Vocal – Guitar Separation with Figure 8 Mics

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

I record solo acoustic guitar almost exclusively, but a couple of months ago one of my buddies wanted to lay down a few tracks with vocal and `ukulele. And he wanted to sing and play at the same time. I remembered reading about an arrangement of figure 8 or bidirectional mics that gave maximum separation in a situation like this, so I pulled out the Rode NT2a and NT2000 and set them up. We were amazed by the separation between vocal and uke, even though the mics were only a foot apart. (more…)

 

Mid-Side and Blumlein recording with the Zoom H4n

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

I was surprised to find that a Mid-Side decoder function is included in the H4n, this is usually a feature of high end field recorders but it’s easy to do in the digital realm so the Zoom engineers could “throw it in” without much added cost. I love fooling with different mic arrangements so I had to set up a couple of figure 8 mics and do some recordings. (more…)

 

And more on the Zoom H4n

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

The H4n has made quite a splash, with its terrific feature set and dramatic appearance. Brad Linder has posted some clips at his blog comparing the H4n to the Sony PCM-D50. He seems to think the Zoom is disappointing, but I’m not sure I’m hearing the same problems he describes.

I got a long and interesting email from Mark McPherson of Portland, describing his evaluation of the H4n:

(more…)

 

First look at the Zoom H4n

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

The previews of the Zoom H4n have generated a lot of excitement so I added a few airline miles to the family account and ordered one of these new hand held recorders.

(more…)

 

Building a broadband absorber (on the cheap)

Friday, March 6th, 2009

When I talk about room treatment I only discuss the simple broadband absorber. I’ve read discussions of tuned membrane bass traps, tube traps, and diffusors, but my approach so far has been guided by the slogan, “You can never have too many broadband absorbers in a small room.”

As I mentioned in a previous post, my construction method for broadband absorber panels is cheap and simple. I use no frame or other hardware, but simply wrap two sheets of OC703 in burlap, like wrapping a package, and fasten the fabric with glue. (more…)

 

13 Broadband Absorbers

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

I built a batch of broadband absorber panels before I recorded my Kaleponi CD. I have 13 panels constructed of 4 inches of OC703 wrapped in burlap. It’s been a while since I built these and I’ve lost track of the cost, but I’ll do better with the next batch, I promise. Here’s a look at what they’ve done for my recording space. (more…)

 

Acoustic Treatment – here’s what we’re trying to fix

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Room EQ Wizard is a wonderful free tool for evaluating the acoustic conditions in a room. And Sketchup is a wonderful free tool for modeling a room. I used both of these to evaluate my recording space, and to develop a baseline for comparison as I add treatment. (more…)

 

Installing an end pin jack

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

I love the clean, natural sound of an acoustic guitar, but when it’s time to play for a room full of people in a coffee shop, restaurant, or club a pickup inside the guitar comes in mighty handy. There are several different styles of pickups, but they all need a jack so they can be connected to an amp. And installing that jack is a lot easier with a couple of tricks.

(more…)

 

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About the Blog

    Howdy, my name is Fran Guidry and this is my Homebrewed Music blog.

    I play Hawaiian slack key guitar and recorded my solo acoustic CD at home. Most of the recording information I find on the internet seems focused on bands, drums, multitracking, and so on but my main focus is recording solo acoustic guitar. Lately I’ve been enjoying video recording along with audio, so that shows up in the blog as well.

    I’m also a guitar nut. I love big ones and little ones, handmades and factory guitars, cheap ones and expensive ones. So I’ll be sharing the fun of exploring guitars as well, along with the challenges of amplifying acoustic guitars for live performance.

    Welcome!

Philosophy

    My recording philosophy is pragmatic, skeptical, not super critical. After all, the performance is by far the most important component of a track, and every aspect of any recording is a matter of taste.

    But I do like to know “about stuff.” Back in hifi days I learned about double blind testing. I learned that we humans can easily hear differences that don’t really exist. The more I’ve learned about our human auditory system, the more I’m skeptical of what people say they hear, especially if they claim that a particular microphone or preamp or cable has some magical property.

    I’ve only been recording since 2001, and when I started I found the usual places on the internet. I sought advice and accepted it, thought I would improve my recordings by using more expensive equipment. It didn’t work.

    Two things that did seem to lead to better recordings were experience and room treatment. Getting an appealing sound is the combination of many small details, and learning those details only comes from experience. Amd the sound of the recording space is obviously a big factor.

    I’ve only recorded seriously using digital technology, but I remember trying to record rehearsals and gigs back in analog days. I don’t have any nostalgia for analog recording and playback systems at all. I think even low end digital systems can capture marvelous recordings. So when I look at gear, I look for good specs: low noise, broad flat frequency response, wide dynamic range, low distortion. I’m not interested in colorful components, mics and preamps with a sound, I want the sound to be the sound of my guitar.

    But the last word is that I’m just learning and I hope you find something useful in my posts.