tips to work with tracks that feature multiple sound sources

[laserlife]

Hey there!
this is my post here and I don't consider myself to be a pro,
but I believe I am achieving some decent result as I am trying to record some songs on my own.

I am broke, so I can't afford lots of equipment, and I mainly use 2 mics to record all that I need (blue bluebird, sm57)

I realized that I can sing better when I do it while playing guitar at the same time, and despite the fact that it becomes a little harder to edit afterwards, I feel more comfortable in doing it this way.

this is an example of my work:
this bounce features a main track with rhythm guitar and vocals,
then an additional guitar track performing a bass line, a slide guitar and a tambourine kick in the mix.

I was wondering if some of you might have some advice about how to improve a mono track that features 2 different sound sources (such as guitar and vocals in my case), such as eq tips, reverb and similar ;-)

p.s.
enjoy the song ahah

 

[nate_dennis]

I don't have the ability to listen right now.

But what is your recording situation. What are you tracking to? This will help us help you.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I was wondering if some of you might have some advice about how to improve a mono track that features 2 different sound sources (such as guitar and vocals in my case), such as eq tips, reverb and similar

I'm not one to critique other people's mixes. If you want that, you need to head over to the MP3 Clinic forum on this BBS, anyway.

But in general, if you're recording multiple sources with one mic on purpose or because you have to, embrace the situation and set up to get both sources on a level playing field if you can. Often this will mean setting up the mic in a mid- filed or far-field situation. This means setting the mic up far enough from the sources to capture the entirety of both, usually roughly defined as a distance equivalent to the size of the largest sound source.

In this case, we'd be talking minimum about the longest dimension of the guitar body, not including neck - say about two feet or so. Then adjust alignment to get the sound to taste (sometimes direct on the sound hole might sound boomier than you want) as well as to try and balance the levels between the guitar and the vocal.

You still should practice singing and play at the right volumes to get a good recorded balance, even with good mic placement. Frankly, there's probably not a whole lot you can do to fix the balance in post.

And, especially because of the distance of the mixing, probably one of the most important factors will be the sound of the room in which you're recording. Try maybe recording in the kitchen, or maybe in a stairwell, or some room that's has a bit of warm verb to it without sounding too echo-y. Just experiment around and find what room you like the sound of, it cn make a big difference.

G.

 

[laserlife]

I don't have the ability to listen right now.

But what is your recording situation. What are you tracking to? This will help us help you.

I am using a m-audio fast track pro connected to a macbook pro, using logic pro 9
The mic you can hear in the recording is a blue bluebird,
guitar: taylor 110e

 

[laserlife]

I'm not one to critique other people's mixes. If you want that, you need to head over to the MP3 Clinic forum on this BBS, anyway.

And, especially because of the distance of the mixing, probably one of the most important factors will be the sound of the room in which you're recording. Try maybe recording in the kitchen, or maybe in a stairwell, or some room that's has a bit of warm verb to it without sounding too echo-y. Just experiment around and find what room you like the sound of, it cn make a big difference.

G.

Indeed I realized that the best thing to do in this recording situation is to make the best out of the mic placing and the room choosen for the recording, and to also try to find a way to play the song that will not result in volume aggression when you listen back to the track ahah

the only thing that I found a little useful in post-recording where to brighten the sound a little, and I rather do it by taking some of the bass away than adding to the higher frequencies . It seem to me the the voice gets a little more up in the mix this way, without killing the guitar sound, which most of the time I also overdub to be able to get a nice stereo effect.
Also If you like to add space, adding a very small dose of reverb might help




p.s. excuse me for my english, it might be kind of poor when approaching more technical terms ahah