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#1
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
Would any of you esteemed audio engineers have tips for recording acoustic guitar directly to iPhone? I'm using a zoom iq5 in the m/s setting to get stereo. I'm finding that I need to go off axis to get something as shown in the attached sound check video, but even with placement the only variable there's still 1001 possibilities. All help graciously appreciated!
http://youtu.be/AOHX02TNtKc |
#3
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
Thanks John, the first thing you said about perseverance is what I realize is the one thing that makes all the difference. You're ideas are all helpful pointers- many thanks. The guitar I just picked up is an incredible sounding instrument (finding the "one" took all the perseverance in the world as I've played hundreds over the multi year search to find this one). Now I want to do it justice. That may take a little more gear than a $90 zoom mic and an iPhone though
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#4
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
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#5
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
On 3/23/2016 2:40 PM, wrote:
Thanks John, the first thing you said about perseverance is what I realize is the one thing that makes all the difference. The guitar I just picked up is an incredible sounding instrument Now I want to do it justice. That may take a little more gear than a $90 zoom mic and an iPhone though Your phone and Zoom mic are hardly the ultimate setup for recording your guitar, but you can learn a lot from it. Here are a couple of suggestions: - Rig up a stand that lets you put the mic wherever you want it and keep it in a stable position while you make some trial recordings in different positions relative to your guitar. There are "clips" for the various size iPhones (some of these clamps are adjustable) that allow you to attach the phone to a mic stand or a camera tripod. Get a mic stand with a boom to go with your iPhone clip and you'll have a good set of learning tools. - Set the mic in the M-S mode so you're recording the mid and side mics on individual channels. Forget about the side channel for a while and experiment with the mic position when you're listening to just the single mono (cardioid, I think) mic. Oh, and turn off the automatic gain and limiter. You'll want to learn how to set the record level properly on your way to becoming a recording engineer. -- For a good time, visit http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com |
#6
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
Oh, and turn off the automatic gain
and limiter. You'll want to learn how to set the record level properly on your way to becoming a recording engineer. +1 re turning off the AGC / limiter the other important thing not mentioned is omni vs cardiod. Are the zoom mics omni or cardiod? Are the iPhone mics omni or cardiod. Omni vs cardiod (or uni) is one of the BIGGEST audible differences between mics that you will ever encounter. Omni = omnidirectional meaning picks up sounds from all directions Cardiod or uni = unidirectional meaning picks up sounds from mostly one direction. Mark |
#7
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
In article ,
wrote: Would any of you esteemed audio engineers have tips for recording acoustic = guitar directly to iPhone? I'm using a zoom iq5 in the m/s setting to get = stereo. I'm finding that I need to go off axis to get something as shown in= the attached sound check video, but even with placement the only variable = there's still 1001 possibilities. All help graciously appreciated!=20 http://youtu.be/AOHX02TNtKc 1. Figure out what you want it to sound like. 2. Figure out where you need to put the mike and what kind of room you need to make it sound like that. Of these two, believe it or not the first one is the hardest. A lot of solo guitar recordings are very closely miked to where you can hear the fingers on the strings. Others are very far back in a concert hall. Figure out first off the sound you want. The farther away you are, the more important the room is, but even if you are right up against the instrument and have the mike listening very closely, the room is still important. Maybe you want a dry room, maybe you want a room that is open and spacious. You almost certainly don't want a small reflective room that sounds boxy. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#8
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
Thanks for all the advice! The question of what I want it to sound like is easy for me to answer, because I know what it sounds like (to me) when in playing. My wish is to share THAT perspective with a listener. Not sure if anyone checked out my short YouTube clip I included in the op, but the key missing ingredient in that sample is twofold- the sense of wood moving against my gut and the air moving around my head- clearly sensed when playing- clearly absent in the recording. I guess the other thing I notice is the exaggerated transient from the attack of the notes that in real life is more integrated with the bloom of each note.
