Great video and tips! Definitely invest in a strobe tuner and use it to tune all the instruments. I’ve found discrepancies in the different tuners I have and after I stared using the same strobe on guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass etc. my recordings are much more in tune.
Good to see more and more VIDEOS from you, Joe! Thanks! Good points more on the Tuning and Timing. I also use Melodyne to occasionally change a guitar note, more so, when I "bend" a note, but I've also done it with VocAlign, the latter also when I've done multiple harmonic Gtr parts. Sometimes I use Quantize in Studio One. I'm also somewhat Lazy....haha....Because I have 7 acoustic type Gtrs, 5 of which are Ac/Elec wired, I then tend to use one of those, going directly into my Allen & Heath ZED 60. TWO Ac Gtrs not wired, are a Vintage Martin D-18, and also a Yamaha 12-string....the lazy part comes in with them. I DO have a pair of sE7 mics, but sometimes just too lazy to mess with setting one or both of them up, and then toying around trying to get them right. My TWO other "direct-in" Gtrs is a Takamine Jumbo, which has a great sound for strumming, fingerpicking, etc, and mostly rhythm tracks. I use my Taylor 810ce for some CAPO stuff, some lead fills, etc. I can control "muddiness" easier going direct. IF I did maybe wrote a song with ALL Acoustic multi-track GTRs, then I'd find it more worthwhile to set up the 7's, and then just do multiple tracks with multiple acoustic gtrs. I even have a GREAT Korean knockoff Classical Gtr that is factory wired that sounds great going direct. Just my 4 cents worth, due to our current inflation rates! haha
The other tip I would add re tuning is to tune to the song, or to the PART you are currently recording. I make a lot of backing tracks in multiple keys, and it's amazing how a few tweaks can make a big difference even on a well-intonated guitar. And, as you say, especially when using a capo!
I don't understand how you can record one song in multiple keys, simultaneously...do you mean, for example, the song is in G, A, and C at the same time? Sorry...confused...
@@danobrien3695 Happy to clarify. For my channel, I make a backing track in, say Am, then use the same arrangement and format but replay the parts in, maybe, Em. And so on. Some of my backing track "sets" are in all 12 keys, some only a handful. Of course, I do "stand alone" tracks too. The point I was making/agreeing with is that how ever good or well-intonated your guitar, you may need to tweak the tuning for various keys, or fretboard positions etc.
I've been known to use Melodyne to retune a note or two if the rest of the performance is in tune. Sometimes it doesn't work if the chords are too dense. The software gets confused. But a lot of the time, especially on single note lines, it works amazingly well. If you're only moving a note 10-20 cents, the editing will be imperceptible in the final track and it saves you having to scrap an otherwise good performance.
Mic positioning effects the type of sounds you get when recording acoustic guitars. There is a sweet spot which may take some time to figure out, but once you do, the guitar will sound fantastic. Depending on what sort of guitar sound you are going for, closer to the bridge or neck area will make a difference.
This is so helpful. My lead singer is also my acoustic guitarist (3 guitar players in my band). He is a great singer and song writer, but a mediocre guitar play. I have so much trouble getting a decent sound from him. I think you gave me some great pointers here.
@@tedb1015 Yeah, what I usually end up doing is recording him multiple times, and then taking his best segments and knitting them all together. It is time consuming, and inefficient, but it does work.
Joe these are all great tips on getting it right the first time even though it is most often the second, third, fourth, etc. Always appreciate your non techy down to earth approach to teaching.
What a GREAT foundational video. GIRATS cannot succeed if any of these three things happen. I usually do these faux pas moves when drinking lol. To keep from doing them sober, here's what I have done for over 50 years: Use a strobe tuner before playing and in between songs, and ALWAYS after capo changes. GET A GOOD CAPO. "K" brand is crap. Capos wear out - replace them. As for the timing, two things: #1. Know your material - practice before performing; #2. LISTEN to the others (people or tracks), you are not the center of the universe. When playing solo, see #1. For last recording problem video section, record your practice with multiple mic positioning, and then DOCUMENT each positioning set up AND what you heard in the recordings. Use Raw tracks - no plugins. Joe, you had us do that in your RECORDING (EXCELLENT class) and I discovered my go-to vocal performance DYNAMIC mic had an uneven response curve that was suited to my voice, but not recording instruments. I checked with the manufacturer specs and they showed the response curve accentuated the "presence" frequencies and gave my J-45 and Martin D18-00 an annoyingly "crispy" texture that required constant EQ. I don't get that issue with my MXL condenser or Presonus PD-70 dynamic. So mic selection, and positioning are critical, as well as pitch and timing. Thanks Joe!
I've spent the past week, fixing cutting adding and subtracting guitar tracks. Cuz the guitar player of the band I'm mixing, is out of time 80% of the riffs. Double the work. They sent me the raw tracks. So, I wasn't able to guide em through the recording process
I recorded a women once that could not play to a click track to save her life...after about the 10th and talking to her I got an idea...I changed the click sound to a KICK DRUM. She nailed it the first time. As she said...she was used to hearing a kick...but not the click.
Save yourself 10 minutes. Here's all you need to remember for good guitar recordings: 1. Tune your guitar before recording. 2. Keep up tightly with the beat when you're playing 3. Don't put the mike too close to your acoustic so as to avoid the proximity effect and boominess that comes with it Duh.
I've often got frustrated with my recordings coming out sharp when I slap a capo on even though I'd just tuned up. I actually never thought of tuning the guitar WITH the capo on. Why the hell did I never think of this?
Another way to record acoustic guitar with headphones. Have one ear listening to the metronome whilst your other ear is uncovered listening to the raw guitar.
Once it's recorded (out of tune) it's there forever, right"? Actually, no, thanks to Melodyne, for example -- great for fixing tuning issues when even the best effort can only get you so far.
