Recording CF...

[philjs]

Last fall J.R. posted about recording his new album with his deep blue Rainsong and I thought that I'd add to that. I've been overdue on recording a 2nd album of my own (I think we all know why) and finally got to it at a local studio in January, finishing the tracking in March. They're now being mixed and pre-mastered until I get the program order for the CD sorted.

Along with some tunes recorded with the 'old-fashioned' Lowden and Larrivee, I recorded three of the tunes on my Emerald X30 fan-fret baritone and another three tunes on my Rainsong 'Nashville' jumbo and I thought folks might like to hear them. Please keep in mind that these are early mixes and pre-mastering (though I'll update the files as new mixes and final mastering happens).

Here's one of the Rainsong tunes:



Here's one of the Emerald baritone tunes:



Finally, for comparison purposes, here's a new tune on my Lowden:



Don't know about y'all but I think the CF instruments sound like guitars!

Phil

[domen]

Listening to you play is really a pleasure, I have already subscribed to your soundcloud channel.

I have some questions for you, I hope not to ask too much:
- what microphones do you use to record?
- do you also record via pickup?
- in case of stereo microphones do you position them x-y?
- where do you place the microphones when playing with a center hole guitar and where do you place them when recording an emerald?
- do you add some mic preamps for these tracks on your DAW?
- and effects?

Thanks!

[strangersfaces]

Beautiful playing, Phil!

And yes..., the CF models sound like guitars.., very good guitars, with you in control.

Thanks for the sneak peeks!

Lance

[philjs]

Originally Posted by domen

Listening to you play is really a pleasure, I have already subscribed to your soundcloud channel.

I have some questions for you, I hope not to ask too much:
- what microphones do you use to record?
- do you also record via pickup?
- in case of stereo microphones do you position them x-y?
- where do you place the microphones when playing with a center hole guitar and where do you place them when recording an emerald?
- do you add some mic preamps for these tracks on your DAW?
- and effects?

Thanks!

Hi domen,

The new album is recorded by Scott Ferguson at FMP Matrix studio in Dartmouth, NS. I'm not nearly good enough with home recording to get these results! He used a spaced pair with a Rode Classic tube LDC at the neck/body joint, slightly above the neck (about shoulder level) but aimed at about the middle of the neck at the midpoint between the joint and the soundhole (on the Emerald, as I recall, it was lower and aimed at the downside of the neck at the neck/body joint) with a single Rode NT5 pencil behind the bridge at about the midpoint of the body. Both mics were about 12" from the guitar. Neither of the CF guitars has a pickup yet. He is using Cubase for a DAW but I can't tell you anything about preamps or effects.

Phil

[boneuphtoner]

Sounded awesome Phil! Great to see another fan of the Nashville Jumbo!

[domen]

Originally Posted by philjs

Hi domen,

The new album is recorded by Scott Ferguson at FMP Matrix studio in Dartmouth, NS. I'm not nearly good enough with home recording to get these results! He used a spaced pair with a Rode Classic tube LDC at the neck/body joint, slightly above the neck (about shoulder level) but aimed at about the middle of the neck at the midpoint between the joint and the soundhole (on the Emerald, as I recall, it was lower and aimed at the downside of the neck at the neck/body joint) with a single Rode NT5 pencil behind the bridge at about the midpoint of the body. Both mics were about 12" from the guitar. Neither of the CF guitars has a pickup yet. He is using Cubase for a DAW but I can't tell you anything about preamps or effects.

Phil

thank you very much Phil! Unfortunately my english does not allow me to understand perfectly or immediately but, if I have not misunderstood, the technician used 2 microphones at the same time but not in stereo pairs. One pointed on the neck (tube) and one behind the body (pencil). Interesting, given the excellent result. I usually place 2 mic pencils in x-y pairs between neck and body, more towards the neck or immediately below (depending on the guitar and the guitarist). If I then realize that I need more or less bass and/or presence, I move it closer to the body or the neck. I've tried adding a third mic but this almost always leads to phase problems, of course. It is a job that must be done carefully and things get complicated when microphones are different from each other and if the distance of the microphones from the sound source is not the same.
Did the technician make several tests before finding the right combination and position or did he immediately go in this way? Sorry for the many questions but it's a topic that I'm really passionate about

[philjs]

Originally Posted by domen

thank you very much Phil! Unfortunately my english does not allow me to understand perfectly or immediately but, if I have not misunderstood, the technician used 2 microphones at the same time but not in stereo pairs. One pointed on the neck (tube) and one behind the body (pencil). Interesting, given the excellent result.

Yes, he was using a spaced pair (about 20" - 22" between the mics) as opposed to a coincident (eg. X-Y or ORTF) pair. Personally, I prefer the wider sound field of a spaced pair. Note that both mics were in FRONT of the guitar...the pencil mic was pointed just behind the bridge at about the middle of the lower bout (but it wasn't behind the body).

Originally Posted by domen

I usually place 2 mic pencils in x-y pairs between neck and body, more towards the neck or immediately below (depending on the guitar and the guitarist). If I then realize that I need more or less bass and/or presence, I move it closer to the body or the neck. I've tried adding a third mic but this almost always leads to phase problems, of course.

The engineer for my first album used an ORTF pair of wide-cardioid pencils with a ribbon mic between them for a mono/center bass track. It worked quite well...

Originally Posted by domen

It is a job that must be done carefully and things get complicated when microphones are different from each other and if the distance of the microphones from the sound source is not the same.
Did the technician make several tests before finding the right combination and position or did he immediately go in this way? Sorry for the many questions but it's a topic that I'm really passionate about

In this case, both mics were about the same distance from the guitar (10" or so) and the space between them was about twice that distance. He had the mics set up in the spaced pair at my first session but after I settled into the chair and he saw how I held the guitar he spent some time listening with his ears before finalizing the positions. On following sessions he set the mics in the same relative positions and fine-tuned as needed to suit the guitars and my playing position. Some of the tracks were recorded standing while others were done while seated.

Hope that helps...

Phil