I have two D03's that I love. One I use to play live. The other for recording. However, I tend to get too much low end on the D03, and a lot of times I like recording while both playing and singing. I tend to get a better performance that way.
I'm looking for a Larrivee that will have less low end, but keep the same nice balanced sound my D03 has. Not sure if a L03 or OM would work. I mainly record with a D03BW, but also record with just a D03R as well.
Thoughts?
I think you'd love an L -
You can do miracles with microphone positioning.
Where do you have your microphones positioned now?
Quote from: ST on August 29, 2011, 08:24:01 PM
You can do miracles with microphone positioning.
Where do you have your microphones positioned now?
Great question.
I too prefer to record what most call a scratch track this way though I have always used in the end.I like a single large diaphram about 3 feet away with the mic at a mid level between my mouth and the top of the guitar side.I have also exp. with a headset mic and a late 60's made Shure SM57 about 12 to 18 inch's away aimed at about the 14 fret spot.
Normally I'll use a Shure SM81 about 9-12 inches away from the neck placed at the 12th fret and pointed at the sound hole.
At first I thought you meant you had D-03 mahogany. A regular D-03 might work better if you still want Ds. I don`t know the blackwood. The rosewood tends to be a little bassy, though the Larrivee versions of rosewood are still focused to my ear.
An L-09 may be the perfect guitar for the recording studio. At least, mine is.
Quote from: ducktrapper on August 30, 2011, 08:15:02 AM
An L-09 may be the perfect guitar for the recording studio. At least, mine is.
I don't know Duck, the recording engineer working witj us on our CD seems to be very fond of my re-voiced 000-60. Perhaps, someday we can sit and record a tune together and then debate the relatitive merits of each guitar! :cheers
Quote from: GA-ME on August 30, 2011, 08:18:08 AM
I don't know Duck, the recording engineer working witj us on our CD seems to be very fond of my re-voiced 000-60. Perhaps, someday we can sit and record a tune together and then debate the relatitive merits of each guitar! :cheers
I haven't had my OOO-50 in a
real studio so you could be right but ... that would be very cool! Anytime you're passing through Da Bay, look me up! :cheers
Just try moving the mic a little farther away for starters.
Then, in your recording software, apply a high pass filter with the cutoff at about 80 Hz. Try increasing the cutoff frequency until you hit the balanced sound you are looking for. Could also be an issue with where in the room you are recording. Should be in the middle of the room to avoid coupling with acoustic room modes.
-Scott
Yeah, I tend to agree that the position of the mics can make all the different. I'm experimenting with this myself these days...although lately, my studio time has been pretty short. Summer's always bad for that. School started up yesterday so routines are starting up.
TeleKing, try changing the position of the mics, move them back a couple of inches and see what happens...experiment...
Hi TeleKing,
Quote from: TeleKing on August 30, 2011, 07:01:42 AM
Normally I'll use a Shure SM81 about 9-12 inches away from the neck placed at the 12th fret and pointed at the sound hole.
Try pointing the microphone at the 14th fret. That sounds counter-intuitive but it should give you a much more balanced sound.
Check out this article for some ideas: Recording Acoustic Guitar (http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Aug01/articles/recacgtr0801.asp) - source Sound On Sound
The point is, D-styled booming guitars have been recorded for decades without unnecessary boominess in the end-result recording. You shouldn't have to resort to a new guitar to get a nice recording. You already have a great guitar.
Can you describe or post a picture of the room you are recording in?
Also, I just checked the SM81 datasheet, you have a selectable hi-pass filter on that thing. Make sure it's rotated to the fully counter-clockwise position: http://shure.com/idc/groups/public/documents/webcontent/us_pro_sm81_specsheet.pdf
It is a condenser, and has a pretty wide cardioid pattern which means that even though you point at the 14th fret, it's still going to be pretty sensitive to what's coming out of the soundhole/top - which is the boom. No need to point it at the soundhole - in other words. (take ST's advice, in another other words!)
-Scott
Indeed, EQing can compensate for dreads and other harder to record guitars. An L will solve the problem without EQing.
The recording engineer that I use, said my OMs' require far less EQ than the Ls'.
