If you record acoustic guitar, then chances are you’ve either played around with stereo recording or at least thought about it. But maybe you’re not sure which techniques to use and the pros and cons of each.
I think I can help.
I’ve recorded acoustic guitar more than any other instrument, so I’ve spent countless hours of quality time with my guitar and a pair of microphones. And I’ve gotten pretty good at getting great acoustic guitar tone.
What is stereo recording?
Stereo recording is simply using two microphones to capture a two-channel “stereo” image of the source. By panning the signals left and right, you can create a sense of space and width and depth, simply by using two microphones instead of one.
You get the Pro Tools session ready (create the vocal track and extra playlists for takes, create a reverb track and route the vocal to it), set up the mic stand, pop filter, music stand. Maybe dim the lights, have a bottle of water handy…perhaps you even light a candle to “set the mood”?
Okay, I can’t remember the last time I lit a candle to record vocals.
What’s the next thing that happens? Where do you put the vocalist once she shows up? Do you plan to put her REALLY close to the mic, like an inch or two away?
Yesterday’s post on charging for your work sparked some really interesting discussions. If you haven’t yet, be sure to join in the conversation over there (or on Facebook or Twitter).
The general premise of yesterday’s post was to think about charging by the project rather than by the hour. One question came up about what to do with clients who are unreasonable. If you’re charging by the project, how do you protect yourself against clients who want revision after revision after revision, with no regard for your time whatsoever?
You could say I’m a bit naive sometimes. I know people take advantage of people all the time, but I tend to think that if someone takes advantage of my time, it’s because I let them do it.
In honor of Labor Day, let’s talk about work a little bit. (What, you thought I’d take the day off?)
I’m not talking about crap-I-have-to-go-to-the-office work. I’m talking about work in your studio, work that you (hopefully) love.
Do you ever get paid for your recording skills? Do you ever charge your clients? Perhaps you don’t, but you’d like to. Or maybe you’ve started charging for a few projects here and there, but you really don’t know where to start.
Here’s the replay from yesterday’s live webinar I did with Graham Cochrane. We covered a lot of great stuff over the course of the hour, PLUS we talked about the Simply Recording Academy. After you’ve watched the video, click this link to check it out:
Recording in a home studio can be great, but we’re all aware of its shortcomings. If we are lucky, we have a dedicated room to record in. However, we have to use that room as both a control room and a tracking room. Simply put, if you are recording a musician, that musician is in the same room that you are recording in.
That’s not always a problem, and it can be a lot of fun. When I recorded my buddy Kevin‘s vocals for his album, he stayed in the room with me while recording. We had a lot of fun together and made fun of each other. It was great.
Everybody asks about what microphones and mic placements they should use on acoustic guitar, but rarely do they ask about the preamp. It’s a shame, because the preamp plays a huge roll in the sound of ANY recording.
As I told you in the Intro to Preamps video, there are lots of different types of preamps. If you’re starting out, you’ll just use the built-in preamps on your audio interface. That’s fine, but just know that a really nice microphone into a cheap preamp may not sound as amazing as you expected.
If using one microphone is great, two must be twice as good, right? Sometimes.
Some of the best acoustic guitar tones I’ve ever gotten have been with two microphones, this is sometimes referred to as stereo mic placement (although two microphones doesn’t always mean it’s technically “stereo,” but that’s for another day).
As with most things, if there stands to be a bigger benefit (better guitar tone), there are also greater risks (phase issues).
If you record acoustic guitar, then chances are you’ve either played around with stereo recording or at least thought about it. But maybe you’re not sure which techniques to use and the pros and cons of each.
Recording in a home studio can be great, but we’re all aware of its shortcomings. If we are lucky, we have a dedicated room to record in. However, we have to use that room as both a control room and a tracking room. Simply put, if you are recording a musician, that musician is in the same room that you are recording in.
