Apogee Mic picking up sound of breathing

SprintBob · #1 04-02-2015, 01:15 PM

I've been learning to record with my Apogee Mic connected to my iPad using GarageBand. I'm starting to get some decent results however the mic is picking up the sound of my breathing which I have never noticed when playing without the mic setup. I'm setting the mic about 6"-7" from the guitar positioned in front of the 12th fret in front of the soundhole.

Anyone else had a similar issue (no matter which mic you are using)? It's a distraction to your playing to be thinking about trying to breath silently!

Thanks for any advice.

rick-slo · #2 04-02-2015, 01:44 PM

Learn to hold your breath, play the tune faster to get through with it if you can't hold your breath too long (you will get better at holding your breath longer with practice - I'm up to four minutes and counting).

Joseph Hanna · #3 04-02-2015, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SprintBob

I've been learning to record with my Apogee Mic connected to my iPad using GarageBand. I'm starting to get some decent results however the mic is picking up the sound of my breathing which I have never noticed when playing without the mic setup. I'm setting the mic about 6"-7" from the guitar positioned in front of the 12th fret in front of the soundhole.

Anyone else had a similar issue (no matter which mic you are using)? It's a distraction to your playing to be thinking about trying to breath silently!

Thanks for any advice.

Every great studio acoustic guitarist has good breathing technique's as part of their tool box. It's a fundamental part of learning to record with mics, particular acoustic instruments where breathing walks over the part itself.

SprintBob · #4 04-02-2015, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Learn to hold your breath, play the tune faster to get through with it if you can't hold your breath too long (you will get better at holding your breath longer with practice - I'm up to four minutes and counting).

April Fools Day was yesterday!

SprintBob · #5 04-02-2015, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

Every great studio acoustic guitarist has good breathing technique's as part of their tool box. It's a fundamental part of learning to record with mics, particular acoustic instruments where breathing walks over the part itself.

I would not have believed it before but I believe it now. But you have to breathe to be relaxed to play the song! So I have to ask if there are any fundamentals to learning quiet breathing technique that won't be picked up by the mic. I thought the issue was too unique to do a search to see if this has been discussed before.

rick-slo · #6 04-02-2015, 04:08 PM

Only 87% April Fools.
It is a common problem until you take steps to avoid it.,
Don't be a mouth breather or record when you have a cold, etc..
Reposition the location and aim of the mike(s).

runamuck · #7 04-02-2015, 11:24 PM

You could try raising the mic up a bit so it's pointing down away from your head.

It's not an omni mic, is it?

SprintBob · #8 04-03-2015, 06:38 AM

Apogee Mic.

islandguitar · #9 04-03-2015, 07:27 AM

Although not always successful with this issue, I take a deep breath and give a big slow exhale before I push the red button. I also like shorter songs!

SprintBob · #10 04-03-2015, 10:18 AM

I have the mic about 8-10 inches from the fretboard around the 12th fret but pointing straight down. This seemed to help a bit. I'm also trying to sit up straighter and get my head further away from the mic. Both are helping a bit.

Bob Womack · #11 04-03-2015, 11:15 AM

I've learned to take in a couple of long breaths and exhale just before the last note of the song when recording. No need to kill a good take by being human. A little breath is a small price to pay for your art.

Bob

Doug Young · #12 04-03-2015, 11:45 AM

If you listen closely to solo guitar recordings (where there's nothing to cover up extra noises), you'll hear breathing on lots of commercial releases. Humans need to breathe :-)
But it's usually not an issue unless you are breathing loudly during a quiet section or on the tail. I can't hold my breath 4 minutes, but I do hold it as long as I can on a tail. Mics seem to pick up the tail longer than you expect, so I end up holding my breath (or trying), long after my ears tell me the note has died out. If the guitar is still ringing at the point that I'm about to pass out, then I can always fade out the tail!

There are tools that can remove breathing (iZotope RX works pretty well), but with a bit of attention, you can probably learn to just not breathe loudly, at least in spaces and quiet spots.

Psalad · #13 04-03-2015, 11:51 AM

Is the Apogee an omni mic? I have never noticed a problem recording acoustic guitar with my condensers.

Yamaha Man · #14 04-03-2015, 12:10 PM

I had similar problems and point the mics downward towards the guitar and out of the line of fire from my nose and mouth...works great.

Another trick that I use is to run my recordings thru Adobe Audition's noise reduction program, works great, you take a sample of the room noise, put it in the program and hit apply and it removes all room noise and makes a perfect sounding quiet end recording.

Ty Ford · #15 04-04-2015, 06:58 AM

Some people are very noisy breathers. You may be one of them.

The ones I've seen are all men and somewhat overweight and breathing through their mouths.

It could also be that the mic placement you've chosen is not good for your posture and/or breathing.

How quiet are the pieces that you're playing?

Why not post something so we can hear what you're talking about?

Regards,

Ty Ford