audio quality in Sungha Jung's recordings

[Le Chef]

How in the world is Sungha Jung or his engineer getting this sound? It's more than "just reverb".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B26...L09A&index=193

I realize he recorded audio separately from the video, but I still want to know what those effects and settings are. Seems possible he came out of his guitar's jack, amplified, and went direct into ... something. Maybe several microphones. Maybe both.

Wild guesses are welcome.

Thanks.

[Joseph Hanna]

I can tell you a couple of technical aspects here. It's an amazingly balanced, flat response eq curve, all things considered. There's a little bump in the 200Hz range which is simply the body of the guitar. There's a pretty high order (12db or steeper) Hi-Pass filter at 50 HZ. The recording is in stereo although it's not panned "hard" left and right. Can't tell if there's a mono pickup in the mix but if there is it's way, way back. He has used pickups in some of his recordings past and present. There is a stereo reverb but unlike the guitar it is panned hard left and right. It's also a really nice sounding reverb.

The rest, I'd guess, is in the talent, the room and the mic's.

[rick-slo]

Magnetic pickup does nicely for full low end sound. Fair amount of reverb with a nice smooth longish tale fade. Whatever the recording space it's no doubt a nice one. Also nice guitar and the right one for what he is playing. Generally lowered and open tunings have a nice full and smoother sound than your regular standard tuning.


FWIW I prefer somewhat a more detailed sound with less reverb such as:

[Bob Womack]

Firstly, if this is a recording of the video performance, look at the room: hard wall on the camera right side and hard floor, wall behind looks like a fabric or textured treatment. Importantly, there is a bookcase behind him that is the perfect homemade diffuser. Camera left looks like a wide open space with lino and hard walls. I don't see a plug or transmitter in the strapjack for the pickup and don't detect any of the metallic magnetic pickup sound. Given the cutoffs for the shots, if the mics are out front they are a good three feet away, which eliminates low-end build-up to a great degree. He could be recording with shotguns in order to cut down on room tone but you'd expect the usual nasal sound of shotgun that isn't there. Watching left and right hand I don't detect any out-of-sync. I'm guessing the mics are overhead, just out of camera shot. That would put them at 3' from the guitar. There's a strong center image but the left-hand side is brighter than the right.

I do detect an upper-mid push to give things that tinkle. Frankly, I think it is done quite tastefully, but it takes 100 recording engineers to listen to a recording - one to listen and 99 to stand around with their hands in their pockets and say they could do better.

Bob

[KevWind]

The Pickup looks to be a Sunrise but I would agree with the others. there seems to more than just it going on.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by KevWind

The Pickup looks to be a Sunrise but I would agree with the others. there seems to more than just it going on.

Sunrise Magneitc Soundhole Pickup on that guitar. Has used the L.R. Baggs Anthem and perhaps others.

The video is separate from the actual recording.

[AcousticDreams]

A possibility since he is using a pickup:
*A Chorus unit. I use to use one on electric guitar. Still have it. And it does produce a sound very similar.
* Some type of doubling device that delays the second signal just a hair.

[lkingston]

I agree that he recorded it separately and played along with the video... Multiple times for the various camera angles.

[anton]

Man I remember when he was a little kid, now he has 6.33M Youtube subscribers, good for him.

Thanks for posting that, nice crisp sound.

[Le Chef]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

I can tell you a couple of technical aspects here. It's an amazingly balanced, flat response eq curve, all things considered. There's a little bump in the 200Hz range which is simply the body of the guitar. There's a pretty high order (12db or steeper) Hi-Pass filter at 50 HZ. The recording is in stereo although it's not panned "hard" left and right. Can't tell if there's a mono pickup in the mix but if there is it's way, way back. He has used pickups in some of his recordings past and present. There is a stereo reverb but unlike the guitar it is panned hard left and right. It's also a really nice sounding reverb.

The rest, I'd guess, is in the talent, the room and the mic's.

Joseph, you sure know a ton about this stuff. But how were you able to detect the details you describe? Just by listening? Eithelt way, I am sure you must be a pro, no joke.

Thanks

[mc1]

Originally Posted by anton

Man I remember when he was a little kid, now he has 6.33M Youtube subscribers, good for him.

And has a signature Lakewood!

Originally Posted by Le Chef

Joseph, you sure know a ton about this stuff. But how were you able to detect the details you describe? Just by listening? Either way, I am sure you must be a pro, no joke.

I'm interested as well, but he must be using some software.

[Doug Young]

That's a very nice sound, and there's no way to know, but I seriously doubt this is recorded live - got to be fingersync'd. You don't get that bottom end from distant micing and if there are mics in this room, they're quite far away. To me, it also sounds like the Sunrise is in the mix, but he's not plugged in. He does do a great job of fingersyncing. Usually its obvious just from looking, but here it's very convincing, except for the sound not matching what we're seeing as far as setup.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by Le Chef

Joseph, you sure know a ton about this stuff. But how were you able to detect the details you describe? Just by listening? Eithelt way, I am sure you must be a pro, no joke.

Thanks

Naw nothing crazy here. I’ve made my living now entering my 21st year in the television and film industry here in Los Angeles. Metering and Mastering tools are my life line. FCC fines for goofing up are astronomical and I’m often bound by those numbers to preserve my employment 😜

I never, never use these tools while mixing as they’re useless as a tonality gauge. Hopefully my ears remain more profitable in the audio scheme of things. However for reviewing and analyzing stuff that’s gonna air, my analytical tools are utterly vital!

[Bob Womack]

I'm going to stick my neck out here as well: I work in the same field as Joseph. I'm watching Sunga's fingers closely and I don't see any loss of sync at all. I do sync for a living and have had to develop a pretty tight visual sense of it. I just don't see the normal syncing errors you get with finger sync.

Bob

[Wrighty]

Fascinating thread - that is a lovely reference recording. I’d love to know more about his setup and whether he is finger syncing or not..