strereo vs non stereo...

[thehook]

ok so I am a roots musician recording old folk songs and blues. Just me and the guitar. When this music is recorded elsewhere do people usually record vocals in stereo, guitars in stereo, use one mic or a combination?

I will have two preamps a vtb1 and dmp3 to work with I know the dmp3 has two channels.

on the soundcard I have there is one audio input and one out.

I was wondering if there was any combination of splitters that I could get to record guitars in stereo or vocals in stereo (using the one channel vtb1) or a combination of both at the same time. Because I think it would be real hard to recorded guitar and vocals not at the same time.

If I wanted to get both recrded in stereo at the same time would I need a new soundcard or just a lot of splitter?

 

[AlexW]

You could use a mixer and mix everything down to one mono channel into your soundcard; but it won't be a stereo signal at that point obviously. It may be cheaper to get a better soundcard with more inputs.

 

[scrubs]

The obvious way to record solo acoustic guitar with vocals would be to record the guitar in stereo and the vocal in mono (vocals are almost never recorded in stereo). However, you cannot do this with your current setup without overdubbing. You don't mention what mics you have or what software you are using, so I'll stay general.

As the previous poster has suggested, you could get a small mixer and put two mics on the guitar (panned left and right for a stereo guitar) and have a third mic for vocals (panned to the center). You would submix this down to 2 channels and send it to your soundcard with an appropriate stereo (1/8") to double RCA or 1/4" (Left and Right) adapter. You could also use just two mics (one for voice and one for guitar) and use a similar adapter. You would have to make sure in the software that you were using two tracks and that track one was recording the left channel and track two was recording the right channel (from the 1/8" stereo input). Otherwise, you'd have the guitar in one speaker and the voice in the other. Alternately, just one mic positioned strategically between the guitar and voice would give you a decent mono recording.

 

[XLR]

on the soundcard I have there is one audio input and one out

Are you sure the input isn't a stereo jack? They look the same from the outside.

Tim

 

[Rokket]

Are you sure the input isn't a stereo jack? They look the same from the outside.

Tim

True. Most of them (especially on new pc's) have an 1/8" stereo input...

 

[XLR]

Yeah, I was thinking only about the 1/8 inch jack. If it was an RCA jack that'd tell him for sure it's mono.

Tim

 

[XLR]

I am a roots musician recording old folk songs and blues. Just me and the guitar.

Hi Hook. If you want to get an authentic old-timey feel to the recording, be able to focus on the performance and not get bogged down in tech stuff, start by just recording it with a single mic. If you set one up and do experimental takes at a variety of distances, heights and angles you'll probably find an orientation that sounds just like you do live.

A more sophisticated way to do the same thing, if you've got a stereo input and a good sounding room, is to use a stereo mic pair in XY or ORTF back a few feet to get that 3 dimensional feel of the room that real stereo gives.

Also if you've got a stereo input you could put a close mic on the guitar and a close mic on your voice, record each to a separate channel and have the ability to individually process them and mix them afterwards to your heart's content. That's how most pop stuff is done when the singer wants to do the voice and guitar at the same time.

Or you could multitrack things separately. But that's a bottomless pit of distraction as there's the almost irresistable temptation to add vocal harmony, extra guitar parts, etc., etc., etc... and pretty soon you'll be sounding like Barry Manilow.

Tim

 

[thehook]

1/8th jack, I am not sure it is about the same size as a headphone for walkman jack though. Ok, so I won't be recording the vocals on stereo.
I will either use a shure green bullet (maybe for the blues stuff) or a v67 for that good warm sound heard on old country ballads. (not like nowdays bullshit mind you)

my preamps will be a dmp3 for the two channels and a vtb1 for the good sound people say they get with vocals.

I will be using mxl 603s (two of em) to get the guitar sound......but would like some adivce I have heard these are "real good on the highgs" well how about the lows....I tune my guitar a whole step down whenever I play to match my voice and use the lower notes a lot more than high ones...would these still be a good choice?


can you point me to a sound card or interface that will suit my needs for being able to hook up two preamps at the same time, record stereo with one of em and mono with one of em? Maybe one that comes close and all I would need would be a few cheap adapters?

see that mp3 for the type of sound I am shooting for.

 

[scrubs]

1/8th jack, I am not sure it is about the same size as a headphone for walkman jack though. Ok, so I won't be recording the vocals on stereo.
I will either use a shure green bullet (maybe for the blues stuff) or a v67 for that good warm sound heard on old country ballads. (not like nowdays bullshit mind you)

my preamps will be a dmp3 for the two channels and a vtb1 for the good sound people say they get with vocals.

