Not Happy with my Bouzouki Sound

GazEcc

GazEcc

mBallstát atá tiomanta
Hey guys,

First off I know its not quite a guitar but I wasn't 100% on which section to put this in.

I was working on a project with the band there the last two days (aiming for 12 tracks including two live songs from gigs with synced videos) me and the bassist are both engineers, Him with 12+ years recording in Studios 9-5 and me with considerably less but when it came to tracking Bouzouki it was a first for me, (I was playing) and he set up the same stereo set up we'd used for the guitarist's acoustic guitar. (2 Røde M3's)

We tried a couple of takes but I wasn't happy with the overall sound, and maybe the fact we were working till midnight the last two days has had me off top form cause theres a good few mistakes, but overall I don't like the tone, and the amount of picking noise from it is unbearable. I'm thinking of doing it like I do at the gigs and going for the 57 and just hoping for the best, hiding the zouk in the back of the mix and leaving it at that. but at the same time I don't want the band feeling bad about this track in particular its the only one I play on bouzouki 100% of the time and its a bit of a signature tune. The Cajon, Bass And Acoustic all sound nice, just the Zouk... Any Input?


I'll post an MP3 When its in my drop box
 
TO my ears, it sounds like you are getting good string sound, but not the zouk's body. Maybe a transducer?
 
Try a SDC very near the face of the lower bout. More wood tone and less pick noise.
 
Try these methods to mellow it out a bit; Pointing the mic up the neckfrom the soundhole to reduce the pick clicks (you probably know that already) The harder the pick the more the click. Use a medium to soft pick. You might also try tuning it to let the adjacent strings ring more. I use GDGD for that on Celtic material and it sounds fine. I don't know if that will work for you though.
In my opinion, the pick is the biggest contributor. I use a Jim Dunlop 0.60mm mostly on Bouzoiki and Octave Mandolin.
A good hardwood pick also makes a difference, stiff, but less clicky.
I'd love to hear the outcome.
 
Pict said:
Try these methods to mellow it out a bit; Pointing the mic up the neckfrom the soundhole to reduce the pick clicks (you probably know that already) The harder the pick the more the click. Use a medium to soft pick. You might also try tuning it to let the adjacent strings ring more. I use GDGD for that on Celtic material and it sounds fine. I don't know if that will work for you though.
In my opinion, the pick is the biggest contributor. I use a Jim Dunlop 0.60mm mostly on Bouzoiki and Octave Mandolin.
A good hardwood pick also makes a difference, stiff, but less clicky.
I'd love to hear the outcome.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for the reply, I used one mic @ ± the 12th Fret, and the other facing the body, away from the sound hole, and used the lightest pick we had to hand, (it was a Jim Dunlop dark great ( I think third heaviest ) I normally use a heavy pick live for definition, but yeah it just seems a little body less to me, Might just be these monitors are too honest for my own good :P, oh and yes I'm Using GDAE and do a lot of Celtic Stuff that way, including a punky version of Rocky Road to Dublin :P off topic sorry. but yeah I'm thinking of just using one mic and trying to get a good sound that way.

any suggestions for mono Zouki anyone?

Dyn, SDC, LDC, Ribbon :P
 
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