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RID PRODUCTION SCHOOL
Guitar Recording Primer |
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The
Acoustic Guitar |
| The acoustic
guitar is shown in figure 1. Understanding how it works to
generate its sound allows you to properly place close microphones on
this instrument. |
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FIGURE 1 -
THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR |
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The acoustic guitar has 6 strings, each tuned to a
different pit. There is a fretboard on the neck
of the instrument that allows the player to sound different pitches with
any string. For our purposes, we need to understand that the
vibrating strings begin the sound wave. |
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The bridge of the instrument is at
the tail of the strings. Since the bridge is in contact with both
the strings and the top plate of the guitar, the front plate will
vibrate, driven by the strings. The area of the bridge of
the instrument becomes a sweet spot for the guitar. Placing a
microphone 1-3 inches directly over the bridge area will accent the
instrument's brilliance and clarity, making the sound heard though many
other instruments playing along with it in a mix. When there
a lot of instruments in the production, especially when there are
electric guitars playing along with the acoustic, this microphone
placement is preferred. |
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Maximum Body |
| The hollow body of the acoustic
guitar is a resonator that amplifies one octave of vibrations centered
around 150 Hz. This effectively amplifies the lowest frequency
pitches generated by the acoustic guitar. There is a "hot" spot of
this low-end guitar energy over the hole in the body. Placing a
microphone over this area of the guitar tends to reduce brilliance and
clarity but increases the body in the sound. This microphone
placement may be used when the acoustic guitar is played by itself of
with only a vocal. |
| Stereo Micing
The Acoustic Guitar |
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FIGURE 1 -
STEREO MICING THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR |
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| You can pick
up both of the hot spots by placing X-Y stereo microphones as shown in
figure 2. The blue microphone picks up the bridge of the
acoustic while partially rejecting the sound hole. The red
microphone picks up the sound hole while partially rejecting the bridge
sound. When these mics are panned stereo in a mix, you will have
both body and clarity in the acoustic guitar sound. |
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Acoustic Guitar Hot Spot Demo |
| The two hot
spots on the acoustic guitar are the bridge and the sound hole of the
instrument. In the following demo, an acoustic guitar sounding an
open A (a fundamental frequency of 110 Hz) is heard miced over the
bridge and then over the sound hole. The sounds are then repeated
several times with a small beep at the point of switching the sound.
Go here for the demo. |
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Rhythm Electric
Guitar Stereo Micing Techniques |
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Four common ways of putting two
microphones on an rhythm electric guitar amplifier to achieve a bigger
or a stereo image are illustrated in figure1 below. |
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Fig 1 - Common
"Stereo" Micing Setups For Electric Rhythm Guitar |
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The two microphones can be panned
left & right or combined into one, bigger mono track. It should be
noted that the the "behind" mic (setup 3) should be phased-reversed when
mixed with the front mic. For set-up 2 the close mic is often
mixed with a lower level (-6 db). |
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Rhythm Electric
Guitar Equalization |
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Modern digital consoles have libraries of suggested
equalization presets. I have taken a Yamaha 02R preset and
modified it according to my experience at recording and mixing rock
rhythm guitars. Remember that library settings are just a
beginning point in equalizing your tracks during mixing: |
Rock Rhythm
Guitar |
Yamaha Name: E.G. Crunch 2 New Name: Rock Rhym
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| Stock Parameters: |
| LF: + 2.5 dB at 125 Hz with
8.0 Q Peak Response |
| LMF: + 1.5 dB at 445 Hz with
0.4 Q |
| HMF: + 2.5 dB at 3.36 Hz with
0.16 Q |
| HF: Off (0.0dB) |
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| Suggested Parameters: |
| LF: + 3.0 dB at 125 Hz with
2.0 Q Peak Response |
| LMF: 0.0 dB at 445 Hz with 0.7
Q |
| HMF: + 9.0 dB at 3.36 Hz with
2.0 Q |
| HF: Off (0.0dB) |
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| Why: LF boost gives body to the
Rock rhythm guitars. The HMF boost gives attack and clarity to the guitar. |
Further
Changes: For multiple rhythm guitars, use a different HMF boost for each, between
2.0 kHz and 4.0 kHz. For higher pitched (or more distorted) rhythm parts, try changing the
LF boost to 265 Hz. |
| Description: Rock Rhythm
Guitar. |
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Micing The Lead
Electric Guitar |
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commonly used basic mic placement for lead guitars is two of the
techniques given for the rhythm guitar in figure 1, above: 1)
"second mic placed 3-4 feet away at the floor" and 2) "dissimilar mics
placed in an X-Y position" |
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Remicing & Double Amping
Electric Guitars For Clarity And Size |
| Some guitar players will "split"
their signal and send it to two guitar amplifiers. Placing
microphones to pickup and record both amplifiers will often give a
bigger guitar sound. Blending of the two amplifiers often effects
the clarity of the guitar part. |
| Remicing a guitar involves the
recording of the signal sent to the input of session amplifier so that
it can later, in the mixing process, be sent back to a different guitar
amplifier in the studio, which is again miced. It is important to
record a "direct signal" during the original session, which allows this
re-micing technique to be used in the mixdown process. Figure
2
shows the setup to record an additional "direct" track for later remicing. |
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Fig
2 - Recording
Additional Direct Signal |
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Equalizing The Lead Electric
Guitar |
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I have taken a Yamaha 02R preset and modified it
according to my experience at recording and mixing rock rhythm guitars.
