Subj : this echo To : Richard Webb From : Joe Bruchis Date : Thu Apr 09 2009 10:53 pm Richard Webb -> Joe Bruchis wrote: RW> Hi Joe, RW> My preferred technique with most acoustic guitars of that RW> type is to put a small diaphragm condenser microphone a RW> couple feet away, business end pointed at where the neck RW> joins the body. tHen, in case I can use it, a nice stereo RW> pair of condensers back a few feet and up to get some "room RW> tone" and some air in it. My thing about acoustic guitars RW> is or any other instrument is that you don't put your ear RW> right up to it to hear it, so you shouldn't record 'em that RW> way. YEt for a good mix of the tracks you might need to RW> close mic. FOr example, that nice rhythm part might discard quite a bit RW> of the frquency spectrum to sit right. sO, I RW> use the stereo pair and close mic approach both, and utilize the one RW> that works in the final product. RW> because I had to record guitar and such downstairs the only RW> time it would work was during the small hours of the RW> morning. Iirc a neighbor/tenant had an urgent situation RW> going on and I had to go solve that problem. That's a fancy studio setup. I don't get to do any of that. My acoustic does have a pickup with a volume and tone adjustment. Not very fancy though. I'm going to buy one of the sound looping devices that allows one to record a rhythm loop and then play lead over it. I've been wanting one for some time. I had a Crybaby Wahwah with fuzz, but I forgot to salvage it before my X got rid of it. (-: RW> IF you were playing out occasionally it would be a nice RW> thing to have. Friend of mine used to bring 3 to gigs. RW> One, an Ibanez of some sort he used for slide, a tele, and a Gibson. RW> Having the Gibson was nice for us because if RW> another guitarist sat in often he had a FEnder or FEnder RW> copy. wHen you've got the two electric guitars thing RW> happening I always like hearing one playing a FEnder of some sort and RW> the other playing a Gibson, or something else with RW> humbuckers. I really like the hollow body Telecasters. They're light and have a little less brittle tone than the solid bodies. My Stratocaster has the humbuckers. Can't live without those. I've never tried the metal nut, though. I found that to be an interesting twist. RW> SPeaking of that, I only ever saw one in my life, but in Des MOines Iowa RW> years ago I ran into a Tele that had been redone with humbuckers. A RW> tele is a nice playing guitar as well, RW> and that was about the perfect combination. A friend of RW> mine owned the tele referenced, and I think I borrowed it RW> for a couple of gigs. WAs sort of funny, both me and RW> another fellow playing guitars on the bandstand, both RW> playing teles, but I'd borrow this tele with the humbuckers, and we've RW> got that fender/gibson blend. Teles are very diverse even though they are used a lot for blues/R&R. This fellow is one of my favoites on a hollow body Telecaster: http://tinyurl.com/cykx5j RW> I've sure said that about a bunch of instruments, especially those RW> basses I mentioned earlier. I hocked the Martin once RW> since we've been here. Frozen pipes, plumbing needing RW> redone and temps near zero, had to decamp us to a motel. NO $$$ on hand RW> so hock the guitar and camp us at a motel 3 RW> days. tHEn when money was on-hand again hurry down to get RW> that guitar out of hock. Didn't care for that one at all. That'll teach you some blues. (-: They are very marketable though. I had another electric acoustic that was an offbrand. I don't remember the name now. I paid around $100 for it and when I bought my StratO, the salesman, a friend of mine, was able to get me $250 for it. He played well and had a good sales pitch. RW> THough I"m not a true technical "singer" I write some good RW> storytelling songs, and a guitar can be a lot of fun with a RW> minimum of hassle. I always left the flashy guitar playing RW> to somebody else, and use it mostly for either self RW> accompaniment solo or support. I find that since I"m not RW> recording self written music these days and my piano is RW> handy usually I end up sitting down at the piano for a few RW> minutes a couple times a day. I go in spurts then with the RW> guitar. I'll probably end up playing more with nice weather RW> approaching, as I can just sit back on the front porch in a RW> chair with the guitar. Now you're relaxing the right way! RW> true, and bass takes a special sensibility I note. I'm RW> rather picky about bass players, and have often chose to do RW> key bass if I couldn't find a top notch bass player. That RW> bass is your bridge between rhythm elements that are RW> percussive and the rest of it. WOrking with a good bassist RW> and drummer is a real treat, working with one or the other RW> being mediocre or poor is a struggle to get through the gig, especially RW> with a bass player that's not up to it. I've seen some awesome bass players in the local spots in N.O. There's a few places on and near Oak St. that have live music during the week. I don't know how familiar you are with funk music. I hate the name. It's taken from Jazz guitar and is played 16 beats to the measure with alternating muted and played chords. The bass comes intermittent with the muted strikes, and the bass and drums are actually a rhythm section together. Anyway, I guess it's what's referred to as a fusion. I've seen a lot of guys with 5 string basses that play really complex riffs in funk bands. Put a couple of saxes in there with a keyboard and that's a true New Orleans sound. They often fade into pure Jazz. Almost impossible to explain in writing. RW> That reminds me of a humor bit on musicians and their roles RW> I found on a newsgroup. Ought to post that . One of RW> those humor bits that mimics the creation story in Genesis, RW> first GOd gave man the guitar, and it was good, but it RW> really picks on bass players and is quite the knee slapper. RW> dOn't recall if it was before or after Katrina. IF after RW> then it's probably on this machine somewhere. I'd like to read that one. (-: Regards, Joe --- Thunderbird 2.0.0.21 (Macintosh/20090302) * Origin: Fidonet Via Newsreader - http://www.easternstar.info (1:123/789.0) .