Revisiting the Lyric

[GoPappy]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

I did this recording a while ago. I was using the Lyric at gigs. I always loved what it did. This, I'm sure, was direct into Pro Tools.

https://soundcloud.com/joseph-hanna/...social_sharing

https://soundcloud.com/joseph-hanna/...social_sharing

Sounds great. Really beautiful playing too.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

I did this recording a while ago. I was using the Lyric at gigs. I always loved what it did. This, I'm sure, was direct into Pro Tools.

https://soundcloud.com/joseph-hanna/...social_sharing

https://soundcloud.com/joseph-hanna/...social_sharing

Thanks for the recordings, Joseph. They certainly demonstrate that the lyric can be used effectively for direct recording. That second recording, especially, reminds me of the kind of evocative fingerstyle song accompaniment that one would hear on the best singer-songwriter recordings. Stylistically, it made me think of my old friend Bill Morrissey. In any event, there’s no way that I would guess that was recorded off an internal mic, rather than an externally mounted mic(s).

If I remember correctly from a few years back, making music-inclusive commercials was (and possibly still is) your primary profession. You must be quite adept at post processing, so I’m curious about what processing (if any) was employed with these Lyric recordings.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

Thanks for the recordings, Joseph. They certainly demonstrate that the lyric can be used effectively for direct recording. That second recording, especially, reminds me of the kind of evocative fingerstyle song accompaniment that one would hear on the best singer-songwriter recordings. Stylistically, it made me think of my old friend Bill Morrissey. In any event, there’s no way that I would guess that was recorded off an internal mic, rather than an externally mounted mic(s).

If I remember correctly from a few years back, making music-inclusive commercials was (and possibly still is) your primary profession. You must be quite adept at post processing, so I’m curious about what processing (if any) was employed with these Lyric recordings.

Hey guitaniac,

Yes, I'm still making my living in the television and movie industry; however November 3rd of this year, I'm retiring. Good lord willing, and the creek don't rise

I don't remember exactly what I did, but some things come to mind. In all of my posts here, be it for a pick-up or a mic, I've never used more than eq, and reverb or eq and delay. Eq was never more than hi-pass stuff, and the reverb and delay, back then, was a Lexicon and SoundToys EchoBoy. No fancy processing of any kind, as that would entirely defeat the purpose of the demo. I'm certainly not tryin' to fool anyone

For me, the trick with any acoustic pickup system I've ever used was, first and foremost, to get a grip on what the pickup wanted, touch-wise. I failed consistently if I went into the situation with the touch and dynamics I used on a straight acoustic guitar. In other words, I went with where the pickup took me instead of hoping the pickup would automatically sound somewhat like me.

I'm certain those two recordings were done straight into Pro Tools, and I'm also sure I didn't use headphones. For both recordings, I can hear Pro Tools click track picked up by the Lyric.

I don't gig anymore, but I still have the Lyric, as it was worth keeping over all the others I tried.

[guitaniac]

Joseph,

Thanks for the thorough explanation of how you processed the Lyric recordings. I’m interested in recording with the Lyric to reduce vocal bleed when making simultaneous guitar/vocal recordings. (Using an Audix OM7 dynamic mic to minimize guitar bleed.) It’s good to learn that your excellent recordings were achieved with basic reverb and EQ. When the Session DI was introduced, we uninitiated folks learned that “studio magic” can go way beyond basic reverb and EQ.

[guitaniac]

I did some experimental recording this morning and am pretty pleased with how the Lyric records for me. I've been interested in recording off the Lyric because I think it will reduce vocal bleed when I record guitar and vocal simultaneously. These samples include individual chord strums, pattern picking with fingerpicks, two bare-fingered samples and some strumming and flatpicking, in that order. The playing is pretty ragged, but I'm happy with the guitar sound.

The signal chain is guitar> Zoom A1-4 processor> Zoom H4 recorder. I used the A1-4 to EQ the signal and add a small amount of hall reverb. The guitar is a spruce/rosewood Greg Bennett Samick medium jumbo.


https://on.soundcloud.com/7U6Y3

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

I did some experimental recording this morning and am pretty pleased with how the Lyric records for me. I've been interested in recording off the Lyric because I think it will reduce vocal bleed when I record guitar and vocal simultaneously. These samples include individual chord strums, pattern picking with fingerpicks, two bare-fingered samples and some strumming and flatpicking, in that order. The playing is pretty ragged, but I'm happy with the guitar sound.

The signal chain is guitar> Zoom A1-4 processor> Zoom H4 recorder. I used the A1-4 to EQ the signal and add a small amount of hall reverb. The guitar is a spruce/rosewood Greg Bennett Samick medium jumbo.


https://on.soundcloud.com/7U6Y3

Yes, I've tried this experiment in the past, but that was before I learned that I was using my Zoom H4 recorder incorrectly.

[BDiamond]

Hi there.

I have a Lyric in my 1996 Lakewood (OM-type guitar. Spruce top, Walnut B&S). I also have a Fishman Matrix passive undersaddle wired to the ring of the Lyric output. I've been messing around with trying to blend the two for a while, and I've gotten some good results, and some not so good.

As it turns out, every time I actually gig with this guitar (it's pretty rare that I do, to be honest), I end up using the Lyric on its own for one reason or another. That reason is usually because getting whatever box I need to bring to blend the two all set up and hooked up is a headache when I'm already stressed and nervous.

Anyway, I just did a quick recording (don't knock the guitar performance - I was really just noodling). So I have the Lyric going into an Audioarts parametric EQ with only a low eq turned on. It's just acting as a preamp mostly. That goes into a Yamaha DXR8, and my iphone was pointed at it about 3 feet away.

You can hear at about 20 second in I turn up the volume on the Lyric. Before that was the guitar in the room, but facing opposite the phone mic. This is a quite decent sound, I've gotta say.

https://on.soundcloud.com/E3sHN