Gonna Vent Just a Bit

[punkin]

I had a most wonderful acoustic guitar player in today. A student with some serious classical chops. A fantastic player but he had a horrible fidget. He started every tune quite relaxed and before ya know it, he was twisting side to side. I had him miced up with a Mid-Side set up and when I listened to the tracks I though he was playing through a rotary speaker set up!

We talked about it, he got the message without any mental trauma. I explained to him the mics and how they worked but he was completely uncontrollable. He went into his little world and did his thing. Boy can play, and he's obviously on a mental excursion when he's playing but studio work...not gonna cut it.

Later I put him in the vocal booth. Put a single mic up over head pointed down. It's a dry recording but it's clean. I'll have to electrify the ambiance I suppose.

It's too bad, I really liked listening to him but I felt very uncomfortable even watching him. I wish I had the video camera out. I would have offered a video for his later review. I didn't hover on his habbits, being sensitive -n- all but next time he comes over I'm going to have to have it set up. It will be an awakening for him I'm sure.

OK...I'm done...I'll now return you to the regularly scheduled programming.


BTW...Merry Christmas and if you're not a believer, no harm intended. Enjoy the holidays, maximize the time with your family and friends and to you at very least a peaceful moment of rest before the new year begins!

 

[Ford Van]

Yeah, it sucks sometimes that you have to compromise the display of your skills to capture the skills of others.

 

[punkin]

:

But it was purdy to listen to...no kidding. Just a little to "into-it" .

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Joe Cocker on classical guitar?

Seriously, sometimes it can be a difficult comprimise between flexibility on the side of the engineer and flexibility on the side of the artist.

Ideally the engineer needs to be as flexible as possible, working around the artist. And I give you kudos, punkin, on the way you handled it. But there are limits to what an engineer can do to keep the artist from comprimising the quality of the recording, and sometines at least some effort should be expecied of the artist to facilitate the quality of the recording. It is, after all, in the interest of the artist to wind up with the best recording possible.

A perfect example of this is the difference between an experienced vocalist who knows how to properly modulate their distance from the microphone to at least roughly match the dynamics of their performance and an inexperienced one who has no mic awareness whatsoever. The latter can be next to impossible for even the best engineer with the best gear to get to sound "just right".

Another common one around here is the shredding guitarist who can only find their muse with an amplifier setting that is not conducive to getting the "right sound" to stick to disc. What sounds "right" live in the studio is not necessarily what winds up being "right" for the mix.

Just as a film or TV actor needs to learn how to act like an Oscar winner while still being able to hit their physical marks properly and find their lights properly, all with a full camera crew (sometimes) practically in their face, a successful recording musician needs to learn how to be able to keep their chops while still keeping an eye towards the technicalities of the recording process.

A studio recording is a different type of performance than a live gig or a jam; it is shooting for different results and does require a bit more attention to the technical requirements.

Give them the long straw whenever possible, of course. The engineer should work around the artist more than the artist should work around the engineer, by a long shot. But when the artist's performance style makes the engineer's job prohibitively difficult (and expensive), the artist needs to accept some responsibility for learning and keeping to their "marks" and "light".

G.

 

[punkin]

Deep thoughts by "Southside Glen"

Thanks Glen

It's a learning process...life that is...isn't it?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

It's a learning process...life that is...isn't it?

Yep...and the teachers keep holding me back a year .



G.

 

[dementedchord]

would pulling back some and getting more room help???

 

[AGCurry]

Yes, stereo recording is not well suited to moving sources!

I once recorded my choir in a concert with a Blumlein configuration, and there was one piece where I played guitar and sang solo. I was playing to the audience, so I turned from side to side as I sang. Ruined the recording.

 

[robin watson]

would pulling back some and getting more room help???

You'd think so, eh?

 

[MCI2424]

I had a most wonderful acoustic guitar player in today. A student with some serious classical chops. A fantastic player but he had a horrible fidget. He started every tune quite relaxed and before ya know it, he was twisting side to side. I had him miced up with a Mid-Side set up and when I listened to the tracks I though he was playing through a rotary speaker set up!

We talked about it, he got the message without any mental trauma. I explained to him the mics and how they worked but he was completely uncontrollable. He went into his little world and did his thing. Boy can play, and he's obviously on a mental excursion when he's playing but studio work...not gonna cut it.

Later I put him in the vocal booth. Put a single mic up over head pointed down. It's a dry recording but it's clean. I'll have to electrify the ambiance I suppose.

It's too bad, I really liked listening to him but I felt very uncomfortable even watching him. I wish I had the video camera out. I would have offered a video for his later review. I didn't hover on his habbits, being sensitive -n- all but next time he comes over I'm going to have to have it set up. It will be an awakening for him I'm sure.

OK...I'm done...I'll now return you to the regularly scheduled programming.


BTW...Merry Christmas and if you're not a believer, no harm intended. Enjoy the holidays, maximize the time with your family and friends and to you at very least a peaceful moment of rest before the new year begins!

Well, there are skills in playing and skills in recording and skills in everything. Playing is only one skill, and if that is the only skill you ever learn, then there are plenty of cafes and subway stops to play. But, the boy has to learn studio skills if he is to ever have the chance at the gold. Probably never discussed here, but, I love working with good musicians that have good studio skills also. Makes everything work far better. Try recording people without.............Oh, you have.

 

[dkerwood]

Just hook up some dummy mics in such a way that he can't swing around anymore. For example, a 57 about an inch off of the strings around the top of the soundhole. Maybe a pencil condensor right up around the fifth fret ("for clarity," you can say).

That way, if he moves, he hits the mics, and he'll figure that out pretty quickly.

 

[RezN8]

This might work for you

Find the sweet spot of the guitar with a small condenser. A Naiant MSH might just be the perfect size for this. Then tape a pencil (or similar object) to the guitar and tape the mic to the pencil. This way when the guitarist moves, the mic moves too, and the mic is always in the sweet spot.

Add an omni mic in the room to fill out the sound.

Sometimes it's the only way to capture an acoustic guitarist who moves around too much.

Cheers, Rez