Making the most of a two channel interface

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oildrops

New member
I would love some help on getting great single take acoustic guitar and vocal recordings with my two channel alesis io2 express. Here is what I am doing now with my two mics. It seems to work pretty well, but I want to improve:

1: Close up vocal into At2020 condenser
2: AKG D5 on the guitar body.

I use the guitar body mic to add low mids for the guitar, since the vocal mic picks up guitar and becomes thin as I EQ the vocal. I pan the tracks slightly off center, add a light chorus to the guitar, and reverb sends on both tracks. I mess around with compression by ear until I'm happy. The only other thing that sounds decent is using just at2020 from a couple feet, but it's a compromise for both guitar and vocals.
 
Why do you need to do simultaneous single take acoustic guitar and vocal recording?

Why do you not record one at a time?

You seem to be worrying about the quality of the end result. If so, track it the way you get the best end result. Separately.

If your answer is some variation of "I just can't sing properly without playing the guitar" or vice versa, my answer is "Learn - it's a skill".

If there's some other reason, please provide info.
 
Many musicians prefer to track vocals and guitar at the same time. It's actually very common.

I am welcome to knowledgeable responses that address my question of using two mics to record guitar and vocals simultaneously.
 
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ya, one take, one MIC as there isn't anything stereo going on. If I put up room MICs , maybe
 
I say two track. One guitar and one vocal. Then you can edit both separate which is always better.

And that is possible. (as you say you can pan)
Pan one fully to the left, and the other one fully to the right.
Record that in stereo, and then split that recorded track into two mono tracks.
And there you have your two separate tracks. :D

Now in your DAW you can edit both separate as much as you want. And you can again pan slightly if you wish.

Good luck.
 
I would probably use the AKG on the vocal, up close like a live performance, and place the AT on the guitar to get the least vocal bleed. Tilt the 2020 down quite a bit and put it close.

Another option is to use two figure-8 mics and aim the nulls strategically.

But recording them separately does have advantages.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I would probably use the AKG on the vocal, up close like a live performance, and place the AT on the guitar to get the least vocal bleed. Tilt the 2020 down quite a bit and put it close.

Another option is to use two figure-8 mics and aim the nulls strategically.

But recording them separately does have advantages.
Click to expand...



Thanks Boulder Sound Guy, I do try that configuration sometimes, but It seems like the mic needs more (or better) gain than what I can get with the interface. If I picked up a preamp, I think it would help. I've had good luck with the spitfish VST for guitar or vocal bleed if I want to reduce it.

To answer the first reply, I am an advanced fingerstyle guitar player and my style of playing and arrangement is partly improvisation based. Any time I track vocals separately the recording lacks the excitement of a simultaneous take. It's an artistic choice. If you don't understand that, I don't know how to explain it to you.
 
42low said:
I say two track. One guitar and one vocal. Then you can edit both separate which is always better.

And that is possible. (as you say you can pan)
Pan one fully to the left, and the other one fully to the right.
Record that in stereo, and then split that recorded track into two mono tracks.
And there you have your two separate tracks. :D

Now in your DAW you can edit both separate as much as you want. And you can again pan slightly if you wish.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

You are better off learning to record it right, rather than editing. Everything is placement. THEN, YOUR PREAMPING COMPONENTS
 
42low said:
I say two track. One guitar and one vocal. Then you can edit both separate which is always better.

And that is possible. (as you say you can pan)
Pan one fully to the left, and the other one fully to the right.
Record that in stereo, and then split that recorded track into two mono tracks.
And there you have your two separate tracks. :D

Now in your DAW you can edit both separate as much as you want. And you can again pan slightly if you wish.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
I would presume -and hope, the default would be two mono tracks. Then skip most of that.
 
mixsit said:
I would presume -and hope, the default would be two mono tracks. Then skip most of that.
Click to expand...
That's depending on which program used for recording, and the skills to set it right.
I presume that the one who understands the trick will be able to implement it for him situation.
 
