Shout (Tears For Fears)

[paulman]

Still working on the Avantone/SM57 two mic recording thing. I think maybe the acoustic could be more open sounding, but overall I think this is the best I've done mixing these two mics together. My lack of skill with recording/mixing acoustic guitars is a separate issue.


[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBoentpZyVI[/BBvideo]

[rayc]

Not bad mic blend - the guitar does sound like the bass strings were removed.
Volayy the 1st syllables need more character - either downer or clarion call.

[vomitHatSteve]

Some sour notes on the guitar around 0:40.

I was wondering how you were going to hit that low note in "violent" before that octave jump! Hah!

[TripleM]

I thought once you kicked the vocal into gear at :55 the performance got much better. It kind of dragged up to that point.

The acoustic guitar sounds boxy and a little thin. You'll probably only get so far with a 57, but you might want to play with mic placement.

[paulman]

Hmm. Yeah, after the apocalypse I should probably look for a better mic for this purpose than the 57. I normally use the Avantone for recording acoustic, when I'm multitracking. I use it for everything, really. It picks up so much detail from vocals, acoustics, percussion instruments... I'm going to try it with my guitar cabinet too, now that I have an amp.

[Tadpui]

Love the performance and arrangement!

As an experiment: Try sticking the CV-12 in figure-8 mode and arrange it so that it faces your guitar but the null points at your face. Then sing into the SM57 close-up and set gains accordingly. That should achieve quite a bit of separation between the two tracks. I've become a huge fan of the figure 8 pattern on that mic. That null is really deep and offers some serious off-axis rejection!

Since you've got a very heavy picking strum (me too) you might try heavier strings on your acoustic. That might yield more tone relative to the pick attack and string/fret noise.

[CrowsofFritz]

Great singing! What guitar is that? It sounds.....cheapish at times.

[paulman]

Great singing! What guitar is that? It sounds.....cheapish at times.

Thanks man. It's a mid-level Ibanez. Somewhere in the $600 range, as I recall. Don't know the model off the top of my head. Been thinking about getting a Martin D28 for recording and just using this one for gigs, but not now with all the economic uncertainty.

[paulman]

Love the performance and arrangement!

As an experiment: Try sticking the CV-12 in figure-8 mode and arrange it so that it faces your guitar but the null points at your face. Then sing into the SM57 close-up and set gains accordingly. That should achieve quite a bit of separation between the two tracks. I've become a huge fan of the figure 8 pattern on that mic. That null is really deep and offers some serious off-axis rejection!

Since you've got a very heavy picking strum (me too) you might try heavier strings on your acoustic. That might yield more tone relative to the pick attack and string/fret noise.

Cool, thanks for the ideas. I need to get as serious about acoustic setups as I have been about tweaking my Tele build to get it where I want it. I'm pretty sure tuning down a half step like I do negatively affects the tone of my acoustic. But it is necessary, at least for live performance, because my voice just sounds better on most things that way. I learned a long time ago that the instruments should always meet the voice where it is most comfortable, even in group settings. Now for recording some songs where standard tuning doesn't make me sound strained, or when I'm using a capo like I did on Shout, I could tune standard. But because I can only tune one way for a gig, I have to find ways to make it sound better when it's tuned down.

[musicturtle]

Hey [mention]paulman[/mention]

First of all. Good performance man. You have some pipes and I love the energy.

As far as the mic situation for the guitar, it is hard to see where it is pointed and placed.

I always like to have the mic diagonally pointed towards where the neck meets the body like the picture below. This picks up less of the strumming/pick sound and picks up a blend of the strings and body.

Also, you have a good strong voice, perhaps you could move the condenser out in front you and the guitar more instead of isolated on your voice.
Then you can work the blend of both mics, with the 57 being more for bass and body and the condenser for the highs.

Just some things that I have tried. In the end you just have to experiment until you are happy with it.

[paulman]

Hey @paulman

First of all. Good performance man. You have some pipes and I love the energy.

As far as the mic situation for the guitar, it is hard to see where it is pointed and placed.

I always like to have the mic diagonally pointed towards where the neck meets the body like the picture below. This picks up less of the strumming/pick sound and picks up a blend of the strings and body.

Also, you have a good strong voice, perhaps you could move the condenser out in front you and the guitar more instead of isolated on your voice.
Then you can work the blend of both mics, with the 57 being more for bass and body and the condenser for the highs.

Just some things that I have tried. In the end you just have to experiment until you are happy with it.

Thanks musicturtle! I had the mic pointed at the same spot you suggested, but from the other direction. The Avantone can pick up everything by itself (which is what makes it tough to use when I'm not using it in that way, as in this recording). I've done a couple of recordings with a duo where I just put it out in front of us, and it picked up both voices and my guitar just fine. I'm just experimenting and trying to have more control over each instrument. I need a wider variety of mics to work with, but I also "need" a lot of other things. So I'm trying to see how far I can go with what I have. I'll have to try your suggestion with the Avantone farther away.

[JD01]

Paulman, great performance.

I've had some some great acoustic sounds pointing one of my AKG C1000s at the 15th Fret. Maybe try swapping your mics around if you want to do this live single take thing. Sing into the 57. Although your current vocal mic sounds good on your voice.

Tuning on the guitar sounds a bit wonky in places - do you re-tune it after sticking the capo on? If not you'll be surprised how far some strings are out by just adding the capo.

[WhiskeyJack]

I always like to have the mic diagonally pointed towards where the neck meets the body like the picture below. This picks up less of the strumming/pick sound and picks up a blend of the strings and body.

I approve of this 3D render of a mic'd acoustic.

[musicturtle]

I approve of this 3D render of a mic'd acoustic.

Ha ha!

I just opened up Winows Paint 3D and it had the guitar and mic in the library.

Just had to color the gtr and turn them the right way.

[Greg_L]

Still working on the Avantone/SM57 two mic recording thing. I think maybe the acoustic could be more open sounding, but overall I think this is the best I've done mixing these two mics together. My lack of skill with recording/mixing acoustic guitars is a separate issue.


[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBoentpZyVI[/BBvideo]

Really good performance. I have no reference on what a "good" acoustic sounds like, but that seemed fine to me. You got a nice mix and blend between guitar and vocal.