Recording an acoustic....Help!

lyle_from_minneapolis · Sun Jun 10, 2007 5:39 pm

Hey, I really liked that version, Ted, including the vocal you compare unfavorably to an owl's. A lot of folks poo-poo the vocalist on the original track, but I'm not among them.

Of course, I'm the sort who would leave the dog in the room, just in case she decides to add something interesting.

lyle_from_minneapolis · Sun Jun 10, 2007 5:40 pm

...I mean, Todd. Whoops.

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:44 am

Wow, that sounds good, Todd.... If you can get that kind of sound plugged directly into your D1200, then there is surely hope in sight for me, LOL! Was just out of town for the weekend, but am hoping to try out your recording suggestions within the next couple of days--this would be a good week for me to work on it, as my oldest son is vacationing with his grandparents this week, and my younger one will be at day camp for the next few days. But first I need to help my hubby get caught up with the business so he doesn't think I just want to be a goof-off musician....

wmthor · Post by **wmthor** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 9:47 am

I've been using an MXL mic and iBooster with my PowerBook's GarageBand. The mic has it's own battery, so no need for phantom power. The iBooster plugs into my PowerBook's mic jack.

I've also put down some tracks with with my J-45 directly into the iBooster. I plan on seeing how the 730S sounds direct though the iBooster, and then with the mic.

However, I really don't have anything that I'm ready to share just yet.

teb · Post by **teb** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 6:32 pm

Melissa, here is another one run direct. This song hasn't been heard for over 30 years and I wanted to make a scratch-track so that I could work up some parts for it. The recording is built like a hoagie - you start with something simple and pile a whole bunch of tracks on top, hoping that it doesn't fall over. I was too lazy to set up a click-track or rhythm setting, which is always a mistake when you later try to drop in a bass track and find curious 1/4 second gaps where the darned rhythm guitarist got lost, but it's hard to get good help here. It's been hot, so rather than turn off the AC and suffer, I just ran the acoustics directly into the D1200 to avoid house noise. There is still a fair amount of extraneous noise from miking the vocals, but hey, it's a scratch track right?

Off to the right is my Takamine six, finger-picked (or at least my rather curious form of fingerpicking) run straight into the guitar jack, but with no modeling, EQ or anything else. I simply rolled back the treble on the pickup pre-amp as it tends to be alarmingly bright when recording. On the left is my Takamine twelve, also direct but with the middle and lows on the recorder's EQ backed way off to just give it a high, feathery sort of fill. It works in the background, but if you get it too loud it starts to sound fake. A mic would do a better job.

The bass is my old Frankenstein Gibson - converted EBO/Les Paul fretless. It's stereo-wired with a P-bass pickup added at the bridge and has both really deep lows and some serious percussive thump, which is why I still keep it around. Back when we were playing concerts, my favorite parts of the evening were a few spots in specific songs where a note from that bass combined with my Sunn folded horn cabinet was like dropping a bomb on the auditorium. It's run directly into the recorder here, as is the mystery guitar in the middle of the song. The only mic was the CAD condenser for the vocals (it's hard to sing with a dog sitting there staring at you like you must be nuts, but at least he wasn't howling).

http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/Music%20stuff/Hard%20Years.MP3

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 2:40 pm

Wow.... I am definitely going to plug into my unit tonight and try recording my Comstock again--I just got done with a big project for our business, so I think I've earned a little bit of "play time"....

Your guitars sound great, Todd! And I love the sound of the Ric 12-string in there, too.

BTW, I really, really like the song....

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 2:59 pm

Just changed the strings on my acoustic last night, and now it sounds so bright and crisp and sweet that I can't stay away from it--I will be getting those tracks down in the next couple of days, come hell or high water, LOL!