42low said:
Only if you have no seperate track-out's. Stereo out is not made for this so i call this excessive use of it a trick.
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Apparently (? could be wrong) in Abelton one has to jump through some hoops to record into a pair mono tracks? But that is the subject here right? -inputs not outputs.

Quick tip- recording both at the same time. It can become real obvious (or not ) that what ever amount of isolation you might achieve is improved when the player/singer isn't hunched over or near the guitar.
Vs standing, guitar lower on the strap for example.
+1 on a pair of fig-8's. You can get quite a lot of separation. Placement to maximize it.. can be a compromise in 'optimum placement' for each of them.
 
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mixsit said:
Apparently (? could be wrong) in Abelton one has to jump through some hoops to record into a pair mono tracks? But that is the subject here right? -inputs not outputs.
Click to expand...

As oildrops askes (post #1) how to record to get the best sound from his guitar and vocal with two mics Armistice came with the idea (post #2) to record each one at a time.
Then oildrops said (post #3) he prefered to track vocals and guitar at the same time because "it's very common".
So my advice (post #5) was a combination of both oildrops his wishes and Armistice his great advice for seperate tracks (which i support). Play and sing at the same time, but record on seperate tracks.
And to do that oildrops has to input two mic tracks which he also has to output to two seperate mono DAW tracks or one stereo track.
And that's exactly how i (and many others) record guitar and vocals. Perform together to record on separate tracks, so you can edit both separate as needed. (or recorded guitar and vocal not together like Armistice said).

So i as far as i understand within my advice towards the wishes of the asking oildrops we're talking about both input AND output. And if he doesn't have two tracks out i explained how he can use the stereo out for it. IMHO spot ontopic.
 
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Ok I see what you mean by 'output stereo'. That kind of applies a ..different use of the term. AKA 'record dual mono, then mix' :>) All good
 
mixsit said:
Ok I see what you mean by 'output stereo'. That kind of applies a ..different use of the term. AKA 'record dual mono, then mix' :>) All good
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Ok. Although i didn't invent the term 'stereo output'. :D
And a small detail. 'output stereo' is not the same (not AKA) as 'dual mono' output.

But like i said i don't know if he has separate mono tracks out, or just one stereo out. If he only has one stereo he never can record two mono at once (or he has to assign them, but that's quiet difficult to get right for many starting with this). Then the "splitting stereo-recording" option is much easier.
 
Whether you record one stereo track or two mono tracks is a matter of how you set up your DAW, and the OP clearly already knows how to set up two mono tracks as he's panning and applying eq independently.

OP, I get wanting to record in one pass. That why I suggested two figure-8 mics. You would need a fairly dead acoustic space to prevent reflections from getting into the rear lobes, but otherwise the separation is potentially very good.
 
Yes, I am recording with two microphones into two separate tracks. :facepalm:

I have come to the conclusion that I am doing this as best as I can with my equipment at hand. I track guitar and vocals separate with electric, but at the same time with acoustic.


garww said:
ya, one take, one MIC as there isn't anything stereo going on. If I put up room MICs , maybe
Click to expand...

That's good advice, to simplify. I spent a lot of money on an acoustic guitar though, so I feel like I need to mic it. :guitar:

bouldersoundguy said:
I would probably use the AKG on the vocal, up close like a live performance, and place the AT on the guitar to get the least vocal bleed. Tilt the 2020 down quite a bit and put it close.

Another option is to use two figure-8 mics and aim the nulls strategically.

But recording them separately does have advantages.
Click to expand...

This is good specific advice to tweak the setup that I am already using for better results. The acoustic sounds better with the At2020, and some room bleed doesn't make a bad acoustic track, like it can vocals.

Could I easily add another mic to my setup without a new interface? I would love to have a neck and body in stereo, but it looks like my only option is to track separate.
 
My opinion is that a stereo rig would be good for you to investigate. That could be a bargain set of Behringer SDC on a X/Y bar. The guitars probably deserve better : )

I was two channel for a long time, but added a used ART DPS 2-chan. preamp that can digital out to my sound card - two analog in, plus two digital in. Behringer now has an affordable 4-mic interface, too
 
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