#1
|
|||
|
|||
How I Record Acoustic Guitars
Hello everyone,
this is a question I get asked regularly and I've put together this video to show my set-up which uses two "rules" of quality at source and simplicity. Good rules to live by in any context really! All the best MDW
__________________
www.michaelwattsguitar.com Album Recording Diary Skype Lessons Luthier Stories YouTube iTunes Guitars by Jason Kostal, Strings by Elixir, Gefell Mics and a nail buffer. Last edited by Michael Watts; 09-15-2018 at 04:20 AM. |
#2
|
||||
|
||||
Wonderful clip, Michael! Looks like a very comfy room in your home......love the windows........
Don't think I'd call you "the weakest link".......... I like your approach.....and of course the equipment is top shelf along with the sound you produce! Thanks again, Fred
__________________
1993 Bourgeois JOM 1967 Martin D12-20 2007 Vines Artisan 2014 Doerr Legacy 2013 Bamburg FSC- 2002 Flammang 000 12 fret 2000 McCollum Grand Auditorium ______________________________ Soundcloud Spotify Mike McKee/Fred Bartlett Spotify playlist |
#3
|
||||
|
||||
Good video.
I'm a Gefell fan having the M300s and also the M295s. Been using the M295s mainly these days (not quite as warm as the M300s with their greater proximity effect, but more detailed). Slower fingerstyle music with lowered tunings and droning strings, usually records well. I find faster music with quick changes of more complex chords more challenging to get a clean recording of. No post recording processing used - reverb, equalization, etc.? If so, what?
__________________
Derek Coombs Youtube -> Website -> Music -> Tabs Guitars by Mark Blanchard, Albert&Mueller, Paul Woolson, Collings, Composite Acoustics, and Derek Coombs "Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Woods hands pick by eye and ear
Made to one with pride and love To be that we hold so dear A voice from heavens above Last edited by rick-slo; 09-14-2018 at 08:22 AM. Reason: typo |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
If I were to offer a "suggestion," it would be to not spend all that money on nice microphones and then expect to get a high-quality recording in a noisy living room. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Ha! Yeah, in this case the “rules” are entirely self imposed.
__________________
www.michaelwattsguitar.com Album Recording Diary Skype Lessons Luthier Stories YouTube iTunes Guitars by Jason Kostal, Strings by Elixir, Gefell Mics and a nail buffer. |
#6
|
||||
|
||||
Really nice video Michael, I always love your presentation. I use a pair of Gefell M300's myself, great mics. I was partly persuaded to get a pair from your many fine youtube videos. I agree on the simplicity part, I use an RME Babyface Pro. Two inputs, a few knobs, and not much to worry about.
__________________
http://wwww.celticfingerstyleguitar.com Albums: The Isolation Waltz Noone Lasses Youtube Music on Spotify Last edited by anton; 09-14-2018 at 10:41 AM. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
I have two friends who recorded and edited an audiobook in a bedroom. It took them four months. They were so proud of it. Then they heard it in my control room and threw it all out. |
#8
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
__________________
Derek Coombs Youtube -> Website -> Music -> Tabs Guitars by Mark Blanchard, Albert&Mueller, Paul Woolson, Collings, Composite Acoustics, and Derek Coombs "Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Woods hands pick by eye and ear
Made to one with pride and love To be that we hold so dear A voice from heavens above |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
I don't know where he recorded that, and his living room may be dead quiet. Impossible to tell from the video because he's got guitar-playing running through it. If the room is dead quiet, though, it's very much the exception. Most people's aren't. He addresses the mics, and the placement, but not that.
|
#10
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
__________________
Derek Coombs Youtube -> Website -> Music -> Tabs Guitars by Mark Blanchard, Albert&Mueller, Paul Woolson, Collings, Composite Acoustics, and Derek Coombs "Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Woods hands pick by eye and ear
Made to one with pride and love To be that we hold so dear A voice from heavens above |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Not arguing that.
|
#12
|
||||
|
||||
Nice video, well done!
Quote:
__________________
Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Hi Doug, yes, that’s it exactly. It’s not a noisy room per se and the noise floor on the mics is low due to careful gain staging. There is more perceptible room on the Voice than on the guitar as you might expect. I’m glad you liked it and it’s good to hear from you. It’s been a while! MDW
__________________
www.michaelwattsguitar.com Album Recording Diary Skype Lessons Luthier Stories YouTube iTunes Guitars by Jason Kostal, Strings by Elixir, Gefell Mics and a nail buffer. |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Very interesting and enjoyable video, Michael! I always enjoy your videos, so it's very interesting for me to see and learn about the details of how you get your great sound.
Like Fred notes, I don't think you are anything like the weakest link in the sound chain. You seem to bring magic out of the guitars you play from my point of view! I very much like the sound of your Gefell M300 microphones. I may have to splurge one of these days and buy a pair. I also agree with Doug Young about the room effects. Yes, you can hear slight effects of early reflections in Michael's speaking voice. Yet for the close mic'd guitar recordings, I hear no room effects whatsoever. I know that small, rectangular shaped rooms, like bedrooms, can be problematic for good quality recordings, and for this kind of problem it's fairly easy and cost effective to put up sound treatment. But in Michael's living room? Yuck! - Glenn
__________________
My You Tube Channel |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
It's interesting to see by the Gefell M300 frequency response curve that while the microphone is a cardioid type, it does not exhibit the typical proximity effect bass boost. Rather, the mic actually shows a very gradual bass roll-off below 100 Hz. See below link for some review comments and the frequency response curve.
http://recordinghacks.com/microphone...ch-Gefell/M300 Like just about all condenser mics, the mic shows a slight treble rise, but in the case of the Gefell M300 design, the rise is very gradual above about 2 KHz and not peaky at all. - Glenn
__________________
My You Tube Channel |