Remember that library settings are just a beginning point in equalizing
your tracks during mixing: |
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Rock Lead Guitar
Yamaha Name E.G. Distortion 2 New Name: Rock Lead
Stock Parameters:
LF: + 4.0 dB at 315 Hz with Low Shelf Response
LMF: - 8.5 dB at 1.05 kHz with
10.0 Q
HMF: + 4.5 dB at 4.23 kHz with
4.0 Q
HF: +4.0 dB at 12.6 kHz with High Shelf Response
Suggested Parameters:
LF: + 6.0 dB at 265 Hz with 0.7 Q Peak Response
LMF: - 0.0 dB at 1.05 kHz with
2.0 Q
HMF: + 4.5 dB at 4.23 kHz with
2.0 Q
HF: +4.0 dB at 8.0 kHz with
0.7 Q
Why:
The LF boost gives body. The peak response reduces
interference with the bass line. The HF boost accents the upper harmonics of the guitar
that are boosted because of distortion.
Further Changes: With multiple rhythm guitars present, increase HMF
boost frequency to 6.35 kHz and possibly increase the Q. Reducing 1.05 kHz can increase
the distinction between rhythm and lead guitars; the LMF frequency may need to be
changed
slightly towards 800 Hz when multiple rhythm guitars are in the production.
Description: Distorted Rock Lead Guitar
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In a three or four piece rock group, each instrument needs
to have both a full and a clear sound. My experience is that blending
together both a direct pickup and a mic placed on a bass guitar amplifier
gives the best combination of fullness and clarity. I usually record
these onto separate tracks and pan then slightly left and right in the
mixdown.
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Bass lines tend to be uneven - accenting certain pitches more than others.
Usually distant micing the guitar amp makes the bass line even more
uneven and clarity suffers. Reverberation quickly muddies the part and
a chamber type of reverb is used sparingly. A mild amount of
compression can be applied to get a more consistent part. Compressor
time parameters, such as attack and release time usually need to be
lengthened compared to settings that would be used for a midrange instrument
(like the electric guitar). |
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Bass Guitar Equalization:
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Here I am presenting a Yamaha 02R pre-set and how I might modify it:
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Rock Bass
Yamaha Name: E. Bass 2 New Name: Rock Bass
Stock Parameters:
LF: + 3.0 dB at 111 Hz with a 0.1 Q Peak Response
LMF: Off (0 dB)
HMF: + 2.5 dB at 2.24 kHz with 6.3 Q
HF: + 0.5 dB at 4.0 kHz with High Shelf Response
Suggested Parameters:
LF: - 5.0 dB at 99 Hz with a 1.4 Q Peak Response
LMF: + 4.0 dB at 198 Hz with 1.4 Q
HMF: + 8.0 dB at 1.49 kHz with 2.0 Q
HF: + 1.0 dB at 3.56 kHz with 0.7 Q Peak Response
Why: The combination of the LF and LMF bands evens out the tone of
the bass, accenting the very low and the upper pitches. The HMF section boost accents the
attack and higher overtones of the bass. The HF Section gives definition to the fingering.
Further Changes: Adjust the amount of HMF boost as needed to keep
the bass attack heard through the rhythm guitars.
Description: Bright Rock Bass.
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NEXT STEP: TAKE THE QUIZ FOR THIS PRIMER |
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RETURN TO THE CONTENTS PAGE
FOR THE MIDULE |
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