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April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | Hi,
finally got round to making a start on recording my 1st album (current working title : Quadruped. I have settled on the list of tunes and they're all performance ready pretty much (a little polish needed here and there).
Been reading up on cubase and tried a test recording today using my new laptop. So everything is now in place to knuckle down and actually record it.
You can hear my first test recording here
It's not a perfect performance, it's just a test to hear what the quality is like using the Zoom A2.1U into the laptop via usb and to familiarise myself with cubase.
Sounds a bit weedy listening back using my laptop but through my hi-fi sounds lovely!
Recorded with the 06 Collector KOA. |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Sounds terrific! Original tune? |
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April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | Thanks, sadly not, it's a tune called Natsuhiboshi written by Isato Nakagawa. It's in DADGAD. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Mix sounds great on my Focal studio monitors.
Job well done! |
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Posts: 5576
Location: big island | superb, dweeze! |
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Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | dweez,
Absolutely beautiful! I could really get 'lost' in that music. Can't wait for the album... |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Very, very nice, Dweez!
"test 1"? Should be track 1! |
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October 2006
Posts: 5576
Location: big island | dweezil,
if you don't mind, what settings did you use on the zoom? |
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January 2009
Posts: 4536
Location: Flahdaw | Wow,that was nice. Try to make it to a Florida gathering sometime....would love to hear you play. Oh, and bring your entire collection. |
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October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Dweezil,
I am VERY impressed!! You are talented!!
Loved it!!
Which guitar are you using??
Bob |
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Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | Dweezil - I've only got my laptop speakers with me, but it sounds beautiful! I'm looking forward to the CD! |
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Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Well done, Dweeze! |
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| Good, good stuff, Mr. Zil. |
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Posts: 1851
Location: Newington, CT | Just beautiful. |
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April 2008
Posts: 1851
Location: Newington, CT | Please make sure you let us know how to purchase the CD, 'cause I'll be one of the first. You have a GREAT sound! |
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May 2009
Posts: 131
Location: Yalova/Turkey | Wonderful music, congratulations! |
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April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | WOW! Thanks, I really wasn't expecting such a positive responce. Now I really have to make sure I do a good job. Will try and post another test recording soon.
Lanaki - the one thing I think the zoom is missing is the ability to dump down settings, I would like to have seen a PC based editor like the Line6 PODs but it doesn't exist. You cannot even do a MIDI sysex dump! I'll jot down what settings I've used and post here.
BT717 - using the Ovation 2006 Collector KOA (I make sure the image mix is set to the pickup 100%, I hate the imaged sounds) with Elixir Nanoweb Bronze 80/20 11s, going into a Zoom A2.1U, then direct into laptop running cubase SX via USB. I then added a little RoomWorks reverb (in cubase) and a delay effect at the end. Recorded in one take.
It was well worth trying this test as I've learned that in future I really need to...
1. Tune the guitar!
2. Adjust the shims so that the top two strings are a little higher.
3. Replace the top string (possibly the top two strings) with a slightly higher gauge.
4. Actually capture a perfect performance!
My passion is playing the guitar, I've always found that the process of recording the guitar a complete pain in the ____! With this simple setup (no mics!) I've got a sound that I'm happy with for the most part. It needs a little tweaking here and there but generally the sound is acceptable (at least to my ears).
Of course having more than one guitar adds it's own problems, which one would be the best guitar, i.e. most suitable tone, for any particular tune. A nice problem you might think but I have to record each piece on every guitar and choose the one I like best. :rolleyes:
For example I have a couple of tunes that are fretted at the 5th fret and I think that the 97C might be a really sweet sounding guitar for that "harp" sound. What fun!
Once again thanks for the great feedback, I feel happy that I'm on the right lines.
:) |
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April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | Zoom settings:
model : TP 1,5,80
mic : off
comp/lim : off
lo eq : off
high eq : off
znr : off
mod/efx : Ar 60,4,60
delay/rev : HL 14, 4, 20
global : bP AT 64
Hope that helps. I *REALLY* ought to turn off the mode/efx and delay/rev as I'm adding reverb at mix down! Another lesson learned. |
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April 2009
Posts: 130
Location: London, UK | Fantastic. Enjoying the music over headphones whilst at work!
Very reminiscent of Ralph Towner. I'd buy it.
Not sure about the multitap delay at the very end though, it lost a bit of the subtleness. |
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November 2008
Posts: 1119
Location: Michigan | Very nice! Well done! |
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Posts: 3969
| Great stuff. |
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September 2007
Posts: 153
Location: New Jersey, USA | The music is lovely, no doubt, but let me offer another opinion on the production.
This sounds plugged in. If you are going for that explicitly, then that's an artistic decision and perfectly legit. But I prefer to hear an acoustic guitar mic'd on a recording. It's more organic and free of the usual piezo artifacts. Those artifacts are fine when playing amplified in a room, but they really stand out on an intimate acoustic recording like this.
Beautiful piece you've played here. Let's hear it with some "air" and "space" that only a live mic'd recording can offer. |
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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | I opted for a plugged in sound over a purely acoustic sound for artistic and technical reasons, i.e. I like the way it sounds and failed miserably to capture a true guitar sound with expensive mics/tube preamps and the like. I think the real solution is a session in a recording studio with an engineer that knows what they are doing. Hell I'm just a simple guitarist. Until then I have to make do with my simple setup.
Perhaps I spend too long listening to Adrian Legg. |
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October 2006
Posts: 5576
Location: big island | mahalo for taking the time and efforts for the zoom settings, dweezil. i agree with you that there is no easy method of recording the settings.
what rpguitar has posted has much merit but only if one is looking for that sort of advice. i certainly enjoy a more pure acoustic guitar sound too, however for this song, your set-up seems quite appropriate to my ears. quite marketable, i'd say. |
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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | lanaki,
my Zoom came with Cubase LE 1.08 despite their web site saying it came with LE 4. So I emailed Zoom today and they have stuck LE 4 in the post to me (so that's rather nice!). I also asked about a PC based editor, they said rather enigmatically, "it will come in time"...
Watch this space (oh and fingers crossed) |
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October 2006
Posts: 5576
Location: big island | LE 4 came with mine but i already had SX installed. i've not taken the time to learn cubase yet though.
a pc based editor would be a great tool with the pedal. |
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Test recording for 1st album!