What do you think of this recording?

[rick-slo]

I like the clarity and presence in this recording. I do think nylon is a little easier to record well that flattops of course.
A short clip
http://sheffieldlab.com/mp3/SL10058-01.mp3

[Doug Young]

Nice. Sounds like it was recorded with some room sound, not uncommon for classical guitar. Two guitars panned fairly hard left and right also creates a more open sound, and often sounds better overall than either individual guitars.

Sheffield Lab does nice recordings. Any info on how it was recorded?

[j3ffr0]

It sounds really nice to me. I didn't realize was a easier to record nylon than steel string, but thinking back over my recordings with both.... yeah -- maybe I could see that.

[sdelsolray]

Nice duet. The sonics are very good, as is the performance.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Sheffield Lab does nice recordings. Any info on how it was recorded?

Found no info on the internet about it though probably just two mikes used.
The recording was done in 1995 (which was the earlier days of digital and
CDs though much better sounding than that possible in the earlier 1980's).

[jim1960]

It sounds very much like many of the classical recordings I was listening to in the early-mid 70s. I'm guessing most of those were recorded in the 60s sometime.

[runamuck]

Excellent recording, I think.

And BTW - I have a harder time recording a classical than steel string guitars.

[AcousticDreams]

I should first proclaim that I am as of yet, an extreme novice in the recording area. My knowledge and experience is little.

With that being said, I have found on the few times I have tried recording two Acoustic guitars(a single mic on each) by a distance of 10 feet or more, that it will add an extra depth. Similar to what I hear in these Shieffield recording. I separated the guitars to get better isolation as at that time I had no sound panels.

As Doug mentioned we are getting a room sound as well. When singled out the microphone on my guitar, the recording sounded quite lifeless. When I turned up the mic on the other guitar(even when the guitar was not playing) my guitar sound was significantly better.

Is it the added room sound from the other mic? Is it the reverb effect from the room? Is it the delay time between my mic? Or is it that the mics are hearing sound differences from placement in different parts of the room?

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

I should first proclaim that I am as of yet, an extreme novice in the recording area. My knowledge and experience is little.

With that being said, I have found on the few times I have tried recording two Acoustic guitars(a single mic on each) by a distance of 10 feet or more, that it will add an extra depth. Similar to what I hear in these Shieffield recording. I separated the guitars to get better isolation as at that time I had no sound panels.

As Doug mentioned we are getting a room sound as well. When singled out the microphone on my guitar, the recording sounded quite lifeless. When I turned up the mic on the other guitar(even when the guitar was not playing) my guitar sound was significantly better.

Is it the added room sound from the other mic? Is it the reverb effect from the room? Is it the delay time between my mic? Or is it that the mics are hearing sound differences from placement in different parts of the room?

On a guitar recording a single mike (mono) sounds thin and phasey compared to stereo. With both mikes turned on both mikes picked up sound from the one guitar playing (even though a sizable volume difference at each mike) and that filled out and solidified the sound.

Listen to any solo acoustic guitar recording just with the right or left side of a stereo recording (make the side picked centered so you hear it though both ears) and you will get that effect.

With a solo voice or some other recordings of an instrument with a small sound production area (say a flute or trumpet) mono recordings can sound just fine (provided close mic'ing without room reflections becoming a significant part of it (in that case a stereo recording is better).

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

I should first proclaim that I am as of yet, an extreme novice in the recording area. My knowledge and experience is little.

With that being said, I have found on the few times I have tried recording two Acoustic guitars(a single mic on each) by a distance of 10 feet or more, that it will add an extra depth. Similar to what I hear in these Shieffield recording. I separated the guitars to get better isolation as at that time I had no sound panels.

As Doug mentioned we are getting a room sound as well. When singled out the microphone on my guitar, the recording sounded quite lifeless. When I turned up the mic on the other guitar(even when the guitar was not playing) my guitar sound was significantly better.

Is it the added room sound from the other mic? Is it the reverb effect from the room? Is it the delay time between my mic? Or is it that the mics are hearing sound differences from placement in different parts of the room?

So you have one mic close and another mic further away? Sure, the further mic acts as a room mic. 10 feet away adds a delay of 10ms to the sound, and it will also be picking up reflections (reverb) from the room. If your room sounds good, this can be a good thing. If it doesn't it may sound bad. The 10ms delay can add a sense of space, but it could also add comb filtering and other, possibly negative phase effects. But this is basically what a "room" reverb is trying to emulate, room reflections with some pre-delay. With 2 guitars, if you're panning to each side, you'd be getting the direct sound of each guitar in its own speaker, and the ambiance/delay in the other, which could sound nice, as long as the room is good.

Note that you could also record one guitar with one mic, pan it to one side, then send a dup with a 10ms delay to the other side, and get a sort of pseudo-stereo effect. So you're getting a bit of this concept from your setup as well.