Quote from: carruth on August 30, 2011, 05:19:07 PM
The recording engineer that I use, said my OMs' require far less EQ than the Ls'.
What's less than none? :smile:
Quote from: GA-ME on August 31, 2011, 07:33:44 AM
???
If we're going by what recording engineers have reportedly said, the ones I've dealt with using my L-09 are astonished at the lack of need for EQing. Just saying and joking a little about "far less". :smile:
Quote from: ducktrapper on August 31, 2011, 09:32:52 AM
...Just saying and joking a little about "far less". :smile:
Sect 17: Paragraph 2: Humor will not be tolerated on this forum. Offenders shall be subjected to Nitrous Oxide for a periof of not less than 20 minutes.
Oops. That should read "humour". :humour:
Appreciate all the responses, folks.
To clarify, I'm recording both vocals and acoustic live. I'm in a separate recording room to my bandmates and we try to cut things live if we can. So the high pass filter helps, but the vocal mic is picking up the boominess of the Larrivee as well. If we cut some bottom on the vocal mic take then the vocals sound a bit thin.
The room isn't large. Only probably 12X13-14. I'm pretty much in the middle. There is small amounts of acoustic treatment, but not a lot. We're all doing this in my home.
I love both D03s, but thought I'd add to the collection if it helped with recording purposes. I don't really need the pretty stylings so the 03 models usually do me just fine. My friend has an L09, so I'll give that a spin, but wondered if an OM would be better or others?
Use one mic for both your vocal and the guitar.Your engineer is going to have to know something about mixing live.
Quote from: TeleKing on August 31, 2011, 04:00:34 PM
Appreciate all the responses, folks.
To clarify, I'm recording both vocals and acoustic live. I'm in a separate recording room to my bandmates and we try to cut things live if we can. So the high pass filter helps, but the vocal mic is picking up the boominess of the Larrivee as well. If we cut some bottom on the vocal mic take then the vocals sound a bit thin.
The room isn't large. Only probably 12X13-14. I'm pretty much in the middle. There is small amounts of acoustic treatment, but not a lot. We're all doing this in my home.
I love both D03s, but thought I'd add to the collection if it helped with recording purposes. I don't really need the pretty stylings so the 03 models usually do me just fine. My friend has an L09, so I'll give that a spin, but wondered if an OM would be better or others?
Well, vocals should be hi-passed even higher than acoustic guitars - so this is still not a reason to go buy a 1000+ guitar, unless you have the itch. That's a different matter altogether. What are you using for vocals? A trusty SM58 will reject most of the acoustic guitar sound right out of the box. Find one of those for $150 or less on eBay. If you are trying to cut simultaneous vox and guitar, you need to use mics that are more directional than the SM81 regardless of guitar type. You didn't state that in your first post. Very important information. The SM81 is not going to work without serious bleed of vox into that mic. The OM will help, but it's not going to change all that much. Mic selection is your path right now. Simultaneous recording of vocals and any acoustic guitar is an entirely different exercise than just one or the other and here the mic choice and placement is absolutely important - much more important than guitar type.
:thumb Thankyou for the comments about my recording engineer. Was only quoting what he said. He has been a recording engineer all his working life(he is now around 55 years old) and has won many awards for his skills. He does not like recording dreadnaughts because they have so much bottom end.
Quote from: TeleKing on August 30, 2011, 07:01:42 AM
Normally I'll use a Shure SM81 about 9-12 inches away from the neck placed at the 12th fret and pointed at the sound hole.
Have you tried using 2 mics? Keep the one you already have pointed at the 12th fret, but angle it AWAY from the sound hole. Then, add a second mic aimed directly AT the sound hole to pic up the low end. Blend the two signals during mixing to get just the "right amount" of low end.
Cheers!
Jim
If you just can't get what you want with positioning the microphone...
Before buying a new guitar (unless you really want to get a new guitar) I might try something like this to attentuate the low end.
Screeching Halt
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31ks9WkjwIL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
(http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Waves-Screeching-Acoustic-Soundhole/dp/B0010SHU18%3FSubscriptionId%3D16F9H0QR4NHQJYY2XB02%26tag%3D247bestshop-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB0010SHU18)
:+1: They work nicely.