How to record my guitar.

magnus411

Hello! I’ve been playing gypsy jazz for a while, and recently I’ve started playing sessions with a friend. We’re now thinking of recording some of these sessions . I play on a Selmer 503 "copy" made by David Hodson and the guitar sounds great, but Im having issue recording it. I’m using an AT2020 through a ID14 mk2, but the results aren’t great. The recording comes out really nasal, with too much pick attack and almost none of the room character that makes the guitar sound good in person. If I turn the gain down to capture more of the room I get way too much noise. It takes a frustrating amount of time to set everything up just to get an “okay-ish” sound.

Does anyone have experience with this? Do I need a different microphone, or will most condensers have the same problems as my AT2020? I can afford to buy another mic if necessary, but I’m still a student, so I’m working with a limited budget.

JasonS

Where are you placing the mic?

Russell Letson

From the gear description, you're recording into a computer, right? Not something that I've done**, though a quick Google suggests that your mike/interface is good stuff. Which leads me to look at the same variable that JasonS does: mike placement, and maybe sonic environment/space. And there's also the matter of how the guitar sounds to the player as distinct from a listener out in front of it. And maybe the playback gear matters--certainly good speakers are crucial. Do you monitor your recording setup with good headphones?

** I'm a long-time user of portable digital recorders, starting with DAT and a decent Sony mike and winding up with Olympus LS series and now a Sony PCM-M10, all with built-in mikes. Not quite pro-grade, but always capable of making very decent recordings that sound like my instruments. But what I'm doing is more like field recording, so I'm quite aware of the difference between that and studio-style work meant for critical listening.