Recording Acoustic Guitar and Vocals

[guitar junkie]

I find it interesting that you have what sounds like around 2000 dollars worth of plugins and less than $500 worth of mics...

First off PAY for the software you use.

Next take each mic plug it in and move it around and see for yourself how it sounds.

You might find that using the vocal mic turned upside down and facing you at about a 45 degree angle can capture pretty fair guitar and vocals if you balance your vocal and guitar well during the performance.

As for settings and EQ and Reverb....

I still find it odd that you spent that much money on software if you don't know how to use the stuff...

 

[Smileyshreads]

Well first off im fine with the styles i do record.. as i said a few times through out this topic.. This is a completly new style for me to record.. i dont know what goes good with this style.. take a listen to my music page.. put this after myspace . com

/smiley39sstudio

second. i bought all this nice stuff so i have it while i learn other styles... That way i am not gonna be limited when i need something its already there... My band pulls in a few thousand every 2 weeks just from bar gigs so as you make it sound like "I am not wasting my money" im using they spare money i get out of gigs and using it to get things i think are nice or useful for me

 

[Smileyshreads]

ok so my brother wanted to record a song he wrote.. soo here is what i have soo far.. please give some input on this and tell me what i could do to make it better.. its just acoustic and vocals

http://www.box.net/shared/fa0uss8of1

 

[jeliot86]

Sounds good to me

Though I'm new to recording and in the same boat as you........
Trying to make my brother a star......

Then he can leave me in the dust and find a REAL bass player.

Anyways what setup did you end up going with? Mics? Technique? Signal Chain? Could help me out a lot.

 

[Smileyshreads]

well he insisted on using his own mics and guitar so if he wants to record himself he can get close to the same sound.. i used his AKG perception 220, around the 12 fret then i used my 2 shure sm57 mics one over his shoulder capturing what you would hear if u were playing and one back a bit aiming between the bridge and soundhole. i also had a di line and tracked that pretty quiet. added some verb, on vocals i just used the RSO vocal magic little eq,and bit a verb.

again im not expert i came here to learn haha. so mine was just trial and error

 

[jarrydee]

i have Cubase sx3,Waves murcury bundle, Rso Vocal Magic, and loads of other plugins

IM sorry..but You bought $9,000.00 worth of plugs befor learning how to record.....Hummm I smell DEAMONOID TORRENTS..Piracy is bad!!

 

[doulos24]

I have a 180$ phantom powered AKG perception 220 condenser mic, 3 shure Pg58's, and 3 Audix om-2 mics. i have Cubase sx3,Waves murcury bundle, Rso Vocal Magic, and loads of other plugins. how should i go about recording the acoustic and vocals

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

$180 for a cheap condencer mic
$390 for 3 stage mics
$300 for 3 more stage mics

wanting help learning how to record someone on a home recording form after pirating $9000 dollars of recording software

priceless​

 

[NL5]

Here is what I'd consider the most importantthiungs to getting a great acoustic guitar tone (in order of importance) -

1. great guitarist
2. great guitar
3. great room
3. great mic placement
4. great mics
5. great converters
6. great preamps

If all these are great, the song will mix itself..........

 

[doulos24]

1. great guitarist
2. great guitar
3. great room
3. great mic placement
4. great mics
5. great converters
6. great preamps


uh no

1 guitarist
2 guitar
3 room
4 new strings
5 good preamps
6 good mic/mics
7 good mic placement
8 good converters

why cause good preamps will effect where you place the mic. Crappy preamps can smear or muddy the low end thus might make you move the mic for the best place for that preamp where if you used a good preamp you could move it to a better place on the body of the guitar. A good preamp will make any mic sound better but the best mic in the world will still be limited by the preamps you use. converters are the least important I can take a mix from a 192k 24 bit digidesign converter and remix it with my 20bit converter at 44.1 and you would more then likley like it better

 

[TeyshaBlue]

There is no template for success. There is no "idea" that works with every singer/guitarist. Everyone is saying the same thing...listen to them.

Use your ears. Get the best sounding track going in and you won't have to throw 3k worth of plugs at it to behave. You don't even need to have the best mics as long as you have good ears and the patience to get the sound right before you start tracking. In a pinch, I once had to use a Peavey lavalier mic, taped to a pencil to mic a Yamaha classical guitar..(Don't ask. Long way from the studio...impromptu session)

I got a really nice track from that guitar...a little noisier than I would've liked...but a good, full sound. Get it right at the source and the mix will be fine.

 

[NL5]

1 guitarist
2 guitar
3 room
4 new strings
5 good preamps
6 good mic/mics
7 good mic placement
8 good converters

why cause good preamps will effect where you place the mic. Crappy preamps can smear or muddy the low end thus might make you move the mic for the best place for that preamp where if you used a good preamp you could move it to a better place on the body of the guitar. A good preamp will make any mic sound better but the best mic in the world will still be limited by the preamps you use. converters are the least important

I'm not gonna get into a debate about preamps, especially since we are saying 99% the same thing. (Plus, strings are part of a great sounding guitar - that is a given - I've never heard a great sounding guitar with dead strings on it).

