Recording Classical Guitar: Part 3 – Audio Interfaces and Audio Software

Nicole Neal2 Comments

Today’s post wraps up the three part series that the marvellous Rick Alexander has kindly written – thanks Rick.

The first post was on getting your set-up right for recording.

And the second was on microphone positioning.

In this final post of this series Rick talks about USB audio interfaces and audio software.

USB Audio Interfaces

You need an audio interface to convert the analog signal from the mic to digital. Sometimes this conversion job will be done in the mic itself (as in USB mics which have a USB output). But the most common solution is to use an audio interface box which has microphone inputs and a USB connection to a computer or tablet. For playback, audio interfaces also have audio outputs for connecting to an amplifier and speakers, plus a headphone output.

You can get audio interfaces with varying numbers of microphone inputs from one upwards. Two mic inputs are common and I’d recommend this combination so you can do stereo recording.

Also, make sure that the audio interface provides “phantom power” for powering condenser microphones. Almost all audio interfaces will have this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_power

Many companies make two input digital audio interfaces including PreSonus. E.g. the AudioBox USB http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioBoxUSB US$99

M-Audio: E.g. the M-Track Plus http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MTrackPlus US$79

Avid: E.g. the Fast Track Duo http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FTDuo US$199

Recording to a tablet using a digital audio interface

Recently audio interfaces which work with a tablet have come out. Recording to a tablet rather than computer has the advantage that the tablet won’t generate fan or hard disk noise.

E.g. the PreSonus Audio Box i2 records to iPad as does the Avid Fast Track Duo listed above. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioBoxiTwo

Bit depth and sampling rate

Most audio interfaces will record a variety of bit depths and sampling rates. For the audio examples in this series I recorded with 24 bits per sample, 44100 samples per second.

Level adjustment

It’s worth adjusting the input level control of the audio interface so that your recorded signal is close to full scale. I.e. you don’t want to be scaling up the signal too much after it’s been recorded.

Stand-alone digital recorders

An alternative to using an audio interface and computer is to use a stand-alone digital recorder to record (Figure 1) with the option of connecting external microphones for better sound quality (Figure 2). Also the computer can be turned off while recording so, as with recording to a tablet, you don’t need to worry about recording fan or hard disk noise.

guitar 6Figure 1 – Set up for recording with a digital recorder


 guitar 6

Figure 2 – Using external condenser mics with a digital recorder (advantage: good sound – low noise)

An example of a digital recorder is a Zoom H5: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H5 US$270

For my home recording I mostly use a computer based setup but I also used a Zoom H4 recorder with external KM184 microphones for two tracks on my latest CD.

A digital recorder is a useful part of your recording setup. For example, to test microphones you could take a digital recorder along to the store. I’ve taken my Zoom H4 along when testing guitars so I could compare the sound of various guitars later. Also, the Zoom H5 recorder can also be used directly as a USB audio interface. I.e. you can record via USB straight to a computer rather than the memory card in the recorder.

Audio Software

You’ll need audio software running on your computer or tablet. Audio interfaces often come with bundled software or alternatively you can get separate software which will work with any interface. A free example for stereo or multi-track recording is Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ . A cheap but fully featured multi-track recording program is Reaper: http://www.reaper.fm/ ($US 60 for non-commercial use.) I use Sony Sound Forge for solo recording and Reaper for recording overdubbed duets.

Effects

Up to this point we have a raw recording. The next steps in producing a finished track are to do some editing, possibly perform equalisation (EQ) to alter the frequency content, maybe apply dynamic range compression and add reverb.

I think that for a classical guitar recording performing the least EQ and compression is generally best. This is because ideally we want the guitar to sound 100% natural. But, unless you live in a concert hall, you’ll want to add reverb to a home recording. This can be done using audio software such as Audacity, Reaper or Sound Forge.

My final example audio is the stereo example with angled mics from part 2 of this series with a little reverb added using Sony Sound Forge’s “Acoustic Mirror” reverb. The Acoustic Mirror reverb in Sound Forge adds the reverb recorded from a real acoustic space to your recording. They provide a number of acoustic spaces with the program and here I’ve used a Masonic Centre at Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

Here’s the raw track again.

And here’s the same track with reverb added.

Conclusion

You can gain a lot of enjoyment from home recording. It adds another dimension to your playing and is simply a lot of fun. And these days it doesn’t have to be too expensive.

I hope this series helps you, and if you have any questions feel free to post a comment.

Thank you for the opportunity to write this series Nicole!

