Recording and Mixing Acoustic Guitars

This months blog and Podcast focuses on getting better guitar sounds from the start, and how to mix multiple mics. You can also enter our contest to win free drum tracks. Be sure to check out the Podcast for some cool examples.
Recording Acoustic Guitars

One of the more difficult instruments to get sounding good in the studio is the acoustic guitar. One reason is that acoustic guitar is a very tonally complex instrument. Another, is that unlike an electric guitar where the sound comes out in front of the amp, an acoustic has sound coming out of every side and angle. Most guitarists only hear their instrument from above, but conventional mic placement is always in front. This leads to many guitarists not liking how the recording sounds, but unsure exactly why.
A simple technique for a good sounding recording is to start with a single condenser mic about 12 inches in front of the guitar pointing at the edge of the hole and fretboard. Be careful of too much low-midrange as you get close to the sound hole. If you want stereo, use one mic pointing at the hole, and another pointing at the middle of the fretboard.
In addition to using mics in front of the guitar, a mic or 2 can be placed near the players head, pointing down at the guitar. Experiment with placement and always use your ears as a guide. Try recording each mic onto a separate track and then soloing each one to decide what you like or don't like about the sound.
Mixing Guitars

Now that you've got all your tracks recorded, you've got a few options. One is to mix all the mics and process the tracks gently to produce a clean, single guitar track. Another option is to process each mic completely different from the others and use effects to produce some new and wild textures.

Starting with the stereo mics in front, pan one hard left and the other hard right. If your mic placement and room are good, this usually produces a clean stereo image. However, if the recording room is not the greatest, try panning them 50-70% to each side instead of 100%.

With the over-the-shoulder mics, solo each track, and if you find a frequency that you like, boost it a bit. If there is a problem frequency, cut it a little. This way you can get the best of each mic and mix them to make the best sound.

For that 'army-of-guitars' type of sound, try using some effects such as delay, drastic EQ, and distortion on a few of the tracks. Pan some hard left and hard right. Leave at least one track dry and unaffected to give some solidity and ground to the sound. Another way to get a thick sound is to double or triple track the same guitar part. Each performance will be slightly different and provide a great cohesive sound when mixed together.Armed with these techniques, you can explore and find the perfect guitar sound for your songs.
Next month we'll talk about mastering; what it is, and what it isn't.

Live Sound vs. Studio

This weeks Podcast and interview with live sound engineer Trevor Young will take a look at the world of live and touring sound. I don't like typing, so I'm going to get this over with asap. No backspacing or editing. Being mostly a studio guy myself, I wanted to get a professional viewpoint on how live sound issues are different from the studio. One point often brought up by live guys is that they only have a few minutes to get a good mix, whereas in the studio, one can take a week just getting the drums to sound killer. Does this make the live guy better at mixing? Does it make the studio engineer slower? How does the fast pace of the live sound world affect the quality of sound coming from the speakers for the brief moment in time during the concert? To help answer some of these questions, I talked with live sound engineer Trevor Young. He helps dispel some myths and rumors about live sound, as well as emphasizing one of my mantras: "Use Your Ears!"

What do I mean, use your ears. Well, as technology advances and there is more and more gear available to the pro engineer and consumer musician, there seems to be less emphasis on talent and more emphasis on a particular piece of gear or software plugin. We've all seen the ads that basically say, "If you get this equipment, your songs will be better". Right? What people most often forget is that unless they know how to use the equipment and use their ears to tweak it and make it sound like they want, it is useless. many of the best engineers and musicians I know survive with minimal gear. The key is, they know what they want, they know how to use the gear they have, and they are constantly listening.

This rule applies in all aspects of music, including and especially live sound. In a live situation there seems to be less control of each instrument, the audience, the room, hall, venue, arena, etc. In the Podcast, Trevor hits on this point very well. It doesn't matter what the graphic EQ says. It matters what it sounds like. Each band is different, each venue is different, and each engineer has his or her own way of getting the sounds they want.

Stay tuned next week when we'll hear from Russ Hughes of the Digidesign A.I.R. user's blog. Then after that we'll talk with on of the biggest session and touring drummers today, Russ Miller. See ya next week.