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 11:37 am

Hey Todd, do you know if the D1200's guitar input jack will accomodate a stereo cable? I couldn't find anything about it in the owner's manual, and I was hoping I could record each of the pickups for my Comstock simultaneously on separate tracks.... Perhaps I'll just have to do each one separately and then mix them together to my liking later....

teb · Post by **teb** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:25 pm

I believe it's just a mono jack (as are the rest), but if you have a splitter (Ric-O-Sound box or similar) that converts your stereo cord to two mono cords, you can assign each cord to a separate track and do it that way. I don't seem to get along very well with the modeling controls and seem to often get myself into effects that I don't want and can't get out of, so instead of plugging into the guitar jack, I usually use two of the regular input jacks up top instead. For example, I plug one cord into "input #3" and the other into "input #4" and then push the "Input/Output/Solo" button. Then on the screen that comes up, I cursor over to the first track that I want and then use the big round dial to route input#3 to that track. Then cursor over to the second track that I want and then use the dial to direct the signal from input #4 to that track. All of the modeling effects are still available if desired, and can be assigned to the individual tracks as you like, but they're in a little different format and are accessed by pushing the "Insert Effect" button and the various screens that come up. For acoustics, I usually don't use them much and about all I ever do is play with the EQ button and the EQ settings (usually rolling back the treble a bit).

The modeling effects, as they come up, are generally turned up pretty high (in most cases higher than you want - tons of reverb, major distortion, chorus out the wazoo, etc.). Through the "insert effect" screens and armed with the manual you can go in and reduce or modify them for that particular song and actually get some nice, subtle tone shaping (can't make a Janglebox though - I tried).

As I said, I'm the last person on earth to be giving instructions on this machine but that's how I do multi-tracks from a stereo guitar. Just rolling back the high end on the guitar's pre-amp until you get a realistic tone and running straight in without further EQ or effects is often plenty.

One of the things that convinced me to buy this machine was that it was supposed to be so easy to use and understand. I'd hate to see one that's complex or confusing because then I'd really be in trouble. I'm sure it will do some really wonderful things that would make my recordings drastically better. I just hope I live long enough to figure them out....

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:42 pm

Me, too, Todd! I'm a technological idiot, and most of it goes waaaaaay over my head, but hopefully I'll get it figured out! Thanks for the advice....!

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:52 am

Wooohooooo!!!!!

Just got some acoustic tracks laid down that actually sound pretty good.... not perfect, mind you, but certainly passable for my purposes at this point--I'm making a demo disk of the songs that I plan to do at this year's Fish Pic gig with my friend Billy D., and after we get our tracks down I will record it and send them to my friend Ron in Duluth who would love to play leads with us, if he can learn the songs in time....

teb · Post by **teb** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 11:53 am

Glad you're making progress. Considering how small the machine is, it can be an intimidating little bugger. I generally play much better right before I push the little red button that says "record" on it - and then once I do push it, all hell breaks loose. Funny, back when I used to do a lot of studio recording I don't remember ever being particularly nervous about screwing-up. I think it's maybe a little more difficult and tedious when you're playing all the parts yourself, one at a time. It's harder to get into the swing of things compared to recording with a group where even if your just cutting basic tracks, you have company. I also have to watch that I'm not unintentionally playing the same lick at the same time on three different instruments, just because my brain tends to to think that particular lick fits well in that spot.

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:42 pm

Now that I'm over the hurdle of recording acoustic tracks, I'm on a roll.... I've got the vocals down too, and all three tracks are mixed and EQ'd, and are just awaiting Billy D's keyboards.... and I've got my unit all cued up for the next set of acoustic and vocal tracks on the next song!

Your help has been invaluable in getting me this far, Todd!

melibreits · Post by **melibreits** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:34 am

After more than a week of using my D1200 pretty intensely, I have some observations about it....

Recording with my acoustic is much easier than recording an electric--it's just a matter of plugging in and playing. With an electric it involves several steps through the modeling area and endless tweaking to get the sound just right, whereas when using an acoustic I can just plug in and record, and do all of my tweaking later with the EQ adjustments.

Also, when recording with my acoustic I can simultaneously record my vocal tracks.... but when I record with an electric using the modeling feature, I can't record vocals at the same time.... It sounds pretty good, but takes a lot more time, LOL!

captsandwich · Post by **captsandwich** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 4:16 am

Here's another acoustic attempt. I recorded guitar and vocals on separate tracks this time because I was having trouble getting them balanced.

http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=67441