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#9
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
On 3/24/2016 10:09 AM, wrote:
Thanks for all the advice! The question of what I want it to sound like is easy for me to answer, because I know what it sounds like (to me) when in playing. My wish is to share THAT perspective with a listener. Well, then, put an omni mic or two up by your ear or ears. That's not a joke. It's a recognized technique for recording acoustic guitar as the player hears it. To use what you presently have, put your recorder up by your right ear, pointed downward toward the upper side of the guitar. Not sure if anyone checked out my short YouTube clip I included in the op, but the key missing ingredient in that sample is twofold- the sense of wood moving against my gut and the air moving around my head- clearly sensed when playing- clearly absent in the recording. I'm not sure that loudspeakers are capable of reproducing that, at least not in a normal playback situation. You might be able to capture the head sound with a binaural mic setup (essentially mics where your ears are) and play it back through headphones, but I don't know about the wood moving against your gut. You might need a speaker built into a belt buckle in order to get that. With the frequency range of an acoustic guitar, it would have to be painfully loud to move your gut at a reasonable listening distance. I guess the other thing I notice is the exaggerated transient from the attack of the notes that in real life is more integrated with the bloom of each note. That's a sign that you're too close to the instrument and you're not recording its full sound. A lot of people like that guitar sound because it's so detailed, but if you want the sound of the note as it develops after the attack, you'll need to pull back a couple of feet, maybe more, and then the room sound will trouble you if it's not a good sounding room. -- For a good time, visit http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com |
#11
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
On Wed, 23 Mar 2016 10:24:21 -0700 (PDT),
wrote: Would any of you esteemed audio engineers have tips for recording acoustic guitar directly to iPhone? I'm using a zoom iq5 in the m/s setting to get stereo. I'm finding that I need to go off axis to get something as shown in the attached sound check video, but even with placement the only variable there's still 1001 possibilities. All help graciously appreciated! http://youtu.be/AOHX02TNtKc Does the guitar sound good? If it does then record the guitar - I mean the whole guitar. You will hear advice to record the sound hole, the 12th fret, the strap button - you name it. Ignore it all. If the room is not great, deaden it a little - bedding like duvets is a really good absorber. The put the mics about six feet away in front of you. That is the only way you are going to record perfect acoustic balance. You will need a reasonably quiet room for this. Have a look at this for one of the finest acoustic recordings (OK and performances) I have ever seen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEfFbuT3I6A d --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#12
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
Don, that recording is amazing- and on YouTube even! Any inside scoop on signal chain/gear used? How much of that is simply that room?
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#13
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
On Thu, 24 Mar 2016 12:02:41 -0700 (PDT),
wrote: Don, that recording is amazing- and on YouTube even! Any inside scoop on signal chain/gear used? How much of that is simply that room? No idea about signal chain, but I am going to say it doesn't matter. It was recorded as clean as possible with no compression - unfortunately Youtube did some damage in that department. As for the room - it looks like it should be pretty horrid - a mass of slap echo, and John placed as badly as possible right in the centre. All I can say is that the recordist knew the room a great deal better than me. But the tone - that came from backing away from the guitar and - as I said - recording the whole thing, not just bits of it. d --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#14
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
Got it! I'm going to try it in my living room which is actually a very nice live space about 24x16 with 12 foot ceilings and lots of wood everywhere. I'll see what I get. By biggest concern is that the self noise of the iq5 relative to the source (my guitar) decreasing in volume the further it gets away.
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#15
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
On Thu, 24 Mar 2016 13:18:26 -0700 (PDT),
wrote: Got it! I'm going to try it in my living room which is actually a very nice live space about 24x16 with 12 foot ceilings and lots of wood everywhere. I'll see what I get. By biggest concern is that the self noise of the iq5 relative to the source (my guitar) decreasing in volume the further it gets away. Self noise of mics is not often a problem, and these days noisy pre-amps really aren't either. Acoustic guitars are actually surprisingly loud too. I don't think you will have a problem. d --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#16
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
On Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 1:24:26 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Would any of you esteemed audio engineers have tips for recording acoustic guitar directly to iPhone? I'm using a zoom iq5 in the m/s setting to get stereo. I'm finding that I need to go off axis to get something as shown in the attached sound check video, but even with placement the only variable there's still 1001 possibilities. All help graciously appreciated! http://youtu.be/AOHX02TNtKc Not bad, but lacks the acoustics of the acoustic guitar. I mean, I want to hear it as I'm right in front of the guitar, some of that steel string sound and capture the wholeness (low end) of the body of the guiatr. Just my opinion. Jack |
#17
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
On Thursday, March 24, 2016 at 1:32:07 PM UTC-4, Don Pearce wrote:
On Wed, 23 Mar 2016 10:24:21 -0700 (PDT), wrote: Would any of you esteemed audio engineers have tips for recording acoustic guitar directly to iPhone? I'm using a zoom iq5 in the m/s setting to get stereo. I'm finding that I need to go off axis to get something as shown in the attached sound check video, but even with placement the only variable there's still 1001 possibilities. All help graciously appreciated! http://youtu.be/AOHX02TNtKc Does the guitar sound good? If it does then record the guitar - I mean the whole guitar. You will hear advice to record the sound hole, the 12th fret, the strap button - you name it. Ignore it all. If the room is not great, deaden it a little - bedding like duvets is a really good absorber. The put the mics about six feet away in front of you. That is the only way you are going to record perfect acoustic balance. You will need a reasonably quiet room for this. Have a look at this for one of the finest acoustic recordings (OK and performances) I have ever seen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEfFbuT3I6A Not bad, but too much room acoustics. Would work well in a movie, perhaps, but not a studio recording. Jack d --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#18
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Help with recording acoustic guitar
In article ,
wrote: Thanks for all the advice! The question of what I want it to sound like is = easy for me to answer, because I know what it sounds like (to me) when in p= laying. My wish is to share THAT perspective with a listener. Well, try putting the microphone up near your head, then. I've often done that with a couple baffled omnis, maybe had to pull them back a little bit but just using the player's listening position as the starting point. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
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