15 replies to this topic

[solidwalnut]

I've been away from recording for a while, not fun. Glad to be getting back into it. So Im going to start posting some stuff.

Here's the first, but this is just the set up I used when recording this tune, The Garden, back in 2001. Older stuff, but I'll get more up-to-date when I post another one of these in the near future (I hope!). I moved on and now do computer recording.

----------------------------------------------

What type of guitars

1 acoustic, 1 electric

What brand of guitar

• what type of pickups on electrics, acoustic pick-ups
  
  Acoustic -- 1999 Taylor 714ce w/Fishman blender p/u (p/u not used in the recording, though)
  
  Electric -- 1979 Les Paul "The Paul" solid walnut w/standard stock humbuckers
  
  
  
• nuts, bridges
  
  The Taylor had a Tusq nut and saddle (I changed the saddle to bone last year). The Les Paul has a Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar.

Playing Accessories -

• string gauges, plectrum (heavy or light) thumb pick or finger pics etc
  
  I use Martin MSP4100 (lights) on the Taylor and Ernie Ball Super Slinkies on the Les Paul.

Playing Style - plectum, fingers, thumb pic, hybrid, etc.

60mm (orange) Dunlop Tortex pick on the electric, fingerstyle on the acoustic (except the acoustic lead track in the middle)

Settings on Electrics -

• bridge, neck, or in between
  
  Bridge p/u w/the tone dialed down to 4.

What Microphones -

• what type (dynamic, condenser, ribbon etc).
  
  Condensors
  
  
  
• brand (instrument and vocal)
  
  Neumann TLM103 and AKG C 414 B-TL II
  
  
  
• position(s) for recording
  
  Acoustic: TLM103 positioned approx. 1ft. away and aimed at the 10th fret, TL II positioned approx. 3 ft. away and aimed behind the bridge.
  Electric: TL II set to hypercardioid and positioned to catch the reflection of a wall in a corner.
  BGV's: TLM103

Recording System

Recorders

• Tascam DA78HR (digital 8-track tape) (1)

Mixing Console

• Mackie 1202VLZ (12 channel mixer)
  I fed the Tascam the signal from the mixer using an analog 8 ch. snake.
  I used a line out from the Mackie to the line in of my computer to make the mp3.

Any Amps, Pre-amps, Guitar Modelers, Pedals or any other equipment in the recording line between guitar and computer

• Nothing in-line between the acoustic and the recorder, just microphones
  
  
• Electric amp used was a Lab Series L11 200W SS head, using an Acoustic (brand) 4x10 cabinet.
  Amp set to CH 2 (overdrive), but only a small amount of channel gain.

Making the Recording -

* How many vocal and guitar tracks did you use?

Acoustic: 2, Electric: 1, Lead/hilight Acoustic: 2 Bell: 1, BGV's: 3. Wait! That's 9 tracks. I actually used the bell on one of the tracks that I later used for the lead/acoustic hilight part.

What was the bell? A wine glass filled with enough water to tune it to an E note!

* What bit rate and other recording details, mono or stereo etc.

All acoustics in stereo, electric in mono, vox in mono. Digital recorder set to 24 bit, mp3 encoded to 192kbits/s.

* What FX (effects) - the brand, and what you used eg chorus, reverb, compression etc and roughly how much.

TC Electronic M2000 used for bgv and guitar reverbs. Electric lead reverb was a mix of the on-board spring reverb of the Lab Series and the added reverb from the M2000. Yamaha SPX90 used for heavy flanged acoustic chord at the end of the tune.

=========================================

[knight46]

Beautiful tune Steve and a great description of the set up. Recording was very good.

[eddiez152]

Steve,
What a wonderful recording. Excellent playing and arrangement. Clarity, whew, stunning.

[carol m]

Steve! What a wondeful track, and recording, and playing, and you're the first to have a stab at the 'template' and you did it in style. There is enough info there for everyone to have a think about and get some ideas.

I think the only ingredient you didn't mention was the years of dedicated practice that you must have put in to reach your standard of playing and recording. Excellent.

[Nutty]

Wow, that is absolutely beautiful Steve. I was impressed with your playing. Also, I was intrigued by the great BGV by the TC Electronic M2000 . I thought that is something I could use until I saw it was around $1,000. Oh well, my own vocals will do!

Again, awesome performance Steve. Nice set up too.

