Category: Guitar Stuff

This is stuff I’ve not categorised yet. Oops.

Recording Classical Guitar: Part 1 – A Recording Setup

Nicole Neal4 Comments

Morning folks!

Those of you who read the blog frequently may recall the fabulous Rick Alexander – if not, or you’re relatively new around these parts check out these posts:

* Q&A with Rick Alexander

* Album Review: Fine Light by Rick Alexander

* From Nylon to Steel and Back (a fantastic guest post that Rick wrote for the blog early last year)

Well, Rick has been kind enough to share his knowledge and experience of recording the classical guitar – how to get set up, gear and so on. And so much knowledge does he have that we have a little mini-series for you on the subject, and so for today and the next couple of Monday morning (AEST) posts I hand you over to Rick!!

Rick

Here you go folks. Thanks Rick!

Recording Classical Guitar: Part 1 – A Recording Setup – Plus Microphones

It’s now easier and cheaper than ever to make good quality recordings of your playing. In this series I’ve put together some tips from my own experience of home recording over the past 18 years.

Why record yourself?

It’s a lot of fun: You get to hear back the results of the practice you’ve put in. Our guitars and our playing vary over time. It’s great fun and very satisfying to capture your guitar sounding its best with your best playing.

Recording yourself can help you hear more clearly how you’re playing. Sometimes when you’re working hard on a piece you don’t hear it as others do. Listening back to a recording after a gap of a few days can help you hear problems in your playing. And help you hear what’s working well.

If you write your own music you can record as a piece of music develops over time.

It’s a way to share your playing. This is one of the most satisfying aspects for me.

A recording setup for classical guitar

Figure 1 shows a typical setup for recording solo classical guitar. The main components are:

  • Two condenser microphones for stereo recording (plus mic stands).
  • A USB digital audio interface to digitize the analog signal from the microphones.
  • A computer or tablet to record to.
  • Recording software on the computer or tablet.
  • Plus you’ll need powered speakers or headphones to play back on. (Connected either to the computer or to the audio interface.)

Recording Classical Guitar - Part 1 - Fig 1 - 19-4-15

Figure 1 – Microphone Setup

Which factors affect the sound quality of your recording the most?

There’s a simple answer: the microphones and the microphone positioning have the largest effect. Next would be the room you’re recording in followed by the audio interface.

Microphones

Unfortunately it turns out that, like guitars, all microphones are not created equal!   Generally, the more you pay the better the sound quality.

Dynamic vs Condenser Microphones

There are two main types of microphone: Dynamic and Condenser. While the dynamic type is more rugged the condenser type reproduces high frequencies better. This better frequency response results in a more realistic sounding recording. The small diaphragm condenser type is generally considered the best for instrumental recording. http://homerecording.about.com/od/microphones101/a/mic_types.htm

A popular dynamic mic is a Shure SM57. US $99. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SM57

Examples of small diaphragm condenser mics are:

Behringer C-2: US$60 for a pair. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/C2m

Rode M5: US$199 for a pair. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/M5MP

Rode NT5: US $429 for a pair. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NT5

Shure SM81: US$700 for a pair. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SM81

and Neumann KM184. US $1600 for a pair. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KM184Pair

When buying a microphone ideally try to find a store which will let you try their microphones. In fact I’d recommend asking if you can take your guitar along to the store and make some test recordings.

I think you’ll find that the more expensive mics do generally sound better but very acceptable results can be had from mics in the few hundred dollar range per mic.

For my recent CD “Fine Light” I used Shure SM81 mics for ten tracks recorded at a recording studio and Neumann KM 184 mics for six tracks recorded at home. I haven’t tried the Rode or Behringer mics I’ve listed here but you’ll find positive reviews on the web. E.g. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb14/articles/rode-m5.htm

Microphone Polar Pattern

Microphones vary in their sensitivity versus the angle of the sound source from the direction the microphone is pointing. This is called the microphone’s “polar pattern”. The most common polar pattern for microphones used for instrumental recording is the “cardioid” pattern for which the microphone is most sensitive straight ahead and sensitivity falls off to zero directly behind. The microphones I’ve listed above all have a cardioid polar pattern.

http://www.shure.co.uk/support_download/educational_content/microphones-basics/microphone_polar_patterns

Proximity effect

It’s an intrinsic feature of microphones with a cardioid polar pattern that their bass response is increased when the microphone is closer to the sound source. This is called the “proximity effect”. I’ve found that I need to position the mics maybe 25 to 35 cm from the guitar to get a natural sounding bass response.

Mic positioning

Now that you have some microphones the question is how to position them in order to get the best sound quality. In the next post I’ll talk about mic positioning.

Five of My Key Learnings On My Journey With The Classical Guitar

Nicole Neal6 Comments

I was thinking the other day what my top tips would be, or rather key pieces of wisdom, I’ve come to learn over the past twenty-odd years of playing classical guitar. And (as I always say) I thought I’d share! So here is quick on with five of my key learnings on my journey with the classical guitar……. (I’m sure more will follow in the ensuing weeks as more gems pop into my brain!)

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(1) Trust yourself

Trust your own interpretation of the music you’re playing. You’re the musician bringing the music to life, trust what you bring to the music, your thoughts and ideas on how it should sound. Avoid the temptation to try and make it sound like someone else’s interpretation. And don’t be beholden to stylistic boundaries – sure be reverent to the style, time period etc, but don’t get too hung up on it in my opinion, particularly if you feel moved in a certain direction otherwise we’ll all sound the same! Go for it.

(2) Cultivate your sound

Aways listen to what you’re producing. The music is in the sound – sound quality rules over note accuracy (well, kind of, to a point!) Note accuracy, technique and so on is just the mechanics of the music. Your sound is where it comes alive. Listen to it. Be inspired by others, but don’t wish to have the sound of others. Your sound is you.

(3) Turn up and practice regularly

Regularity and being truly present in the process is the key to making progress. Practicing more often than not practicing in terms of days of the week. Keeping things moving. It’s a never ending process.

(4) But don’t stress out if you can’t practice

The guitar is not going anywhere. And you may find the break has done you good. Not stressing is also vitally important in making progress!

(5) Things don’t necessarily get easier the pieces just get more challenging!

Well, that’s only partly true really, a number of things really do get easier over time with consistent practice – sight reading, left and right hand techniques, tonal control and so on. What doesn’t necessarily feel easier is the learning and getting to grips with a new piece, that is to say if you’re pushing yourself with more challenging repertoire.

And you don’t notice this change at the time. It kind of feels like things are still hard. But go back to something you were playing or learning a year or two (or more) back, or better yet something you might have looked at at that time but found perhaps a little too challenging at the time and you may just surprise yourself. I know I have and continue to!