Please help me record my guitar and voice.
September 30, 2023 10:16 AM Subscribe
I am looking for any advice I can get on how to record myself playing the guitar and singing, to help it sound as good as possible given my considerable limitations on both instruments. I have a small mixing board, an audio device, a Heil PR-22 microphone, a Sennheiser e835 microphone, and Audacity (though I'm happy to consider a different DAW solution, especially if it's free or cheap.) My acoustic guitar has a pickup and electronics, but I'm unsure of their quality or if mic'ing the guitar would be better. I know very little about recording, mixing, any of that. I'm not looking to become an expert audio engineer, just to do my little thing and have a decent recording to share around to friends and perhaps MuMe. Any tips much appreciated, including mic technique for singing.
Best answer: One thing that will be really helpful is a pre-amp input. I use a FocusRite Scarlet, which iirc costs about a hundred bucks and is a vital tool for home mixing. The mic or guitar plugs into it and then it plugs into your computer, sending a signal that's strong enough for good, clean recording. Plus, with this, you can both mic your guitar and do a "direct input" (into the pre-amp), record both inputs simultaneously, and then blend them together in your mix to get depth of sound.
If you have an access to a Mac, I find GarageBand to be very easy to use. There are a lot of good "GarageBand 101" tutorials that will help out with applying some basic effects to your tracks (like reverb and compression) that will help give it just a little nudge toward a clean-sounding recording - but there are also a lot of presets in GarageBand that can move you in the right direction. And a lot of these videos might give you some suggestion about stereo mixing and layering to help give your recording a full, rich sound.
Mic technique for singing depends on your singing style and the sound of your mics. The best way to find out is to experiment with the angle and distance from the mic, and to try both mics. A pop filter can help, too, and these tend to be pretty cheap.
posted by entropone at 10:58 AM on September 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
If you have an access to a Mac, I find GarageBand to be very easy to use. There are a lot of good "GarageBand 101" tutorials that will help out with applying some basic effects to your tracks (like reverb and compression) that will help give it just a little nudge toward a clean-sounding recording - but there are also a lot of presets in GarageBand that can move you in the right direction. And a lot of these videos might give you some suggestion about stereo mixing and layering to help give your recording a full, rich sound.
Mic technique for singing depends on your singing style and the sound of your mics. The best way to find out is to experiment with the angle and distance from the mic, and to try both mics. A pop filter can help, too, and these tend to be pretty cheap.
posted by entropone at 10:58 AM on September 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: My husband has used (in a similar hobby capacity) ardour and would recommend that over using Audacity.
My acoustic guitar has a pickup and electronics, but I'm unsure of their quality or if mic'ing the guitar would be better. Husband says why not do it all? They won't be "better" one way, just different. Then you can play around with all of the sounds you get and mix them how you like.
I'm a singer and my best tip for using mics is to practice and listen to your recordings and hone your technique for your specific mic and your preferred sounds/style of vocals. Expect to be horrified by your recordings at first. They will get better. Don't "eat the mic", give it some space and play around with distance and volume. The quality of your mic matters more than anything else really. I use Shure SM58 because it's a great mic for the price.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 11:01 AM on September 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
My acoustic guitar has a pickup and electronics, but I'm unsure of their quality or if mic'ing the guitar would be better. Husband says why not do it all? They won't be "better" one way, just different. Then you can play around with all of the sounds you get and mix them how you like.
I'm a singer and my best tip for using mics is to practice and listen to your recordings and hone your technique for your specific mic and your preferred sounds/style of vocals. Expect to be horrified by your recordings at first. They will get better. Don't "eat the mic", give it some space and play around with distance and volume. The quality of your mic matters more than anything else really. I use Shure SM58 because it's a great mic for the price.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 11:01 AM on September 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: A lot of people will use small multitrack recorders and then copy the files over to a computer. Many of those can record from an onboard mic as well as an external input. Eg. Zoom
I bet you would be able to borrow one locally from a local compatriot without much fuss. ;)
posted by bug138 at 11:13 AM on September 30, 2023
I bet you would be able to borrow one locally from a local compatriot without much fuss. ;)
posted by bug138 at 11:13 AM on September 30, 2023
Best answer: 2nding Reaper.
Also, consider vocal double-tracking
posted by falsedmitri at 11:23 AM on September 30, 2023
Also, consider vocal double-tracking
posted by falsedmitri at 11:23 AM on September 30, 2023
Best answer: I'm gonna put some stuff in parentheses, that'll be sort of basic term explanations. Since "next to nothing" means different things to different people, you can skip them or not as needed. I'm also taking you at your word that you just want something that sounds pretty good without investing a lot of time in anything. If you want to invest time, linked in learning has an absolute boatload of courses to watch, especially anything from Bobby Owsinski.
So, how many inputs do you have on your mixing board? Because if you have 3 inputs, you could set one up for the guitar pickups, one for the guitar mic, and one for your vocals. Then you could blend the two guitar tracks to get the sound you like.
In general, you'll want to set the recording levels so that they top at a little over -10 dB in your DAW. That'll give you a good clean signal, but leave you plenty of headroom. You'll want to set that on your mixing board at the preamp, not at the fader (the preamps the knob up top, the fader's the slider at the bottom). You'll definitely want a high-pass filter on every track with a mic (that's the one that cuts all frequencies below a certain point), your mixing board might very well have one built in for each track, if not there will be one as an effect in your DAW.
For mic placement, the bass frequencies are boosted the closer you get to the mic, so if something is sounding too boomy, try backing the mic off a little. Other than that, try pointing the mic at different parts of the guitar to see what sounds the best to you, but other than keeping it consistent from recording to recording, don't worry too much about it.
