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O.K. maybe everyone has come to this point before, maybe not. Ive been running a studio for some years and doing the best that I can flying by the seat of my pants with NO training whatsoever. I always keep my clients happy and they keep bringing me more, and I learn and learn and learn as I go, getting better with each production. then my world implodes. I never had one problem getting a guitar setup...ever. I almost always use the same trick, and thats this. Sennheiser 409(the gold thingy there) or a bloody sm 57 through a v76 direct in the board with almost no eq-ing. Sometimes to tape sometimes to digital...I'm not really a hardliner either way. Im wistling in the eye of the storm apparently, because now...since 2 days no matter what I do, The friggin guitars sound NASAL at all times. I twist the eqs in all directions, send the knucklehead to move the mic around untill hes silly with dizziness, I make the guitar player put his damn jeff beck pickup loaded hot rod epiphone or westone or whatevertheycallemnowdays back in its tolex grave...i make him play a hiwatt, a sovtek,a rectifier...my left eye begins to twitch. I smoke another cigarette, and try another mic. The same. I send another knucklehead over into the torture chamber..."play something like ac/dc...no noodleing please"...NASAL. I send the knucklehead to the desk. I play. NASAL. The clients left eye starts to twitch. I send the clients out for pizza. MY assistent calls me a knucklehead. I change the speaker cab again.NASAL. Maybe I am a knucklehead. I contemplate the virtues of my old job as a pizza hut manager when I still was a resident of the U.S.A. Have I been wrong all these years? NASAL. I never asked for help before in my life. But now I have made the confession, so...advise me please. or its on a plane and back to the pizza ovens for this dog.

Comments

anonymous Sun, 04/02/2006 - 15:51

The first thing I would do is load up a previous session and see what that guitar sounds like.

If you've been sick recently or did some sort of drug, that can throw things off.

Generally hearing damage will start to be noticable on female vocals. If once glass sharp symbilances sound smooth, that's a sign. Also, if you're starting to have a harder time understanding them, that's a good indicator too. In regards to males, grit or raspyness will be reduced.

Certain types of hearing damage will actually cause some frequencies to seem boosted, often to the point it hurts. It also indicates an ear infection.

I know what you mean about the feeling though. I havent really broken into the industry yet, and my right ear is already pretty screwed. Certain frequencies are boosted, and others are cut. I have to turn my left ear towards the speakers to get a correct balance.

My personal experience with it says that if you think anything is up, go get your ears looked at. It's not worth ignoring it.

anonymous Sun, 04/02/2006 - 16:16

http://burningearstudios.dimestore.de/content/en/victims/index.htm

guitars sound fine in the last session. Its almost like the last two sessions , the guitar was out of phase....even though i ripped every other mic out of the room in a fit of frustration. I was even crazed enough to blame the bongos in the corner of the room! " They must be reflecting the sound back to the mic, and cancelling it out!" I thought in my state of bewilderment. Bongos out...nasal...still. I dont think my ears are fried...maybe they just got better and im hearing nuances that I didnt hear before...WISHFULL THINKING. HMMMM. My guitar victim comes again tomorrow morning, and I better get my shit together by then, or he will run away screaming to all of his peachfuzz goatee toting commrades that im the guy who lobbed his nuts off in the studio. Oh GAWD!

Davedog Sun, 04/02/2006 - 20:17

EYE-YI-YI-YA..........Okay ....calmly....Lets go over this one more time.....Last session=nonasal....this session=nasal at all settings. Hmmm. 57 and a REAL 409....cant be there...v76...THIS is not a nasal producer of ANY sort...Phase problems not an issue though I dont see how phase makes nasal...

Is it nasal to everyone else in the room? Yes= not your ear...No= hearing test Monday morning.

Ya sound like the kinda guy who would move the amp around in the room just fer fun....

Did we try a room mic? Did we try both 57 and 409 together and mess with the phase angles of the capsules? Did we try the nice Large Diaphram mic?

The Jeff Beck p/u/s are a bit errr edgy and middy...I have one on a guitar and it works for cutting when nothing else will...It CAN be nasal...

Did we try a parametric with the comp behind it and really narrow the frequencies to a razorsharp point?

Report back if anything works. I feel yer pain.

anonymous Tue, 04/04/2006 - 11:51

I got it together. I think I was suffering from major burnout. I cranked that Jeff Beck hammering nerd with a petersburg with a fane 4x12 box through 57 into a modded v74 and then trough a lawo blablabla rundfunk eq that i just solderd up. , and OUCH! Its the bees knees. Alot of the prob was a combination of the guitar, with a greenback box, and the fact that my silly frustrated overworked brain didnt compute this all. I also swapped to a spankin new 57, and BINGO! There it was!
Thanks for the support fellers!

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