please help?

[flash2ace]

hi guys, ive recently been recording some bluegrass music with a member of my church, and this guy plays all instruments, my question is when you recors instruments like harmonica and banjo do you normally add compression or reverb, they tracked realy well i used a sm57 to mic them ive just never recorded any of these instruments before. thanks ahead of time. god bless.

 

[Seanmorse79]

IMO, it all depends on how they're being used in the song. Generally speaking, if the mix needs needs them, add them.

If you're asking whether or not to add them while tracking, I'd say definitely not - especially if you're recording to a PC or another medium you can easily add or change effects during the mixing stage. Unless you're recording in an awesome room, record the tracks dry and season to taste while mixing.

 

[ecs113]

when you recors instruments like harmonica and banjo do you normally add compression or reverb

Normal is irrelevant, but I would suggest not tracking with reverb, and only track with compression when used as a limiter to prevent clipping. Once recorded, these processes cannot be undone.

 

[flash2ace]

i tracked them dry into sonar 2.0 xl with a shure sm 57 and they sound fairly nice. they are not clipping im running the harmonica back behind the rythym guitar to give it a more spacial effect. so what i did was have him play the harmonica 2 times and panned one 40 percent left and one 40 percent right and then i added some reverb just a few minutes ago and what i did was change the predelay to give it the effect that it is coming behind the main mix, i dont have very good monitors my m-audios are getting warranty work done on them so im stuck using my altec lansing pc speakers or my headphones for now, theyve been fixing my monitors for 3 weeks now lol. anyway thanks for the fast response and i guess it was kinda a weird question because the answer is in the mix if it sounds good dont do anything with it, if it needs it add it. thanks guys and godd bless.