Old Mac Donald Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Hi! I'm trying to record a local singer-songwriter but I've hit a bit of a stumbling block and was wondering if anybody could help out here? Basically the artist can't do the whole multitracking thing along to a click track. We've tried but it's sounds kinda soulless compared to when they record 'au natural' just vox & acoustic along to their own built-in rhythm (a rather loud foot stomp unfortunately!) So, my questions are: - What is the best way to just capture a spontaneous performance such as this? I have one quality condenser mic (a Rode NTK) at my disposal but there's always room for another one or two if needed! - What's a good starting position if I were to try and capture both vox & acoustic just with the one mic? I've seen studio photos of Dylan with an upside-down condenser positioned about a foot in front of his forehead but there didn't appear to be a mic on the acoustic. - What about that LOUD footstomp? Is there anything I can do about that??! - Once the recording is made there's two possible options. Either: a) leave it 'as is' or b) use the foundation recording to add extra multitracked parts after the event played along to the singer's natural rhythm (eg: drums, perc, strings, keys, etc.) It really depends on what we end up with. Let's say I were to leave the initial recording 'as is'. What sort of reverb should I be looking to apply to a vox/acoustic welded recording such as this in order to give it that classic singer-songwriter production feel? Is a Plate Reverb the kind of thing producer's used in days of yore that give us that classic singer-songwriter studio feel? (EG: Dylan, Neil Young) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fadercraig Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 While the performer does their thing, singing and playing, move around them and find places in the room that sound 'good'. Put your mic there. Experiment with placement until you find the magic spot. or Use figure eight pattern microphones for close/r micing of the acoustic and vocal. Point the null sides towards the other sound source. Also, dont consider the loud stomping as a problem, if you find the magic spot with option 1, the stomping might fall into the 'good bleed' category. Especially if you adjust your mindset* As for adding more stuff later, unless there is a groove, it might just be best avoided. xx Cx *not a critique Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shivermetimbers Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 - What about that LOUD footstomp? Is there anything I can do about that??! I once had a friend do that, I mean pounded his foot through the floor as if it were proper recording procedure. My simple solution ... I yelled at him to stop pounding his foot on the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Jackson Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 What about that LOUD footstomp? Is there anything I can do about that??! Just turn it into part of the act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SONiC Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Here is something that has worked for me in the past. Record the vocals & guitar together as best you can. Get a performance that has the right tempo and feel. Then... Mike up just the guitar and record it on another track. Playback the good recording to the talent through headphones. while they are listening, have them play the guitar part again with the same feel and grove as the first recording. Once the guitar part is done do the same for the vocals. The goal should be to have the guitar and vocals on separate tracks without bleed but still keep the same feel as if it was played together. Sometimes this can be a waste of time if the talent aint so, um, you know, talented. SONiC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Mac Donald Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 As always, some great advice here! Thanks folks - I shall go experiment .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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