I used to have a ghost, and super-high-end pre's, and put up samples from both. It was damn near 50/50 on which was "better". Now, I do think great preamps make a difference, but no way do they beat a great mic/mic placement for importance. (and this is coming from a guy with a shit-ton of very expensive preamps)

 

[doulos24]

I used to have a ghost, and super-high-end pre's, and put up samples from both. It was damn near 50/50 on which was "better". Now, I do think great preamps make a difference, but no way do they beat a great mic/mic placement for importance.

first I like you nl5 so this is just subjective. This is what I've learned in the years I've been in the recording world. You can't judge a preamp bsed on 1 track not even how it sits in the mix. The thing is it's lil things that add up in the whole mix. lets say I'm tracking with a art toob mp we know it gives a lil bit of mud in the low end and untrue aproximity effect on most mics. We use it as a D/i first on bass it works well, then we use it on kick and it adds a lil low end, then as di and mic on guitar amp even more low end then on vocals. Now we have to make some major eq choices to eq the sound of the preamp out of the tracks to make the mix balanced. We don't all track though 1 art toob mp, but how many of us have these 8 channel or 4 channel interfaces or budget mixer boards I'm 100% percent convinced this is the biggest limitation in home recording today. Lets say our budget 8 channel interface has some caps in the mic path giving a 70hz roll off and a dip around 16k-20khz. Now everything we use these preamps on will have to have eq aidding air to the tracks so now our mix needs twice the plug ins thus degrading the mix more, or more hardware adding more noise to the overal mix it all adds up. Thats why i say it's that important even more so then the mics at least with a transparent preamp you will hear the mics and be able to make true mix decsions vs having to mix out the sound or limitations of the preamps hope that makes sense

 

[NL5]

first I like you nl5 so this is just subjective. This is what I've learned in the years I've been in the recording world. You can't judge a preamp bsed on 1 track not even how it sits in the mix. The thing is it's lil things that add up in the whole mix. lets say I'm tracking with a art toob mp we know it gives a lil bit of mud in the low end and untrue aproximity effect on most mics. We use it as a D/i first on bass it works well, then we use it on kick and it adds a lil low end, then as di and mic on guitar amp even more low end then on vocals. Now we have to make some major eq choices to eq the sound of the preamp out of the tracks to make the mix balanced. We don't all track though 1 art toob mp, but how many of us have these 8 channel or 4 channel interfaces or budget mixer boards I'm 100% percent convinced this is the biggest limitation in home recording today. Lets say our budget 8 channel interface has some caps in the mic path giving a 70hz roll off and a dip around 16k-20khz. Now everything we use these preamps on will have to have eq aidding air to the tracks so now our mix needs twice the plug ins thus degrading the mix more, or more hardware adding more noise to the overal mix it all adds up. Thats why i say it's that important even more so then the mics at least with a transparent preamp you will hear the mics and be able to make true mix decsions vs having to mix out the sound or limitations of the preamps hope that makes sense

No worries.

You could apply that same logic to mic freq response too, and it's a much greater swing than even a crappy pre. Don't get me wrong, as I said, I have a crapload of great preamps. They do matter. But a guy with an AKG perception, and a Neve, won't sound as good a s a guy with a u47 and a RNP. Now, a guy with a U47, and a Neve, will sound the best, no doubt. I just don't buy the inordinate amount of hype pre's have gotten over the last few years (thanks to the rise of the "outboard preamp" market). Frig, not all that long ago, 1073's could be had for a few hundred bucks. I've even heard stories of people finding them in a dumpster.......

Like I said, I don't really want to debate this topic, it's been done to death, so that's all I got.............

 

[doulos24]

You could apply that same logic to mic freq response too,

without a doubt

But a guy with an AKG perception, and a Neve, won't sound as good a s a guy with a u47 and a RNP

rnp is a great transparent ish pre I'm not talking about decent pres just known crappy ones

how would a guy with a u47 and a presonus blue tube do vs akg perception and a Neve? thats my main point the blue tube would make the u47 almost unusable since it has like zero headroom and finicy noisy gain staging

not all that long ago, 1073's could be had for a few hundred bucks. I've even heard stories of people finding them in a dumpster

I heard a story of a guy finding a api 1604 mixer in a dumpster to without anything being gutted doesn't mean it's common place

I just don't buy the inordinate amount of hype pre's have gotten over the last few years

I don't either however I do buy in the fact that the companies keep making crappy ones and people keep buying them and having to deal with the situations I've mentioned and in doing so litter myspace with crappy recordings and then come here asking why there mixes suck etc. etc. etc. lol