I will be using mxl 603s (two of em) to get the guitar sound......but would like some adivce I have heard these are "real good on the highgs" well how about the lows....I tune my guitar a whole step down whenever I play to match my voice and use the lower notes a lot more than high ones...would these still be a good choice?


can you point me to a sound card or interface that will suit my needs for being able to hook up two preamps at the same time, record stereo with one of em and mono with one of em? Maybe one that comes close and all I would need would be a few cheap adapters?

see that mp3 for the type of sound I am shooting for.

Chances are that input jack is 1/8" stereo. Most soundcard line-ins are.

Now, it's hard to tell from that clip because of the poor mp3 quality, but it sounds like he double-tracked his guitar (playing the same, or similar, part twice and panning them to the left and right during mixing). That would require overdubbing.

However, in order to do what you want, you'll need a soundcard with at least three inputs. Something like the M-Audio Delta 44 or 66 would do that.

The MXL 603s have excellent bass response. Placement is important to avoid too much boominess from your guitar's soundhole.

 

[thehook]

what would be the difference of recording it twice or just using two mics at once? Couldn't it just be recorded once and copied and pasted into another track? Couldn't you then pan it to left and right?
sorry if these are dumb questions

 

[scrubs]

what would be the difference of recording it twice or just using two mics at once? Couldn't it just be recorded once and copied and pasted into another track? Couldn't you then pan it to left and right?
sorry if these are dumb questions

Recording it once and copy/pasting it to another track will just make it louder. Double tracking (recording two separate takes) either the same part or a similar part (e.g. with a capo using different chord voicings) and panning is a common technique to getting a thicker guitar sound.

 

[thehook]

what would be the difference recording two takes or with stereo sound wise?

 

[scrubs]

what would be the difference recording two takes or with stereo sound wise?

It's just different. One guitar in stereo will sound like one guitar and, depending on mic placement and panning, can have a narrow or wide sound. Two guitars sound different, like two guitars. Depending on how close the two parts are played, it may be hard to discern that there are two guitars. It's difficult to describe. The best way is to try it out and listen to what it sounds like. Both songs you can link to in my sig have two guitars panned.

 

[XLR]

see that mp3 for the type of sound I am shooting for.

Just had a chance to hear it. Great music. Surprised when I saw the singer's picture after listening. He sounds like a grizzled old man, but looks like my 20's-something attorney neighbor.

What I'm hearing in the arrangement: Sounds to me like a single 12 string gtr mic'd maybe a foot away at the 12 fr and bridge, mic's panned hard L and R. Vocal sounds like it's mic'd separately. Maybe too a separate mic on the foot tapping on the wood floor. And there's the shaken tambourine that comes in periodically. I can't tell if it was done all together in one take, but there's enough separation between the instruments that it might have been tracked in parts.

Just my 2c

Tim

 

[thehook]

ya it is good, will is actually a friend of mine used to work here in town and then got famous. What makes you think its a twelve string?

 

[thehook]

you say he is recording with two mics in stereo you think? Or with one mic twice?

 

[Rokket]

Nevermind, it worked the second time. I am listening now, and will probably delete my post..

 

[XLR]

What makes you think its a twelve string

Just the way the fullness of it hits me as doubled-but-one-instrument sonority. Seems like a lot of the gtr part avoids the higher strings where it would be more apparent if a 12 string's being played. The hammer-on, pull-off licks on the 4th and 5th strings (guessing here) that give it so much character sound like they fit right under the L hand's chording. At the very end, if I remember right, the upper strings are strummed and it sounded pretty clearly like a 12 string to me. But I just heard it once on halfway decent speakers, couple more times on my laptop's whopping half inch'ers.

Whatever it is, it's really hot playing.

Tim

 

[Rokket]

Nevermind, it worked the second time. I am listening now, and will probably delete my post..

I am listening on pc speakers, but it sounds like it's probably one guitar track recorded with two mics, or a single stereo mic maybe? It's not two different guitar tracks, unless this guy is so good that he can play the part twice without any variations. I am betting it's either that, or it was doubled in software and had a "faux stereo" feel applied to it with about 10ms of simple delay...

 

[XLR]

you say he is recording with two mics in stereo you think? Or with one mic twice?

I think it's two mic's recorded to two tracks at the same time. I wouldn't call it stereo myself, as technically that's a different thing than close mic'ing a guitar at two spots. The sonority of the L and R channels just sound like two mic's on one guitar to me, like I said, at the 12th fret and bridge.

You should call him and ask, then let us know...

Tim