Not getting a certain sound.

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GabrielFFontes

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Hello guys,
i am new to this forum and to music recording.
I bought a Blue Yeti USB to start recording my acoustic guitar. I know it's not much, but i'm still a beginner.
However, i am not getting the type of sound i am aiming at.
A certain youtuber makes some covers, and i kind of like the sound of his videos.
Here he plays an Oasis song, Stand by me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBRH8eh2vio
I believe he uses and AT2020 mic, judging by the bottom left corner of his video.
However, when i try to record my acoustic guitar, a Cort MR710F Solid Sitka Spruce with 011 strings, i get an awful result.
Here is what i'm doing :
I am using the mic's gain at 11 o'clock, not even halfway, setting the input level to 20, and i am sitting on a chair not even 2 feet away.
That's what it sounds like :
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/myre...AB39FXRxVwfTtwPo-tJE4bbsuC9GL-sDpiXpnQhNDxWRg
[i uploaded a WAV file to my dropbox, it's safe...also, don't mind my terrible singing]
Not the best nor most excited playing, but it should sound alright, but it doesn't. It's thin, lacks bass, clarity...
That youtuber doesn't look like someone who would edit his audio, so what am i doing wrong?
I am pretty okay at using VST's or something like that to edit my audio to get somewhere, but what can i do regarding technique and processing?
Thank you very much
 
Put the mic close to the 12th fret of your guitar.
Record your vocals a few inches from a pop filter.
Record vocals and guitar separately.
 
Hello ido1957,
Thank you for you immediate answer, unbelievable! :)
I'll surely try those tips, i'm glad i bought a pop filter.
Do you know if there is any way to get a good sound, like the youtuber's, by recording both the guitar and the vocals at the same time?
Thank you very much
 
With one mic you'd have to try a bunch of different mic positions and determine the best.
I set up one way, write down the position, record, stop, change position. write it down, record, stop. Then I compare to see which one was the best sounding. It actually doesn't take that long because you only need about 30 seconds of recording each position. The important thing is writing down the positions ( I use a ruler too) and I mark that down. The whole exercise should take an hour or so.

A lot of people use two microphones - one for voice and one for guitar, so if you do that you have to find the best position for each also.
 
ido1957 said:
With one mic you'd have to try a bunch of different mic positions and determine the best.
I set up one way, write down the position, record, stop, change position. write it down, record, stop. Then I compare to see which one was the best sounding. It actually doesn't take that long because you only need about 30 seconds of recording each position. The important thing is writing down the positions ( I use a ruler too) and I mark that down. The whole exercise should take an hour or so.

A lot of people use two microphones - one for voice and one for guitar, so if you do that you have to find the best position for each also.
Click to expand...

Thank you a lot.
I've been trying out some stuff already, thank you.
If anyone else has more tips to improve my audio quality to come closer to the video showed, i would really love it.
 
I have used the blue yeti mic before and I returned it back. I got a shure mic and an audio interface and the difference was day and night! Mine was for vocals though

Why don't you get a shure mic and a audio interface. Try it for a few weeks and return it back. almost all places takes it back if returned in a month. Atleast you can see if it makes a difference. Once you save enough money, and you like it, you can buy it later.

Considering he has over 50K subscribers, i think he really knows what he is doing and probably did a lot of trial and error before he got it to sound that way.
 
lol was trying to say he probably had worked a lot to get that sound and it wasn't by pure chance or accident. And I am guessing you need to be good at what you do to get around 50K subscribers. That is if they all are real.

Just trying to keep him motivated to try different tips and tricks. Hope it clears the confusion a bit.
 
anoopbal said:
lol was trying to say he probably had worked a lot to get that sound and it wasn't by pure chance or accident. And I am guessing you need to be good at what you do to get around 50K subscribers. That is if they all are real.

Just trying to keep him motivated to try different tips and tricks. Hope it clears the confusion a bit.
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I don't disagree with the advice you gave him. You were very helpful.

