How to record my guitar.

magnus411 · November 18

Hello! I’ve been playing gypsy jazz for a while, and recently I’ve started playing sessions with a friend. We’re now thinking of recording some of these sessions . I play on a Selmer 503 "copy" made by David Hodson and the guitar sounds great, but Im having issue recording it. I’m using an AT2020 through a ID14 mk2, but the results aren’t great. The recording comes out really nasal, with too much pick attack and almost none of the room character that makes the guitar sound good in person. If I turn the gain down to capture more of the room I get way too much noise. It takes a frustrating amount of time to set everything up just to get an “okay-ish” sound.

Does anyone have experience with this? Do I need a different microphone, or will most condensers have the same problems as my AT2020? I can afford to buy another mic if necessary, but I’m still a student, so I’m working with a limited budget.

JasonS · November 18

Where are you placing the mic?

Russell Letson · November 18

From the gear description, you're recording into a computer, right? Not something that I've done**, though a quick Google suggests that your mike/interface is good stuff. Which leads me to look at the same variable that JasonS does: mike placement, and maybe sonic environment/space. And there's also the matter of how the guitar sounds to the player as distinct from a listener out in front of it. And maybe the playback gear matters--certainly good speakers are crucial. Do you monitor your recording setup with good headphones?

** I'm a long-time user of portable digital recorders, starting with DAT and a decent Sony mike and winding up with Olympus LS series and now a Sony PCM-M10, all with built-in mikes. Not quite pro-grade, but always capable of making very decent recordings that sound like my instruments. But what I'm doing is more like field recording, so I'm quite aware of the difference between that and studio-style work meant for critical listening.

Buco · November 18

In my case gain is something that I set having the loudest sound peak at no more than -6db. Then I let the software raise it to where it thinks it should be overall, I still limit it to -3db.

The mic, also a condenser in the same family, is about 10"/25cm away from the guitar. At first I was aiming the mic where neck meets the body. Recently it's aimed at lower bout of the soundboard, right under the tailpiece. This placement ends up recording less bassy with more overall clarity then pointing at the neck meets the body area.

In your case aiming at the neck will give less mids.

I've seen people suspend a condenser mic from up higher, above the guitar and aiming down, about the shoulder height. Never tried that myself. Mic placement will give very different results though.

My room is fairly dead. You want the room without reflections or natural reverb, unless you're intentionally going for that sound. If your room is big and lively sounding, surround yourself and the mic with something: a room divider with foam over it or clothes or drapes. I've seen people use clothing rack filled with clothes to deaden the recording area at home. In any case the room can be as important as everything else.

What you have as far as gear is of very good quality, it should be straightforward to get a nice recording.

What Russell said, how are you monitoring the results? I suppose you're making sure there's no EQ applied to the recording but it could be something to double check if the guitar sounds that much different, recorded vs live.

This was super helpful for me when I started recording at home;

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHavnWLEIx5Hn0tuBkp39GeUrX7jPER7e&

magnus411 · November 18

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/123672#Comment_123672

I’ve tried adjusting the mic position in lots of different positions, but I still can’t get the sound to be as full as I want. I have tried 12 fret, over the sound hole, both close up and a bit far away. I can try to record a demo to show more what I mean.

magnus411 · November 18

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/123673#Comment_123673

Yes, im recording into my computer that has the ID14 sound card. I use Reaper as the DAW. Good suggestion regarding the space / room I record in, I haven't even thought of that! So I'll definitely try to position myself around in the room / different rooms!

For recording monitoring I have run playthgough though the ID14 headset output with an AUX cable to my XM5000 headphones. And then afterwards listened with my MacBook Speakers.

littlemark · November 18

You can also try two mics. But that opens a lot of variables.

I might suggest leaving the mic in one position and keep recording. Record 8 bars of something. Move and repeat the 8 bars. Move repeat. Etc. Maybe describe how far you are before you play the 8 bars.