one girl and a guitar

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Member Since: Jan 21, 2003

i'm recording a local singer songwriter to help me get into a college course. I'm using cool edit pro, a behringer UB802 mixer and a few shure sm58's. As it is only a simple recording (just her vocal and guitar) i was wondering how i should record it. Should i record her vocal and guitar seperately and then multitrack it or should i pan hard right and left. Any tips on how to spice it up, eg an ambience mic?

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Hello!
Member
Since: Jan 12, 2004


May 09, 2005 03:59 am

You will want to record both parts seperately if possible.

You'll fine enough with the 58's if thats all ye have for now. Use the 58 for the vocals and also, if ye have more and no 57's you can try something I done recently - turn your 58 into a very close copy of a SM57...just unscrew the grill and viola, a very CLOSE replica of the famous 57.

Then, fire the 58 with the grille unscrewed (the makeshift 57!!!) on a boom stand and experiment with the positioning. CLoser to the sound hole is more boomy...so - try a few things...see what sounds best.

If ye have more (I am going on you only having 58's here) you could do the same trick (unscrew teh grille) an put one on the neck next to the 12th fret and one further down near the sound hole.

When in Cool Edit, I would add verb to the vox, EQ em and compress if needed.

Id also pan each guitar part you have left and right and EQ so they mix well. ADd some verb and it'll be sweet as a nut.

Good luck

Coco.

Hello!
Member
Since: Jan 12, 2004


May 09, 2005 04:02 am

I should add, this would give you a 3 track recording with one channel for vox (I would pan this in the centre) and 2 guitar tracks which I'd pan left and right (tho not HARD)..

Maybe 50 left and 50 right - I dunno, ye need to experiment - there is no rules for this type of thing...

Cheers

Coco.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


May 09, 2005 11:17 am

If you're interested, I can link to a recording I did recently that's just acoustic guitar and vocals recorded with an SM57 and a MXL990 recording simultaneously. The thread that I submitted it in turned into a nice discussion of micing techniques for solo acoustic/vocals.

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


May 09, 2005 11:20 am

coco's method sounds like it's work real nice but just for another option i'm gonna say it depends on the feel of the song....for a real nice audio "picture" of a singer/songwriter in a room, i'd put two 58's up in an XY pointed vertically (one twards the singer, the other pointin' at the guitar...pan prolly around 40% left and right.....find a 'good room' for this that compliments the feel...for more room, move the mics back, and for a more close and intimate feel, get them closer (careful with the proximity effect of the 58's though on the guitar)

Answer:On a good day, lipstick.
Member
Since: Jun 24, 2004


May 09, 2005 11:29 am

Hey Tadpui, that's exactly the combination I'm putting together for a song. The MXL990 + SM57...Would love the link!

aogodavo (?):
I've worked extensively in bands, and as a side man with female singer songwriters. Without tarring them all (singer/songwriter/acoustic guitar - not just the girls) with the same brush....Try to get her to play the guitar parts separately, and have patience. She might be a phenomenal guitar player, but many of them tend to "fudge" a bit, and it's normally masked by the singing. Get her to play it as clearly as possible. There tend to be a lot of ghost notes and strums, which can drive you wild from the recording perspective.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


May 09, 2005 11:41 am

Here ya go, Chap:

www.homerecordingconnecti...=7658&frm=3

It's just a demo, but hopefully it'll give you an idea of what to expect.

Prince CZAR-ming
Member
Since: Apr 08, 2004


May 10, 2005 10:25 pm

I recorded my sister and myself in this scenario. She was using the Studio Projects B3 while I was direct into the board (i know, i know). It turned out pretty good. I'm going to post it soon, but been tied up on house stuff.

We recorded the two together, as we didn't have much time. It turned out quite well, there was very little bleed into the vocal mic, as she was 15ft away and mic facing away from me.

I didn't do much with the acoustic, but I added a little single repeat echo to her vocal, as well as a light reverb, the kjaerhus classic reverb, i believe. I'll find it again and post it up.

I added a lead part, and a bass part after, but the initial git & vox we're pretty good on their own.

Member
Since: Jan 21, 2003


May 16, 2005 07:15 am

thanks for the help its excellent, i'm probably gonna do what coco suggested, pan two guitar left and right. She has a very norah jones style voice so i'm not really gonna mess with it, possibly just a bit of 'verb.

One more thing, was reading a guitar magazine recently about the recording of nirvana's nevermind, butch vig said he often 'double tracked' kurts voc and guitar. is this a seperate recording placed slightly behind the original or is it a copy of the original? (am i making sense?!)

Thanks for all your help

Hello!
Member
Since: Jan 12, 2004


May 16, 2005 08:15 am

Double track can be either:

1. Copy and paste say Guitar1 again giving you 2 tracks with the Guitar1 on it. Both exactly the same.

IF you do this, pan both to either side and adjust volume and ye have the same part panned left and right (I do this and its cool sometimes).

OR...

2. Do a track, say its another guitar track. Pan it to the left say.
THEN
Do another track playing exactly the same thing (or similar) and pan it right.

The difference here is you PHYSICALLY play it twice. So, ye effectively have a double track but its 2 seperate tracks.

Method 1 just uses the same track and copy/pastes it.

I fidn method 2 gives better results (listen to my song called "Throw Your Hand"). I double tracked the same guitar part left and right tho the left is via 1 amp and the right is via another. Its teh same part played twice to layer it a bit.

IF you listen to my cover of "Dead Flowers" - that has a double tracked guitar panned left/right. But that is EXACTLY ths same part panned left and right just copy/pasted.

Hope thats good for ye.

Good luck

Coco.

Member
Since: Jan 21, 2003


May 16, 2005 09:55 am

one more problem, i was looking at external sound cards on the net (eg Rolls GCi404 AUDIO COMPUTER INTERFACE), should I invest or is running the main outs of the ub802 into the standard soundcard in the pc adequate?

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


May 16, 2005 01:49 pm

I suppose that you can use the stock sound card on your computer, but keep in mind that it'll be noisy, latent, and a general pain in the butt. If you don't have the money to get a card designed for recording, then the stock card will get you by for now.

I've never heard anything about Rolls sound cards. I think that most users on this board use M-Audio or Echo interfaces.

I skimmed over a review of the Rolls GCi404, and it looks like a pretty good package. It has both microphone and instrument inputs and preamps with phantom power, and several other input and output options, all for $100. If the sound quality is good, then I'd snatch one of these up.

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