Interview with Canberran Classical Guitarist Extraordinaire Minh Le Hoang – Part 2

Nicole Neal1 Comment

Today I have for you Part 2 of my interview with the wonderful Minh Le Hoang (and here’s a link to Part 1 in case you missed it). Here we chat about Guitar Trek’s upcoming recording, his thoughts on the recording process and some top tips for students of the guitar.

If you’re in Melbourne don’t forget to catch Minh live in action on 9th May. Details and tickets here on the Melbourne Guitar Foundation website.

And don’t forget to head back this time next week for the third and final instalment of the interview!

Enjoy!

Minh Le Hoang

You say you’re going to record a new CD?

Yes, with Guitar Trek. It’s going to be our sixth one. This one is recorded with a new line up, or newish. It’s the last three or four years the latest guy has been with us. We want to record the CD so that we have this line up on a disc.

Since 1987 there have been a lot of changes in the members.

So yes, recording the new disc in late June or early July. In Studio 301 in Sydney and it’s a mixed programme of mostly transcriptions. It’s got some Brahms, Tchaikovsky, some ragtime, and lots of little pieces, attractive pieces.

Do you enjoy the recording process?

It can be good when all the takes turn out how we want it. It’s pretty difficult in the recording trying to get things right – you stop, you listen back, you thought you had it, but you never did!

So often you have to rehearse in the studio and of course you’re playing for yourself, there’s no audience, you cannot generate that performing vibe. It’s harder.

But it’s good. I’ve done quite a few now, so I have some rough idea of how to prepare for it. Basically come into the studio prepared!

Does it feel different doing a solo recording versus a group recording?

I guess so, yes. With your solo you know how you want it to sound and you can fix it as many times as you want.

With a group of course you prepare the work, you know what you want from it, but let’s say there’s four people and there’s only one take – your part may be a bit messy here and there, but the whole take is good, the flow of the music. You have to judge “ah I don’t sound so good there, but the others do”! So you have to decide.

So there’s more room for error with four players for sure. In the studio you may have a perfect take, and then one of the players just drops out, and then that’s it!

But there’s also fantastic energy, and more fun than solo!

As a teacher what would be your advice for someone looking to pick up the guitar for the first time, or again after not having played for a while?

With someone looking to pick up the guitar again I would say find the repertoire that stimulates you the most or whatever gets you to the guitar. I find at times I fall back to the very early Barrios pieces or there’s little Tarrega pieces, some of those Preludes, some Villa-Lobos or something.

Just play those pieces that got you into the guitar. Or listen to some of the old Segovia recordings. I think some of it is fantastic. The players nowadays they just play everything like machines. No colour, not much imagination, just dots. That’s what I hear. Competition players these days don’t do anything for me. You can’t respond to it. What’s missing? The music, you know. They don’t give you the world of sound like Julian Bream or Segovia or an old school South American player. They’re so good.

So just pick up you guitar and play your favourite tunes and work from there. Of course doing it on your own is very difficult. You need to find a good teacher, or one that’s at least inspiring. You can’t really do it on your own, it’s much harder. There’s the feedback. And of course with a teacher you have that weekly arrangement, you must prepare something, you can’t just slack off!

What advice would you give to more advanced students of the guitar that perhaps want to follow a career with the classical guitar?

With advance students, the degree students I’m working with at the moment, we still do our usual lessons but we do talk about other things beside guitar, like where you want to take it, rather than just straight soft/loud, or whatever. You talk about the future, about what they’re hoping to do.

More technically advanced students you start to guide them. They finish here, you may want to pick up something else with another teacher overseas. The last couple of years we’ve been sending them overseas. Germany, Italy, wherever they’re comfortable really. Experiencing the world more. We tend to give them the bigger picture, we don’t just keep them in town that limits their chances.

And of course input from other teachers is very important too. You not just doing the same things.

Of course there are some players that are not going to be at that performance level, or players that will have solo careers only. There are plenty of other things they can do. They can do chamber music, they can teach, they can give their contribution to the community by teaching, by organizing festivals or whatever activities that involve music. It doesn’t have to be full on “here’s my show!” It doesn’t work like that.

 

Is there a point in time you can recall where you thought “yes, I want to do this” in terms of performing and teaching classical guitar?

The teaching is not something I’ve thought about much in the past, but recently it’s part of what I do, a main source of income of course. The last four or five years I’ve been working with higher level students, so I think it helps me develop as a musician. You learn from the students, some of these advanced players.

Back in high school, when I picked up the guitar, I fell in love with it. So pretty much through high school I thought “This is it. This is what I want to do. I want to be a guitar player.” Back then you never really know if you’re going to be performing or anything, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and so pursued it.