Recording Taylor 510 help.

[Stixxs]

Hi All,

Looking for signal chain recommendations for recording a Taylor 510, I'm mainly a strummer folky with some acoustic rock. Going into Pro Tools 003 (black lion mod). I have 6-900 for the mic and pre amp - maybe more.

I just haven't had much sonic luck with the LD condensers with this guitar - too bright.

Any help appreciated.

~Thanks

[rick-slo]

LDs are not necessarily bright. Which particular mikes?
A bright live room can lead to bright sounding recordings.

[Stixxs]

Rick - Mostly the cheap Chinese fair, Cascade, Sterling audio. I think the most success i've had was with a AT 4033 - but combined with the Taylor everythings a bit shrill. Thinking is time for a tube preamp - Universal Audio 610 maybe.

[rick-slo]

Mikes make more of a sound difference than preamps. See what you can do with the room and mike position(s) (pair of mikes better than one).

[MikeBmusic]

How are you positioning the mic? Is your tracking room acoustically treated? Have you tried using 2 mics (SDC woudl be best)? I point one at the 12th fret, slightly angled towards the soundhole, about 6" away, and a second mic pointing at the lower bout also 6" away. Treated room, I point towards a wall/corner with bass traps, and usually have a free-standing bass trap as a gobo on the body side about 18" away.

[Stixxs]

Mike - yeah rooms treated bass traps cloud and all, just looking to upgrade the setup to better quality. Haven't tried the free standing gobo - and have enough material to make something up - will look into the SDC's any recommendations?

Rick - Great solo acoustic stuff, What'd u record with?

[rick-slo]

Thanks Stixxs.

On the last CD or two it was two Microtech Gefell M295s, to a NPNG preamp, to a Mytek Stereo 96, to a Fireface 800 (purely as a router), to Windows XP and Ableton Live 7 DAW. Post recording there was time alignment if needed, a high pass filter, and a little post recording reverb.

This mp3 has some of my newer recordings (from my latest CD and not listed on my website yet) http://dcoombsguitar.com/Guitar%20Mu...tOutMedley.mp3

[Doug Young]

It might help to post some example recordings. Taylors are often considered fairly bright guitars, and Id expect a strummed 510 to create a typical bright folk sound. so maybe you're just hearing the sound of your guitar out front? Its hard to advise without hearing, tho. As we've seen many times, people mean different things by words like "bright"

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by Stixxs

Rick - Mostly the cheap Chinese fair, Cascade, Sterling audio. I think the most success i've had was with a AT 4033 - but combined with the Taylor everythings a bit shrill. Thinking is time for a tube preamp - Universal Audio 610 maybe.

A UA 610 won't do much for perceived "shrillness". First, analyze your right hand execution and technique (i.e., angle, pick, attack, hand placement, etc.). Second, a guitar may enhance shrillness, as may strings used. Check this out. Third, mics can have something to do with it too, and often do, particularly if they have a treble boost (many mics have this) and are placed too close to the source (consider mic placement variation). Many (most?) inexpensive mics' treble response, besides being boosted, are harsh and sonically non-pleasing. A mic preamp can have an effect, but I doubt a Digidesign 003 with a Black Lion mod would provide anything other than transparent and quiet gain to the mic signal and very good conversion from analog to digital. Often, your recording room can be a culprit, but shrillness is not usually the result of a poor room.

[Psalad]

I would play around with mic placement before doing anything else. Everyone always starts with the 12th fret, maybe a foot away. I would have someone play while you move the mic around with sealed headphones on. Or, even move your ear around (plug one ear) and find the spot that has the sound. Start there.

Moving it closer to the sound hole will make it more boomy of course.

Most acoustic guitars in rock mixes are EQ'd beyond recognition... very little low end, they almost are used like percussion instruments. Drives me personally crazy as I like the sound of them but they do take up sonic space that other instruments might be operating in so there is a balance.

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by Stixxs

...[snip]..... will look into the SDC's any recommendations?

You've got some very knowledgeable folks (Steve, Rick, Doug, etc) giving advice about all the variables of your situation. If you decide to get a pair of mics for stereo recording, as well as keeping within your budget, you can find quite a bit of information if you search in this Record subforum. You will probably find quite a lot of references to the modified Oktava MK-012 (sdc), ADK A6 (mdc), and 3 Zigma (sdc) mics. I've got limited experience with these mics (my Oktava was stock w/o the aftermarket mods) and they seem very nice for the money.

[KevWind]

I have Taylors also and yes they tend to be on the bright side or some might say a bit more detailed in high end

In any case couple of things I have found to help, for strumming try a pick more on the medium to heavy side. A light hand , and also light weight strings.

Also the Digi EQ is quite useful in narrow Q attenuation of specific problem frequencies. Or in this case the ones you feel are shrill my guess would be around either 2k 4k or 6k would be a place to start .

[runamuck]

First, try a thicker pick and if you're using bronze strings, try phosphor bronze.