But to think that just because someone gets a lot of views or subscribers means they know what they're doing is ludicrous. People falling off skateboards and farting into Bic lighters get millions of views. That's not a gauge of how much someone knows what they're doing. I'm not saying he doesn't know what he's doing. But the amount of subscribers doesn't mean he does.

That's all I'm saying.
 
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Thanks! I agree Rami. In my field, I do wonder how on earth some of these guys get so many subscribers and views!

My thinking is that in music and entertainment industry things are very subjective. If you get 50K subscribers for shooting people falling off skateboards when others get 2 or 3K, it simply means people like what they see or you have found something that people like. Probably he doesn't know what he is doing right or maybe he knows. You can argue about how 'technically' wrong he is in his falls and stuff, but finally it is all about how many likes and views. That's my newbie thinking :).
 
anoopbal said:
Thanks! I agree Rami. In my field, I do wonder how on earth some of these guys get so many subscribers and views!

My thinking is that in music and entertainment industry things are very subjective. If you get 50K subscribers for shooting people falling off skateboards when others get 2 or 3K, it simply means people like what they see or you have found something that people like. Probably he doesn't know what he is doing right or maybe he knows. You can argue about how 'technically' wrong he is in his falls and stuff, but finally it is all about how many likes and views. That's my newbie thinking :).
Click to expand...

Hey guys, thanks for all the help.
I live in Brazil, so i can't get these mics and interfaces for cheap here, so i guess i'll try to sell my Blue Yeti and get a nice usb interface and a nice XLR mic to test...
If you guys think there's nothing i can do with my current mic, what would you recommend as a mic to record singing and playing at the same time? Recording separately my current one kind of does just fine.
 
The bigger question is how does a middle aged bald guy with pitch issues and a not particularly attractive voice get 11,000 hits playing a very average whiny Oasis song....

Just sayin' :confused:
 
Honestly, most of the better sounding youtube covers involve separate recordings of each instrument rather than all at once. You can definitely still get great sounds with doing both vocals and guitar at once, but separate takes eliminate bleed between mics instantly and really cleans up the recording IMHO. If you choose to only use one mic for both guitar and vocals you will most likely have issues with eq and mic placement, and perhaps emphasize room deficiencies.

Whatever way you decide to go with, a large diaphragm condenser(xlr, not usb) to start off with would make a world of difference.
what would you recommend as a mic to record singing and playing at the same time?
Click to expand...
Is there a certain price range you're aiming for so we can point you in the right direction?
 
Armistice said:
The bigger question is how does a middle aged bald guy with pitch issues and a not particularly attractive voice get 11,000 hits playing a very average whiny Oasis song....

Just sayin' :confused:
Click to expand...

Because he bought the hits and subscribers? I get spam all the time trying to sell me youtube hits, It's like $59 for 10000.
 
mjbphotos said:
Because he bought the hits and subscribers? I get spam all the time trying to sell me youtube hits, It's like $59 for 10000.
Click to expand...

LOL, really? And here I've been sitting a my desk hitting reload hundreds of times when I could have outsourced for $59... :D

What a world..
 
Armistice said:
LOL, really? And here I've been sitting a my desk hitting reload hundreds of times when I could have outsourced for $59... :D

What a world..
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Hey guys...
I'm going to try to do something different...i've been able, with some tweaks here and there, to get a good plugged in sound with my acoustic guitar [i'll post the results later] for recording.
To explain why he gets that many views, it's because he does tutorials, so his fans are mostly grateful for his lessons and them they watch his covers as well. I've never been a fan of his tutorials, but interestingly enough, now that i'm more experienced at playing guitar, i've been watching some of his covers to see what kind of different things he does compared to internet tabs or song chords, to get a "guideline" to create my own tricks for each.
BTW, call me crazy, i am an Oasis fanatic, thats literally all i listen to in my life, and this guy also loves Oasis, so, haha.
Thank you all
 
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