@Jack - Fixit Submissions for September 19 - AAP

[Jack]

I've been working on this for a while, mostly the 12 string acoustic part - I'm afraid I didn't spend nearly enough time on the solo (are my bends sharp or flat this time)

Besides my playing, any suggestions on the audio production would be much appreciated. I was having a hell of a time getting a good recorded sound - everything sounded fine to me when I was playing it, but while recording (no matter which microphones I used), the open G strings (which ring out through most of the verses) really got amplified excessively, to the point where it sounded like annoying feedback or something. I made some very large EQ cuts in the appropriate frequencies which more-or-less fixed it, but of course that's far from ideal. Any ideas?

 

[Steve_Whant]

Hi Jack - i really enjoyed this - very inspiring. I've been tied up on the Sept Bloomfield challenge and only just came across this. Want to add this to my repertoire as its a great song from some amazing artists. I can't help on your questions, sorry. I am low tech on recording - Samsung phone. I have no editing suite. What are you using to separate the tracks on your backing track?

 

[Jack]

Thanks Steve! For recording I use Reaper Digital Audio Workstation software. My backing track simply consisted of Stevie's singing - there was also a click track I played along with but of course left out of the finished recording. I put Stevie right in the center, and since I recorded the acoustic with a pair of mic's, I panned the two tracks about 60 degrees left and right, which seemed to keep the guitar and vocals from interfering with each other. For the electric guitar, I wanted it to sound big and fat so I duplicated the track and panned them about 25 degrees left and right.

 

[Steve_Whant]

Thanks Steve! For recording I use Reaper Digital Audio Workstation software. My backing track simply consisted of Stevie's singing - there was also a click track I played along with but of course left out of the finished recording. I put Stevie right in the center, and since I recorded the acoustic with a pair of mic's, I panned the two tracks about 60 degrees left and right, which seemed to keep the guitar and vocals from interfering with each other. For the electric guitar, I wanted it to sound big and fat so I duplicated the track and panned them about 25 degrees left and right.

Thanks Jack - will take a look at Reaper when i get some time. Do you prefer mics to a guitar pick-up or just using what you have available? I ask because i am considering buying a pickup for my acoustic. I play a lot of acoustic but can't use my looper with it.
First finger bends - not used them except for the 'sqeeze' but that has room for development for me.

 

[Jack]

Thanks Jack - will take a look at Reaper when i get some time. Do you prefer mics to a guitar pick-up or just using what you have available? I ask because i am considering buying a pickup for my acoustic. I play a lot of acoustic but can't use my looper with it.
First finger bends - not used them except for the 'sqeeze' but that has room for development for me.

I definitely prefer to use mic's to record acoustic. I've got your basic piezo pickups on both of my acoustics and just don't care for them, they sound very artificial to me and don't capture the real beauty of the instrument. Griff told me that every acoustic you hear on an album was recorded using mic's.

Of course there are tons of pickups out there, I was looking at a Yamaha the other day that had a piezo under the bridge, a mic inside the body, and a third pickup attached under the top And there are dozens of soundhole pickups, some sound pretty good on their demo videos, of course they're trying to sell those things and have professional studio guys make them sound as good as possible. And mic's are a bit of a pain, you've got to set up the mic stand, you've got cables all over the place, and there's the never-ending "Maybe I should move this one over here? Maybe I should point this one a little farther in this direction?" LOL. But I think it's worth it to get the same sound you hear when you're playing.

 

[Steve_Whant]

I definitely prefer to use mic's to record acoustic. I've got your basic piezo pickups on both of my acoustics and just don't care for them, they sound very artificial to me and don't capture the real beauty of the instrument. Griff told me that every acoustic you hear on an album was recorded using mic's.

Of course there are tons of pickups out there, I was looking at a Yamaha the other day that had a piezo under the bridge, a mic inside the body, and a third pickup attached under the top And there are dozens of soundhole pickups, some sound pretty good on their demo videos, of course they're trying to sell those things and have professional studio guys make them sound as good as possible. And mic's are a bit of a pain, you've got to set up the mic stand, you've got cables all over the place, and there's the never-ending "Maybe I should move this one over here? Maybe I should point this one a little farther in this direction?" LOL. But I think it's worth it to get the same sound you hear when you're playing.

Thanks Jack - all useful input. Well, your recording of Landslide was great. I am still working on the picking pattern - seems easy but somehow i keep losing it - more practice needed!

 

[Jack]

Thanks Jack - all useful input. Well, your recording of Landslide was great. I am still working on the picking pattern - seems easy but somehow i keep losing it - more practice needed!

Here's a great lesson from the man himself

 

[Steve_Whant]

Fantastic - thank you Jack that's extremely helpful