound hole.
 
leavings said:
Anyone know what frequencies to lower if I'm trying to make the sound of the pick hitting the strings less prominent? Right now it sounds too far up front, scratchy and in your face. I don't want to eliminate the sound, but I want to make it sound a little more natural.

Could this be a problem of mic placement? I have two mics about 4 feet away to either side, and then two more up close, about 1 foot away.

Let me know if you have any solutions.

Thanks, Peter
Click to expand...
I would start by using less mics and better placement.an X-Y
configuration about 6 inches away at the 12th or 14th fret will
usually give nice results.The best results I have gotten so far were with one MXL603 at the 12th fret.Never point a mic at the sound-hole unless your goal is to sound like shit!The best way to get rid of pick noise is to not aim a mic at it.
 
Dealing with what you have, you might want to try a slight compression with a quick attack... see what happens anyway. It might ruin the sound.
 
what the hell are you doing with four mics on an acoustic guitar?
 
fenix said:
what the hell are you doing with four mics on an acoustic guitar?
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Well, I had been having trouble getting a full stereo image. I looked for advice, but couldn't find much that worked with the setup I was using. So, I just added more mics to pick up more of the room. It doesn't really require any more effort on my part, and man...it certainly sounds good in stereo.

I will try getting away from the sound hole a bit more, and see what that does. Thanks for all of your advice, and let me know if you have any other suggestions.

Peter
 
4 mics is not overkill

I have seen a session where there was a u87 4 feet in front of the soundhole, a 57 on the 12 fret, Akg 414 player perspective (over the picking shoulder, and a stereo pair of km 184s.... You can get a great blend, you can never put to many mics on something IMO.

anyways, back to the point.......sometimes if you record with too much compression, the pick noise is more apparent. I hate recording with it... I would suggest eq'ing, by dropping the frequency where you find the pick attack and drop it a couple db's (maybe sweep through and find it, but its usually about 5-7 k) then compress it last.
 
Have your tried...

Well, I had been having trouble getting a full stereo image. I looked for advice, but couldn't find much that worked with the setup I was using
Click to expand...

Have your tried to record the same guitar part twice then split the two performances hard left and right? It's important to actually play and record the same guitar parts and not just copy the one performance for the effect that I'm explaining here. You could just copy the same track and add a bit of delay on one but I don't think the stereo image is as good. Give it a try if you haven't already.

As to the picking? I'd suggest as others have to pay close attention to what is being monitored before recording so you can keep the "picking noise" down to a minimum(in other words mic placement). Consider the pick that is being used too(also mentioned previously).

sonicpaint
:D
 
Re: 4 mics is not overkill

It is if you dont know anything about mic placement or how to
avoid phase issues.
I dont think there is a problem with using multiple mics,but you
should know how to get a good sound with one first.
 
Sheppard,

I tried your suggestions and it seems to be working well. I put two mics around the 13th fret, but I kept my D112 at the sound hole. After some experimentation I dropped the two wider mics, decided they weren't adding anything I wanted.

The picking sound is gone (not gone, but reduced to a good, subtle level) and now I have a nice resultant tone from the placement of the remaining mics.

Thanks for your help everyone,

Peter
 
phasing?

what is that?! I dont know anything about phasing issues. LMAO. Anytime you use multiple mics, there is some phasing, but if you place them right, you can't beat the rich sound a blend of quality mics will bring. And fyi, I am plenty aware of phasing issues. I like stereo pairs, top and bottom snare mics ect, its not rocket science.
 
Re: phasing?

coltranedunn said:
what is that?! I dont know anything about phasing issues. LMAO. Anytime you use multiple mics, there is some phasing, but if you place them right, you can't beat the rich sound a blend of quality mics will bring. And fyi, I am plenty aware of phasing issues. I like stereo pairs, top and bottom snare mics ect, its not rocket science.
Click to expand...
sorry coltrane,I was not saying that you didnt know what you were doing.What I was trying to say is that a person that is new to recording should just keep it simple and learn the basics before
they get to deep with experimenting.
 
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