Trouble In Mind

[WimVD]

This is my rendition of the old Blues Standard “Trouble In Mind” in an arrangement from D. Hamburger.

Greetings,
Wim.

https://soundcloud.com/wim-van-damme-401299565/trouble-in-mind

 

[Many Moons]

Tidy as ever Wim. When are we gonna here some vocals!!!!!!!!!

 

[blackcoffeeblues]

Wm. I enjoyed that. It gave me a real laid back, soothing feeling. Took the edge off my day. Thanks

 

[dvs]

Yes, the sun's gonna shine in my backdoor someday. Excellent!

 

[Elwood]

Nice Wim!!! It sounds like you are doing some good experimenting with your recording, also nice!!!

 

[Silicon Valley Tom]

Very nice!

Tom

 

[CaptainMoto]

Very Cool!

I really like this one.

I know you haven't graced us with your voice yet but.............I can hear you breathing

 

[MikeS]

Sure wish I could play like that! Nice job.

 

[Many Moons]

I know you haven't graced us with your voice yet but.............I can hear you breathing

I suppose it's a start!!

 

[WimVD]

Tidy as ever Wim. When are we gonna here some vocals!!!!!!!!!

Be careful what you wish for . There is a reason why I stick to instrumentals

 

[WimVD]

Very Cool!

I really like this one.

I know you haven't graced us with your voice yet but.............I can hear you breathing

I guess that means I'm still alive

Jokes aside, I would like to get a cleaner recording and get rid of ambient noise. Maybe I should get a microphone with a more focused or narrower pickup pattern. Any suggestions?

Wim.

 

[dvs]

I guess that means I'm still alive

Jokes aside, I would like to get a cleaner recording and get rid of ambient noise. Maybe I should get a microphone with a more focused or narrower pickup pattern. Any suggestions?

Wim.

What kind of mic(s) are you using now, and can you describe your mic placement (how far from the guitar, how high, where is it aimed)?

 

[WimVD]

What kind of mic(s) are you using now, and can you describe your mic placement (how far from the guitar, how high, where is it aimed)?

I use the CM25 MkIII condenser microphone that came with the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 bundle. It is placed pointing at about the 12th fret at a distance of 30cm from the fretboard.

 

[dvs]

With this mic, a cardioid-pattern mic, you might be able to raise it up from the plane of the guitar a little and aim it downwards at the 12th fret, and/or move it to the left (up the neck) a few cm and aim it a little more to the right (or move it to the right and aim it left).

The point of those changes is to aim the mic more towards the guitar and away from your mouth. Also try to be aware of this while you're recording and try not to breathe directly at the mic. A supercardioid pattern mic would pick up less off-axis noise than a cardioid pattern, but that really shouldn't be necessary - lots of folks record acoustic guitars successfully with a single, cardioid LDC mic.

If you can coax some more volume out of the guitar (i.e., play louder) and turn the gain down on the mic, that would also reduce the extraneous noise picked up by the mic. Best of luck, & have fun!

 

[CaptainMoto]

That mic should be just fine for what you're doing.

As @dvs said, it's about mic position.
Try to aim the front of the mic towards the guitar in such a way that more of the top and or sides of the mic are aimed at your mouth for maximum rejection.

I would also say, if the mic is set back, you're more likely to pick up things other than the guitar.
Try bringing the mic closer to the guitar.

The net effect of that will be........ you can get good recording level with less gain (because the source is closer).
Consequently turning down the gain on the interface will reduce the volume of sounds farther away from the mic ( your breathing, room noise and such).

Of course you can help reduce room noise by using a super cardioid.
I have only one of those and it's rather pricey so, I can't recommend any reasonably priced ones, just do your homework.

If you're looking to experiment with alternate mics for your acoustic guitar recordings, I'd say look into picking up a small diaphragm condenser or a matched pair of those.
They work great for acoustic guitars and can be a great supplement to the mic you already have.
Most of my acoustic recording are done with two mics , a super cardioid ribbon and a small diaphragm condenser.

A two mic set up gets a little more complicated (making sure that the mics are in phase) but, that technique can deliver wonderfully rich tones, and will open up additional possibilities in mixing the tracks.


There are some reasonably priced small diaphragms out there do so do a little searching.

I forget where you live but here's an example of SDC mics.:

https://www.sweetwater.com/c105--Small-diaphragm_Condenser_Microphones

 

[Elio]

That is seriously well done, and a very enjoyable listen!

 

[WimVD]

@dvs @CaptainMoto ,

Thanks for your kind support on this. I need to dig deeper into this topic. So far my main focus has been on learning to play much more than on learning to record, but now I want to improve my recording technique as well.

I will first try to make better recordings using the equipment I have, by following the advice you gave me on mic placement and gain reduction.

Wim.

 

[CaptainMoto]

@dvs @CaptainMoto ,

Thanks for your kind support on this. I need to dig deeper into this topic. So far my main focus has been on learning to play much more than on learning to record, but now I want to improve my recording technique as well.

I will first try to make better recordings using the equipment I have, by following the advice you gave me on mic placement and gain reduction.

Wim.

When you make the big time (not too far off in the future) you'll be hiring a professional to do your recording, so keep playing!