too much pick scraping...

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LoganCoykendall

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Whenever I record strummed acoustic guitar with a pick I get far too much pick noise. It's like. Scrape Scrape Scrape Scrape Scrape Scrape Scrape Scrape Scrape Scrape Scrape Scrape. Quite distracting.

Intuitively I guess that this would involve reducing the upper frequencies but it doesn't seem to work for me in practice. Whut do?
 
Learn to play. Maybe that sounds harsh, but if it's bad enough in your recordings that you're here asking the question, then it must be your picking technique. Mic placement and EQ might get you some half assed compromise, but practice is the only way to really make it better.
 
Pick noise is part of the sound of an acoustic guitar when played with a pick, to a certain extent. You could try using thinner picks?
 
Proper technique of pick yields a 'click'. Improper technique yields a 'scrape'.
 
Proper technique gives you the sound you want for what you're trying to convey. Sometimes, a scrape is just the thing, but if you can't control it, then you need practice.
 
If it's more of a click or flap, the pick is too thin. If its a scrape, then it is your picking technique.

There is also a problem that I run into in the studio a lot with cheap acoustics, the guitars are really quiet, so the pick noise is, by comparison, very loud. Along those same lines, old dead strings will make the pick noise seem louder because the o ly brightness to the sound is the pick noise.
 
Good points from Farview! A low-volume guitar might be some of the problem. When I record my 40-year old Epi dreadnought, the pick sounds all but disappear compared to recording from a newer guitar that does not have the volume.
 
LoganCoykendall said:
reducing the upper frequencies
Click to expand...
Thus far in this thread, it's been everything but this.
I used to get alot of picking noises as I intensified and got more aggressive. I've had to change the way I play. I've also learned, though you didn't highlight this as a problem, that volume isn't necessarilly brought about purely by force of hand.
 
As with most instruments, it's down to your technique. You, as the player, have to coax the sound you are looking for out of the instrument.
 
But practicing and learning how to play takes to long, any other suggestions?
 
fuzzsniffvoyage said:
But practicing and learning how to play takes to long, any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

Umm....find a different hobby. Of course, no matter what you do, you will have to put in the time to do it properly if you want good results. This is why a lot if people just drink beer and watch tv...no need to practice that.
 
Drinking beer well takes lots of practice! I know a guy who can pass out and never drop the can in his hand!
 
fuzzsniffvoyage said:
But practicing and learning how to play takes to long, any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
You're joking right? If that's your attitude, you don't deserve a better sound.

I was going to ask you where you're placing the mic, but I'm afraid that suggesting you move it might require too much physical and mental effort.

EFIT: I just realized I wasn't responding to the OP. In which case, fuzzsniffvoyage was probably just being funny. Sorry I missed that.
 
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