First Recording with H4n, Need Advice!

[1Charlie]

Solo singer songwriter, playing acoustic guitar and singing. Trying to get a demo of my songs to shop among bars, wineries and other potential venues for gigs.

I have a Shure SM57 and 58 that I can plug into the Zoom. I presume I will close mic the guitar and vocals, and also use the onboard capsules.

Biggest question I have is about the recording mode.

Should I record both vocals and guitar simultaneously in mono.

Should I record in stereo?

Or should I use the multitrack function, lay down the guitar track, and overdub the vocals as a separate file? Seems multitracking would also allow me to overdub harmonies and perhaps a second guitar part.

I have no clue what I am doing...

[SprintBob]

I’m not the expert here but great questions so looking forward to the responses. I’m learning also for home recording.

[MikeBmusic]

The only reason to record both guitar and vocal at the same time is if it is the only way you (as a performer/player) can do the best job. Some players can't play consistently without also singing, and vice-versa.

By recording guitar first (you can try doing it in 'stereo' with the two mics), but instead of tracking to one stereo track, send each mic to a separate mono track, then you can play with panning and EQ and level of each separately in the mixing stage.
No reason to record vocals in 'stereo' - even if you used both mics, the sound source is a point (your mouth) so mono.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by 1Charlie

Solo singer songwriter, playing acoustic guitar and singing. Trying to get a demo of my songs to shop among bars, wineries and other potential venues for gigs.

I have a Shure SM57 and 58 that I can plug into the Zoom. I presume I will close mic the guitar and vocals, and also use the onboard capsules.

Biggest question I have is about the recording mode.

Should I record both vocals and guitar simultaneously in mono.

Should I record in stereo?

Or should I use the multitrack function, lay down the guitar track, and overdub the vocals as a separate file? Seems multitracking would also allow me to overdub harmonies and perhaps a second guitar part.

I have no clue what I am doing...

Consider that for gig solicitation for a singer/songwriter while getting the best sound possible is always a desirable goal, providing a multi track production is not particularly useful and sometimes not advisable . When I was actively seeking singer/songwriter gigs many of the people I was soliciting for gigs wanted to hear what I was going to sound like at their venue and had no interesting in listening to a studio production type of example. They wanted just guitar and vocal. No added tracks . What I gave them was basically a three track recording mixed down to two track stereo interleaved . Stereo guitar panned hard right and left and a mono vocal panned to the center .

As far as recording just guitar and vocal simultaneously or separate there are advantages and disadvantages to both methods, even for just guitar and vocal

As Mike suggested most performers are used to hearing themselves simultaneously and not overdubbed , and often find the timing hard when first trying to do overdubs . But as with all new things it is a matter of practice .

If I were you I would try both methods . But either way for gig solicitation, I would still do only a single guitar sound (mono or stereo) and a mono vocal whether recorded simultaneously or separately .

I am not familiar with the Zoom so do not know it's mix capabilities . It appears to only have 2 inputs so you will have to decide Stereo guitar and dub vocal over it or mono guitar and mono vocal at the same time .But if you can overdub with it , then you can experiment easily for example with using the zoom mics for stereo guitar and then the 58 in mono for vocal
But also definitely try simultaneous as well then decide which method you like.