Recording in new space - critique please

[Wrighty]

Hi all

I have recently moved house and managed to secure a small space for recording in. I have added some acoustic treatment in the form of full band panels - located in front of, behind and to the side of the playing position.

Mics are AT2020 into Audient interface - spaced pair (10" from guitar and 20" apart)

Levels/reverb/EQ added in reaper.

I would love some input from those in the know as to how this sounds from a recording perspective - mic position, noise, room sound and anything else that I may be able to improve my recorded sound by tweaking.



Many thanks in advance.

Peter.

[rick-slo]

Sounds fine. Post the raw recording, preferably a wav. Could be interesting check it out and perhaps play around with it.

[Gordon Currie]

The recording sounds good to me.

I heard no obvious 'home recording' room sound which plagues so many DIY recordings.

The only thing I perceived was a slight tubbiness to the bass range.
That may be my own preferences rather than anything inherent, so take it with a grain of salt.

Looks like your new space and your miking technique will allow you to produce good quality recordings.

[Wrighty]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Sounds fine. Post the raw recording, preferably a wav. Could be interesting check it out and perhaps play around with it.

Very happy to share a .wav - with nothing done at all (straight out the mics) or with my adjustments?

Is a link the best way to do that on AGF? (Dropbox)

[Wrighty]

Originally Posted by Gordon Currie

The recording sounds good to me.



I heard no obvious 'home recording' room sound which plagues so many DIY recordings.



The only thing I perceived was a slight tubbiness to the bass range.

That may be my own preferences rather than anything inherent, so take it with a grain of salt.



Looks like your new space and your miking technique will allow you to produce good quality recordings.

Thanks for listening - that’s encouraging.

The bass on this guitar has been a challenge in the past - a little muddy, which has improved with 80/20 strings.

How would you address the bass issue - dial bass down in EQ? (I have removed anything below 60hz)

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Wrighty

Very happy to share a .wav - with nothing done at all (straight out the mics) or with my adjustments?

Is a link the best way to do that on AGF? (Dropbox)

If you don't have a website and don't want to sign up for anything you probably could attach to an email about a 45 second section of straight out of the mikes wav file. The would be under the 10 mb file size limit for most email providers. I'll message you the email address if you need it.

[Doug Young]

Sounds very nice to me! Soundcloud provides one way to share files for download. Just check the "allow downloads" box when you set up the track. It will allow downloading of the original file, not their compressed version.

[AcousticDreams]

Very sincerely, I thought it sounded heavenly! I liked the bass, midrange and trebles...very smooth!
Musical is often a word I hear used to describe certain pres that are not sterile or brittle sounding. Your recording sounds very musical to my ears.

I have pretty much made up my mind to purchase a Audient ID44. I will probably order one on Tuesday. Hearing your recording only helps to confirm what others have previously described, that Audient pres as being very musical & warm.

I would love to hear more about your acoustic standing panels. Sizes, and materials you used.

[Wrighty]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Sounds very nice to me! Soundcloud provides one way to share files for download. Just check the "allow downloads" box when you set up the track. It will allow downloading of the original file, not their compressed version.

Great - I’ll upload the clean .wav file and then allow downloads on soundcloud and let you know on the forum.

Thanks..

[TBman]

Sounds good!

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by Wrighty

Thanks for listening - that’s encouraging.

The bass on this guitar has been a challenge in the past - a little muddy, which has improved with 80/20 strings.

How would you address the bass issue - dial bass down in EQ? (I have removed anything below 60hz)

I always prefer to get the sound right going in if possible, but using a spaced pair may not give you lots of room to experiment.

You could try adjusting the angle of the microphone pair a bit, maybe 90 degrees is not best for the sound you want. Mere inches of adjustment can sometimes create a big change in the sound. I was taught that the first EQ you could apply was in microphone placement.

I like a gentle low filter starting at 80 Hz myself, and I tweak as needed. A lot of the definition of a bass note is actually coming from higher harmonics anyway.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Wrighty

Thanks for listening - that’s encouraging.

The bass on this guitar has been a challenge in the past - a little muddy, which has improved with 80/20 strings.

How would you address the bass issue - dial bass down in EQ? (I have removed anything below 60hz)

One way to deal with bass is to adjust the distance between mics and guitars. Proximity effect can make a big difference with even an inch or two. Of course, you can always EQ afterwards, if needed.

[Wrighty]

Originally Posted by Gordon Currie

I always prefer to get the sound right going in if possible, but using a spaced pair may not give you lots of room to experiment.



You could try adjusting the angle of the microphone pair a bit, maybe 90 degrees is not best for the sound you want. Mere inches of adjustment can sometimes create a big change in the sound. I was taught that the first EQ you could apply was in microphone placement.



I like a gentle low filter starting at 80 Hz myself, and I tweak as needed. A lot of the definition of a bass note is actually coming from higher harmonics anyway.

The mics were angled in slightly in this case, pointing at the bridge and the 14th fret but I will have a play with the position.

Thanks for the input.

[Wrighty]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

One way to deal with bass is to adjust the distance between mics and guitars. Proximity effect can make a big difference with even an inch or two. Of course, you can always EQ afterwards, if needed.

The mics were about 10” from guitar but I could move them back a little and listen.

Thanks.

[Wrighty]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Very sincerely, I thought it sounded heavenly! I liked the bass, midrange and trebles...very smooth!

Musical is often a word I hear used to describe certain pres that are not sterile or brittle sounding. Your recording sounds very musical to my ears.

I have pretty much made up my mind to purchase a Audient ID44. I will probably order one on Tuesday. Hearing your recording only helps to confirm what others have previously described, that Audient pres as being very musical & warm.

I would love to hear more about your acoustic standing panels. Sizes, and materials you used.

Thank you very much for the kind words - I am sure it can be improved but I am fairly happy with where it’s at right now.

The Audient was a great buy - I also heard great things but was surprised at how good the sound from this base model is.

My panels are a mixed bunch. I have two large (1.2m x 1.2m) pro built panels that I picked up from a studio - these sit right behind the mics forming a sort of V shape that I play into. I then made two tall rectangular panels from mineral wool (Rokwool) into frames (1.2m x 0.6m) and wrapped them in cheap fabric. These two are behind me and to my right.

Lastly I made 6 smaller squares (0.6 x 0.6) and wrapped them without frames - these are positioned as I need them.

All are 10cm in thickness.

Positioning of these has not been scientific or measured so may not be optimal - I am still playing with the placement.

If you want any photo’s just send me a PM and I’ll gladly send you some.

Peter.