Recording Drums, Part 3

This week is part 3 in a three part series of recording drums. Be sure to check out the Podcast that goes along with this weeks blog.

This week focuses on adding additional elements and percussion to a drum mix, and how to make them fit in early on in the mix process. I'll also show you how to use some special efects on a drum mix to make it more lively and have some movement, without being distracting in a mix.

First off, many people add auxiliary percussion to their mixes as a final element to fill in some holes they may have. Being a drummer and percussionist, I like doing it the other way around. Add all the percussion you think you'll need at the beginning. When I record a drum track, I often add some other percussion to go along with it. Even if it may not be used in the final mix, it's there to set a foundation and a starting point for everything else that my come along in the recording process.

Second thing I like to use are some special or weird effects on drum mixes. Of course, there are many purists out there who would never dream of using effects plug-ins on drums, only on electric guitars, but I say if it can be done, why not try it? Then if it doesn't work, move on to something else. I don't want to get too extreme with this first introduction of the process, so we'll just start with a simple reverb plug-in.

Now, though reverbs are common in many types of music, the way it is used can be unique. Here's my unique approach.

1. Take a drum mix, or even just a snare drum track.

2. Duplicate the track.

3. Use a Reverse plug-in to reverse one of the duplicate tracks.

4. Add a Reverb plug-in to the Reversed track. Try setting the reverb time to whatever your quarter note value is. If your tempo is 120, the reverb time would be 500ms. Keep the Reverb 100% wet, because you'll be adding this to your dry signal later.

5. After adding and processing the reverb on that track, Reverse the track again. This will give you a track that has a reverse-reverb on it. Instead of hearing a reverb after a snare hit, you'll hear a reverb coming up to the hit.

6. Add a little of this reverse-reverb track to your dry signal.

For even a little more fun, try alternating the panning on the new track from hard left-right, to center, on each beat. This combined with the reverse-reverb effect gives the impression of the drums spreading out and then imploding to the middle on each beat.

Be sure to download the Podcast so you can hear these processes in action.

Stay tuned next week when we'll hear from Miles Fulwider about Ambisonics and the B and B+ formats.

Recording Drums, Part 1

This week is part 1 in a three part series of recording drums. This blog focuses on different microphone techniques. This blog coincides with the new podcast where you can hear the difference in various mic configurations and placements, and how they affect they overall sound. You can subscribe to the Podcast here. The next two blogs and podcasts will focus on mixing techniques including EQ, compression, reverb, and other tricks.

As with any acoustic recording, mic placement is the second most important ingredient to a great sound, second only to having a good source. If you have seen ads for Millenia Media's preamps, then you're familiar with their slogan "Their is no undo on your preamp". I like to go a couple steps before that and say, there is no undo on your mic placement, even more, there is no undo on the sound coming out of the instrument in the first place. This means that basically, what you hear is what you get. Of course, the whole recording studio industry, software, hardware, gadgets and gizmos aplenty, is built around trying to make people believe that they can polish the proverbial turd and make things sound better than the original source, but always remember, it starts at the source and mic placement.

Some of my favorite mics for recording drums, and what you will hear on the podcast, are listed below.

Kick - Audix D6

Snare Top - Shure SM57

Snare Bottom - Shure SM57

High Tom - Audix D2

Low Tom - Audix D4

Overheads - Rode NT5's

HiHats - Nady Starpower SP-9

Now, some of you may not know that the Nady Starpower is basically a $15 radioshack mic, but hey, if it works, why not use it? Most of the other mics are standard studio fare. You can find them in any professional setting. Perhaps soon, Grammy winners will be judged on how many Nady Starpowers were used on their album, instead of how many millions of records were sold to their aging, rich, grandmother.

Back on the topic now. No matter what mic you use, or what kind of mic placement you have, there is one thing that all the best recording engineers have. Good ears! No piece of equipment or gear even comes close to having as much impact and persuasion on a recording than using your ears. It's the one thing you can't buy on eBay, Guitar Center, or any store. So listen to the podcast, and do some experimenting yourself. Use your best equipment that is always with you. Here's to your ears!