jam602

Show off original scores and recordings made with Linux!

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jonetsu
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jam602

Post by jonetsu »

Just a little improv, quickly mixed. Will most certainly see some development. Here's the first sketch.

https://soundcloud.com/nominal6/jam602

Cheers.
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milo
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Re: jam602

Post by milo »

I like this a lot. It is a very interesting texture of sounds, and really has potential. The mood of the synths is rather pensive, but the guitar is quite relaxed. That juxtaposition is what makes the texture so pleasing. I love the guitar sounds - your guitar work is always good. This makes me want to buy a nice nylon string guitar.

Yes, it is obviously a quick mixdown. There is some competition for sonic space between the guitar and synth, and maybe some stereo panning with or without EQ could help that. I would try panning the guitar to one side, 75% or so, and see what that does. A low pass filter on the synth or dropping it down an octave might also do the trick, but that would blunt the nice texture somewhat.
jonetsu
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Re: jam602

Post by jonetsu »

Thanks for the comments ! You're right about mixing. There's an intricate balance to be done between the synth and the guitar so that each retains their characteristics. Your suggestions 'sounds' quite good.

Next is what I call the 'wash cycle' which is about forgetting the piece for some time so that at next working listens the ears and mind are fresh and open. Now they're still a bit too entangled with the current form.
milo wrote: This makes me want to buy a nice nylon string guitar.
But wait ! :) This is a steel string guitar, a Shiraki (I also have a steel string Takamine).

It's the one at the forefront, acoustic only (no transducers) :
shiraki2.jpg
shiraki2.jpg (33.33 KiB) Viewed 490 times
They are no longer made. A 10-page catalog can be found at:

http://jedistar.com/shiraki/

Cheers.
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milo
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Re: jam602

Post by milo »

jonetsu wrote:But wait ! :) This is a steel string guitar, a Shiraki
Oh, what a lovely, gentle tone from steel strings! Is it the lack of a typical sound hole that makes the tone so round, probably? How do you mic the guitar? Where do you place the mics?
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Re: jam602

Post by bluebell »

jonetsu wrote:Just a little improv, quickly mixed. Will most certainly see some development. Here's the first sketch.

https://soundcloud.com/nominal6/jam602

Cheers.
Like a summer morning. Happy and easy feeling. I like it.

Linux – MOTU UltraLite AVB – Qtractor – http://suedwestlicht.saar.de/

jonetsu
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Re: jam602

Post by jonetsu »

milo wrote:Oh, what a lovely, gentle tone from steel strings! Is it the lack of a typical sound hole that makes the tone so round, probably? How do you mic the guitar? Where do you place the mics?
Yes, there's no "outgoing" of the sound from a single large place. It creates rather a diffused sound with a good amount of harmonics from the "brewing" inside the wooden body. Sounds are spending sometime "brewing" before getting out through the carved slots. So it's not as loud as a usual guitar. As for the mic, it's rather a question of where do I place the guitar. I tend not to create a 90 degree angle. Especially so with the Takamine which is a regular acoustic guitar. That way, as I've learned, any booming from resonance is carried away from the mic and more focus is given to the guitar tone. I use the same approach for the Shiraki. It means that the guitar is perhaps at 45 degrees from the mic. Distance is the other thing. Too close is not necessarily good as I found out. It's easier to set the mic on the stand then move the chair in one way or the other to position the guitar.

Apart from that, until recently I used two mics. Then I switched to one mic and the tonal definition is much better. If there's a need to make the sound wider, as in "Hinterland" then there's an audio processor to suggest that. I'll stick to using one mic for a while. I'll certainly re-introduce two mics later on with a fresh view.

The other thing that influences the sound is that I rarely use any pick. I play with fingernails. I only use a pick (a Dunlop) when I want some biting lead or clear strumming. All other strumming is done with fingers.

And finally, the mic is a AT2021. It then goes to a MPA2 tube preamp then a VLA2 tube compressor and then recently to a Lexicon MX200 that adds a slight touch of delay/reverb. The MPA2 gain is at 18. The attack on the VLA2 is quite slow at about 35ms so that the transients can be kept. The ratio is the lowest one, 2:1, threshold at -6dB and release at about 600ms. These settings, although they might change, tend to stay the same for a while. The tubes on these devices are the original 12XA7 vacuum tubes. Some are suggesting to replace them with better quality tubes. Maybe one day.

Inside the DAW reverb is applied and sometimes other processing. always in parallel, although I found that quite often the sound that's recorded is quite good on its own with this single mic approach.

Cheers.
Last edited by jonetsu on Thu May 09, 2019 10:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
jonetsu
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Re: jam602

Post by jonetsu »

bluebell wrote:Like a summer morning. Happy and easy feeling. I like it.
Thanks. "Summer morning" is a very nice attribute !

Cheers/Tschüß

(I'll listen to your newer piece tomorrow)
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Re: jam602

Post by milo »

It sounds like your acoustic guitar micing and playing technique are similar to mine (although I think your playing is better :) ). I have played fingerstyle fairly exclusively for 15+ years, and I think my last recording to use a pick was in 2005. I have been using 2 mics for the last year or so, one at 45 deg above the horizontal and one 45 degrees below, both pointed at the sound hole, probably 40-50 cm away, but sometimes farther. My 2 mics have very different gain levels, so I adjust their position to provide approximately equal input levels. Someday I will invest in a pair of nice condenser mics, but for now I will make do with what I have. (One thing at a time...) It's fairly easy to simply mute one of the tracks if I don't like the sound definition, but I usually just reduce the stereo spread and that has the same effect. I still use 1 mic when I plan to record 2 similar rhythm parts to pan at extreme left and right.
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Re: jam602

Post by psyocean »

Cool mix! Varied your creativity! :wink:

Image
Guitar and synth tales... https://www.youtube.com/user/Psyocean/
jonetsu
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Re: jam602

Post by jonetsu »

Your pictures as comments always makes me smile and this one is no exception.

Cheers !
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Re: jam602

Post by folderol »

Nice track. I enjoyed this one.
The Yoshimi guy {apparently now an 'elderly'}
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