Newbie Question/s: How 2 start recording? (Acoustic Fingerstyle)

[whynautguitar]

Thanks for all the replies! I think I'll consider searching for a portable recorder and if I have any budget leftover I'll invest in a pair of SDC mics. A bigger focus now would probably be how to mix better and learning how to "record better" though I think that's practice and just scouring through this forum.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by whynautguitar

Thanks for all the replies! I think I'll consider searching for a portable recorder and if I have any budget leftover I'll invest in a pair of SDC mics. A bigger focus now would probably be how to mix better and learning how to "record better" though I think that's practice and just scouring through this forum.

Keep in mind that with solo fingerstyle guitar, there's not much to "mix" - you only have the one instrument. The key to the sound of the people you are listening to is room acoustics and mic placement, along with some at least minimally decent gear, and of course good playing. If you get the sound right going in, mixing is just a matter of maybe a little EQ (ideally not needed), adding a bit of reverb, perhaps a very light touch of compression. That's basically it! I think we get conditioned by what we hear about pop recording, where there's "studio magic" applied in the mix with all kinds of effects that turns a rough sound into a hit. With solo fingerstyle guitar, it's more like classical recording - get it right going in, and there's not much else that needs to be done.

If you get going and post examples here, you might get much more targeted suggestions, once people hear where you're starting from.

[kellyb]

Originally Posted by whynautguitar

...how I can have a more "stereo" sound if I can only record in mono.

RE: a more "stereo" sound, I'm not sure if you're using a computer/DAW, but if so, it might worth trying the following if you're ever bored:

1. Add a reverb plugin to your mono guitar track
2. Adjust the decay time to be very short
3. Either omit any pre delay (level 0), or adjust it up to 40-60ms, or to taste, and listen to make sure there's no strange slapback/delay. If there is, your pre delay time is probably too long.
4. Adjust the reverb level up until it sounds a little artificially "wider"

Depending on the plugin and source sound, that trick can kind dull things too much, but in some cases, it can make things sit a little flatter and wider in the mix.