As a general mixing strategy: I'd start with your vocals at a volume that sounds good to you, and then bring the guitar up to where you can hear it, but it isn't overwhelming the vocals. You'll probably have to go back and adjust this as you add effects in. You'll be aiming for the master output level to be between -4 to -6 dBs.
For effects: you'll be fine with an EQ, maybe a compressor, and reverb, probably in that order in the chain. Most of the software plugins will come with presets with names like "acoustic guitar" and "vocals" that'll go a long way to making the recording sound nice.
This'll give you a recording that's softer than most professionally released mixes, to solve that you can put a compressor on the Stereo out track and do some sort of "mastering" preset, I'd go for something with "gentle" or "acoustic" in the name.
Finally, write down all your settings, then you can just recycle them from track to track.
posted by Gygesringtone at 3:37 PM on September 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
So, how many inputs do you have on your mixing board? Because if you have 3 inputs, you could set one up for the guitar pickups, one for the guitar mic, and one for your vocals. Then you could blend the two guitar tracks to get the sound you like.
In general, you'll want to set the recording levels so that they top at a little over -10 dB in your DAW. That'll give you a good clean signal, but leave you plenty of headroom. You'll want to set that on your mixing board at the preamp, not at the fader (the preamps the knob up top, the fader's the slider at the bottom). You'll definitely want a high-pass filter on every track with a mic (that's the one that cuts all frequencies below a certain point), your mixing board might very well have one built in for each track, if not there will be one as an effect in your DAW.
For mic placement, the bass frequencies are boosted the closer you get to the mic, so if something is sounding too boomy, try backing the mic off a little. Other than that, try pointing the mic at different parts of the guitar to see what sounds the best to you, but other than keeping it consistent from recording to recording, don't worry too much about it.
As a general mixing strategy: I'd start with your vocals at a volume that sounds good to you, and then bring the guitar up to where you can hear it, but it isn't overwhelming the vocals. You'll probably have to go back and adjust this as you add effects in. You'll be aiming for the master output level to be between -4 to -6 dBs.
For effects: you'll be fine with an EQ, maybe a compressor, and reverb, probably in that order in the chain. Most of the software plugins will come with presets with names like "acoustic guitar" and "vocals" that'll go a long way to making the recording sound nice.
This'll give you a recording that's softer than most professionally released mixes, to solve that you can put a compressor on the Stereo out track and do some sort of "mastering" preset, I'd go for something with "gentle" or "acoustic" in the name.
Finally, write down all your settings, then you can just recycle them from track to track.
posted by Gygesringtone at 3:37 PM on September 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Oh I mean to say: if you have the time, energy, and a good set of headphones: one thing you can do is do the recording in 2-3 phases: guitar and vocal scratch tracks where you're recording your voice and guitar at the same time. Then play just the guitar scratch track through the headphones and record your vocals. If you are recording the guitar through a mic, you'll want to do the same thing, but with your new vocal tracks playing and you just playing your guitar. Then just mute all the scratch tracks.
This will a) let you concentrate more on each element and b)eliminate bleed between tracks making it easier to mix.
On the other hand, you may find you like the sound of doing both at the same time, and that's fine too. Plenty of professionals prefer that way.
posted by Gygesringtone at 3:44 PM on September 30, 2023
This will a) let you concentrate more on each element and b)eliminate bleed between tracks making it easier to mix.
On the other hand, you may find you like the sound of doing both at the same time, and that's fine too. Plenty of professionals prefer that way.
posted by Gygesringtone at 3:44 PM on September 30, 2023
Best answer: Use closed back headphones to monitor your voice when singing, it will improve your vocal. Also helps when adding a unison or harmony line to an existing vocal track.
Experiment! The number of ways to record a particular signal is limited by the available inputs you have on your mixer or interface, but use 'em all. Mic the room. Mic outside, in the hallway. Mic your guitar from different angles. Play through an amp (or 2!) and mic that. Mic an amp that's in a closet or tile bathroom.
This goes for vox and instrument, but track those separately from each other as you'll get lots of bleed and you want these to be isolated on their own tracks.
Half the fun of home recording (to me) is mixing the different inputs for a given performance to see what cool organic effects you can get that no one else can, because your space and creativity are unique to you. Have fun!
posted by Stupidsexyflanders_take2 at 8:46 AM on October 1, 2023
Experiment! The number of ways to record a particular signal is limited by the available inputs you have on your mixer or interface, but use 'em all. Mic the room. Mic outside, in the hallway. Mic your guitar from different angles. Play through an amp (or 2!) and mic that. Mic an amp that's in a closet or tile bathroom.
This goes for vox and instrument, but track those separately from each other as you'll get lots of bleed and you want these to be isolated on their own tracks.
Half the fun of home recording (to me) is mixing the different inputs for a given performance to see what cool organic effects you can get that no one else can, because your space and creativity are unique to you. Have fun!
posted by Stupidsexyflanders_take2 at 8:46 AM on October 1, 2023
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Reaper is a powerful DAW that has a free unlimited trial and only costs $60 for a personal license. I would use that over naked audacity for convenience, even if you don't want complex features.
You can do it all in one take for sure, but you'll have better quality on your voice if you aren't also playing guitar.
*Speaking as an inexpert dabbler. I'm sure sometimes the 'air gap' of a great mic on a great guitar is preferable to a low grade pickup, but that's above where I think you want to be right now.
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:31 AM on September 30, 2023 [1 favorite]