Annette

[starsailor]

I can see why it's one of your favourites Steve, brilliant composing, really cool, the Recording is excellent, so clear, thanks for the description of your set up too, really showed the strength in Carol's Template, really informative, very enjoyable track and excellent playing, nice one.

[solidwalnut]

knight46 said:

Beautiful tune Steve and a great description of the set up. Recording was very good.

Thanks knight. It's a testament to using good mics and paying attention to gain staging. Much appreciated.

[solidwalnut]

eddiez152 said:

Steve,
What a wonderful recording. Excellent playing and arrangement. Clarity, whew, stunning.

Eddie, thanks so much. One reason I like this tune is because it has a bridge. I guess not all songs need one, but in this case it presented a relief from the theme and a rallying point I guess you could say.

[solidwalnut]

carol m said:

Steve! What a wondeful track, and recording, and playing, and you're the first to have a stab at the 'template' and you did it in style. There is enough info there for everyone to have a think about and get some ideas.

I think the only ingredient you didn't mention was the years of dedicated practice that you must have put in to reach your standard of playing and recording. Excellent.

The template has busted out!

Thanks for the very kind words, Carol. I think I've grown to be too picky, actually. I'll do take after take after take until I really like it. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes not.

[solidwalnut]

Nutty said:

Wow, that is absolutely beautiful Steve. I was impressed with your playing. Also, I was intrigued by the great BGV by the TC Electronic M2000 . I thought that is something I could use until I saw it was around $1,000. Oh well, my own vocals will do!

Again, awesome performance Steve. Nice set up too.

Annette

Thanks much for your kind words, Annette. The M2000 is an effects unit. I recorded all the vocal tracks for the bgv's, but then I used the M2000 and sent all 3 tracks to the unit. I set the unit to create a long hall reverb and and returned the signal to the board. On the board faders, I lowered the overall volume level of each vocal and mixed those together and sent them to the master faders to create how the bgv's sit in the background of the mix.

The M2000 is really a great sounding unit. A ton of great sounding effects. It's a rack mount unit, and so is going out of favor with the invent of computer recording and plug-ins used for effects. Although I love the unit, I don't need it anymore! If you want it, make me an offer, send me a PM. Take it from me, please! I need cash to get out of debt from other toy purchases.

[solidwalnut]

starsailor said:

I can see why it's one of your favourites Steve, brilliant composing, really cool, the Recording is excellent, so clear, thanks for the description of your set up too, really showed the strength in Carol's Template, really informative, very enjoyable track and excellent playing, nice one.

Thanks a ton, starsailor!

[hb]

Beautiful....and fits your theme very well.
hb

[X4StringDrive]

Very impressive Steve, the playing and the recording! Looking forward to hearing some of your newer stuff as well as more of these when you find time. You have me curious now, as to what your using different as far as your current set-up compared to the one at the time of this, and to learning what equipment has followed you along into your current recordings. Again super job on this!

[carol m]

starsailor said:

really showed the strength in Carol's Template

Thanks Chris but it was Steve's idea, I hadn't thought of putting something in template form for people to use as a guide - I just did it, but Steve had the idea.

I don't think it really matters if people use a lot of gear to make a song for posting or not, it's always useful to know something about how others have done it. Even a basic line-in to something and ending up with something they can share with others is always the first step. Even doing that is a major challenge (and an achievement) for the real beginners at recording, or computers, or both. And the Beyonds at recording can pick up tips and ideas for more advanced tweaking - Chrismas is not far off.

[solidwalnut]

Thanks much hb.

Thanks Kenny. I'm really glad you're interested in the equipment trail. The short answer is that the new stuff is completely computer recording using Pro Tools and I kept the microphones. I'll post another recording soon. Thanks for the kind words.

[solidwalnut]

carol m said:

...I don't think it really matters if people use a lot of gear to make a song for posting or not, it's always useful to know something about how others have done it....

You can say that again. The final product is what counts. And a part of training the ear is also training the ear to hear music production (but that's just me...) and to say, 'hmmm...I really hear alot of room reflection. What can I do about that?' Or 'this track is too noisy. Why is that?' It's not about a massive equipment list, it's about learning the lingo and methods and what you can do for the budget you have.

carol m said:

...Even a basic line-in to something and ending up with something they can share with others is always the first step. Even doing that is a major challenge (and an achievement) for the real beginners at recording, or computers, or both...

That's why I hope that the template can spark interest and so more specific questions get asked. I guess they have been along the way, and this is just another tool in the toolbox.