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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | I do recording on a Fostex 16 track HD recorder, and record the O's directly into the deck. I noticed a post where the O was recorded with a mic. Actually sounded very good. Anyone have preferances or tips here? Also I'm moving away from the Fostex and into pro-audio. It seems like they way to go.
Tommy |
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Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 100
Location: Asheville, North Carolina | I mostly mix just a bit 20% direct guitar and 80% mike for a richer acoustic tone. However for some tunes I will use the O direct to the recorder or DI box. Other times I use all mike...It just depends on the sound I need. But in my opinion the more mike the more wooden the O sounds. |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | I was going to respond to this when I realized that I have only recorded two songs with my KorgPXR4 and I don't really know what the hell I'm talking about. :D
Think before I talk...think before I type. |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | Brad
Don't feel bad, I'm a musician, not an engineer. It was a new carreer, just to learn how to operate that sucker. My hats go off to these recording folks who mix things just right. I like it simple, crisp acoustic sound. The point is that, O's provide a beautiful wooden sound mic'd (if there's such a word) in addition to being plugged in.
Tommy |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 613
Location: Zion, Illinois | The Elite 1537 I recently sold was the best recording guitar I have. My Paragon Maple is the hardest to record. The Ovation's even tone over all 6 strings makes it easy to record IMHO. I know there is a recording engineer on the pro-audio newsgroup that claims Ovations are the worst to record. I don't buy that.
Good thing I still have a couple of Ovation in my flock. |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Hey Bradley, the 1537 I just recently got is a really fun guitar to record! Go figure! ;)
Actually, I'm still in that phase where doing the stereo output thing hasn't got old. I have a stereo guitar cable that I put into my 16 track and pan hard left and hard right ... alone it's not ideal but with other guitars laid on top, it really fills out the sound. I'm still experimenting.
I found that I could really get some great sound by doing the following with both of the Ovations I have with Optimas: XLR out to the board with a bit of delay and room reverb from the onboard, plus the 1/4" out into the board with chorus from the onboard, plus condenser mic pointed at the heart of the soundboard through an ART with the tube hot and out of phase, plus a condenser mic pointed down the neck through another ART not quite so hot and through a microverb with a wood room reverb or slight chorus. I then can tweak and play with the different channels (and additional onboard effects) to get the sound I want for that particular song. I can end up with a really lush sound (especially when it's the CL12), or just pick the one channel I like best and go with that.
Can't wait to try out a similar setup with the 1537. |
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Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 2487
| My Hats off to any of you who are good at recording or mixing!
I have a whole new learning curve to navigate now. As difficult as it is, learning the instrumental parts for cover music from bands like YES and Floyd etc. etc. I still find I can spend as much time, if not more, trying to figure out how to make the notes we are playing sound right! This talent has always been an intrigal part of "Live Music" but I am finding with the equipment that is available today, this nitch is as valuable as finding a good musician. It has become so much more complicated!
Recording and mixing equipment is light years ahead of what there was available back in the early 80's when I got out of this music thing.
Man the possibilities are almost limitless now. This is great for the smaller bands, like our's, who can now pull off those big band sounds! but an even share of the band has to go to the sound man as far as I am concerned! Without this person a great band can sound really bad, really fast!
I never should have stopped playing music! There is nothing like the feeling of getting a song down with other musicians. and this is just in the practice room! a live audience is a whole other thing. And the sound effects units have taken on a life of there own while I was sleeping!
Randy |
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Joined:
January 2005
Posts: 8
Location: Philadelphia, PA | Wow. I was just having this conversation today with somebody else (plugging in straight to the board, or using a microphone for recording acoustic guitars).
My thoughts + techniques, somebody else's thoughts, and then a question..
I have never been fan of recording guitar straight into a board, it has always sounded funny to me, almost "un-natural" and un-God-ly thin. I usually use two microphones, a large diaphragm condenser, and a pencil-condenser. I place the large diaphragm in front and slightly above the guitar, with the diaphragm facing the top of the guitar (not the sound-hole). I then place the pencil condenser aiming down the neck (in front).
Experimentation is key to finding what works best for you, an engineer that I admire and respect uses the method someone mentioned above (mixing both the DI and mic'd sources together)
Now for my question, I'm fairly new to the Ovation world (especially the 11-hole configuration) so it's been taking me a little longer to experiment with microphone placement. For those who mic' their guitars in the(ir) studio(s), what microphone positioning works best on an 11-hole Ovation?? |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I use the two Mic technique as a start on any Acoustic guitar, but as you say, experimenting is key. And just because a particular setup works today, that doesn't mean tomorrow on the same guitar it will work again. Many things, including what the player is playing musically can determine mic placement. If the guitar is an Ovation or has some other good quality pre-amp, I usually add a track from the pre-amp via a DI Box. It's there, I might as well use it. Sometimes I add it to the mix, sometimes I don't.
I nice trick, if it's already set up, is to havce the artist play the same piece several times. I will sometimes use the DI track, by itself as a "second guitar" in the mix because the texture is usually much different than the mic'd sound.
FYI the pre-amp out on the Ovation Mando's produce a sound quality that I have yet to achieve with a Mic. I guess because of the small surface area, the pre-amp does pickup all the subtle nuances of the Mando and the player including the finger and general movement noise. But unlike using a Microphone, the ambient garbage isn't there, and the artist doesn't have to stay frozen in place or have something extra attached to the Mando to take away or distract from playing it. |
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Recording