Nasty pick scrape sound
Home > Home Recording Forum > Recording Techniques > Nasty pick scrape sound
Posted on Jun 21, 2004 09:35 am
CitizenSpain
Inactive Since: Jun 21, 2004
So I'm doing some home recording on Pro Tools. I'm using a Yamaha Pacifica guitar with lots of distortion on a Peavy Bandit 112, as well as two SM-57s and a large diaphragm condenser mic. On the high end notes, I get that pick scraping sound practically everytime I make a move; successive tones don't blend the way they do on professional albums. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I know I play a tad sloppily, but it's kind of irritating to hear over and over again, and the strings are brand new.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
[ Back to Top ]
TheTincanbugsloppy dice, drinks twiceMember
Since: Aug 05, 2003
Jun 21, 2004 10:13 am Welcome to HRC!
CitizenSpain, don't take this the wrong way please, but your playing may be a big factor. I have no idea how you play or what you sound like, but all the times I've ever had trouble with pick noise it was because of the funky way I hold the pick.
I have a now-ingrained habit of holding the pick with my first 2 fingers with the flat of the pick against my thumb, with the thumb bent slightly backwards (I've got a "hitcherhiker's thumb" that bends backwards the same amount that it bends forward, some people might not be able to do this, I dunno). The thumb and first finger are basically making a cross if you take the pick away. That weird grip makes me hit my strings with the blade rather than the flat of the pick, and gives me pick-noise hassles every now and then. Forcing myself not to do this is tough, and every now and then, I chew up a few tracks before I realize I'm doing this.
On the playing side, just watch your grip and tighten up overall if you need to. On the recording side - well, maybe notching the eq at the right spot can compensate for this. But the pick-noise doesn't just come from nowhere, like artifacts in your digital sound or something. Pick-noise comes from your pick.
Jun 21, 2004 11:59 am Use better, smoother strings. It's a quick fix, but it might help. Get polyweb coated strings like Elixar's. They are expensive but believe me, worth every penny.
guitwizzNothing doesnt give me gasMember
Since: May 25, 2004
Jun 21, 2004 02:23 pm hI Spain,
Are you talkin about scrapes from the pick, or finger noise?. Im not sure what sound you mean. Pick noise on higher plain strings should be almost non existant.
Adjacent string noise is something that you learn to control after playing for a while by mutings with both the left and right hands, especially on bends.
Whatever it is, practice things slowly, and Im sure it will go away in time.
