Recording Guitar

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guitar zero

guitar zero

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I'm going to be recording a Taylor acoustic/electric and I'm planning to record simultaneous tracks, one from a mic at the sound hole and one from the pickup, and then mix them differently to left and right channels to give it a more stereo sound. Anyone bored enough to offer any advice or tricks to this novice 'sound engineer' that will make the final mix sound better?

Guitar Zero
 
1. dont do straight sound hole ...try to place the mic where the neck meets the body and then aim it 45* towards the sound hole . if you place the mic in front of the sound hole then all the air coming out wil make it sound nasty and boomy.

2 if you have more mics use them..... you can try to do an xy pattern with the mics and then that will give the guitar a stereo sound to it

3 if you just sound hole and line in and pan them then it will sound weird because it would just sound like 2 different guitars or guitar recordings..

4 MESS AROUND WITH MIC POSITIONING....thats the only way to get the best sound out of your gear.. place the mic...record ...listen to it...then place the mic at a different angle of place....record..listen again...then pick what you like better


:-)
 
Pretty much just agreeing. Don't get set on the soundhole for the mic, or any other position for that matter. Definitely experiment a lot with mic position, but pay attention to the difference from one location to the next, as well as slight adjustments at each position.

When I recorded two of my fingerstyle pieces I went mad trying to get the x/y setup to work for me. After a bit I stopped and just experimented wildly. My final setup was one mxl 604 at the nut aimed down the neck and one mxl 604 by my left ear aimed at the end of the fret board. I also blended in two tracks from my trance audio pickups (one for the highs and one for the lo's.)

Experiment on the panning when mixing too. I think in the end I kept the mxl's at about 20% left and right and the hi's and lo's 100% left and right. Hmm, a longer story than I meant. But point being, it's worth taking the time to move stuff around and find a sweet spot. Clips from that recording session:

www.myspace.com/jamesalmy

Both songs were recorded as described. Tracked dry and center. Reverb and panning added while mixing.
 
Good advice above.

Almy, your guitar playing and recordings are tasty. Your experimentation paid off. Good job!
 
Thanks for some good tips. James great sounding recordings. We've got condenser mics and dynamic mics. Which is better for guitar recording, or should I just experiment with both?

Zero
 
Condenser mics.

Here's another acoustic about 10-12 inches from the 12th fret:



(double tracked with a condenser--but each track was just one mic placed as described).

Good luck and share your results with us. :D
 
Thanks for the compliments! Honestly I owe my recording knowledge to the people on this forum, as well as some other internet forums. It's been great to have such a great learning process at my fingertips.

Now I just need to get my traps built!
 
Hey Almy, Funny you should mention traps. I just spent the last two hours reading about sound dampening. Lots of choices out there. Are you just making bass traps with frames and 4" thick acoustic foam? Have you found a good site that tells you how large to make them, and where to place them to get the best results? Thanks again for your input.

Zero
 
Unfortunately I'm no expert. But I can toss a couple links your way in case you haven't come across them yet...

Here is way more information than you'll probably ever want :P

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

These forums have a ton of information:

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=3&sid=d0c1a2098cd8a8e5bbb124433119c405

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/bass-traps-acoustic-panels-foam-etc/

I'm making 12 that are 2 inches thick and 24 x 48 with a density of 6 pounds per cubic foot. I got the rigid board type, hard rather than the floppy insulation kind, and am just doing simple frames with burlap wrap. Mine is also for portable use. So I can move them wherever since I record more than just one place. So I'm also making some easy stands for different applications plus hanging mounts to hang from the ceilings. Basically every panel I make will be able to go in any location I want, whether on a stand (varying ways,) floor mount, hanging from a ceiling, hanging at an angle straddling the wall and ceiling, et cetera.
 
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