Please forgive me for having posted a similar question on the mastering forum, but I want more folks from this forum to offer input. I have been recording a guy singing and playing guitar and have some phase problems. He is not able to perform guitar and vocals separately as would be ideal. I stereo mic'ed the guitar using two Oktava 012's (small diaphram) with a hyper card capsule at the 12th fret and cardiod capsule above the saddle using the 3 to 1 rule. I used a Studio Projects T3 on vocals on the cardiod setting. I know there would be phase problems, and have tried many placements to address the issue with no success. I used all three mics knowing that I would likely need to get rid of one of guitar mics to address the phase problems. However, even with only one guitar mic (the hypercard on the 12th fret) and the vocal mic, it is still there (albeit not as bad). My question is - is there anything that can be done after the fact to reduce the noticability of phase problems (eq'ing or effect wise) to address this. Also, I have found that the T3 is not ideal on his voice and I have some plosives that are annoying on a few songs. How can I address these. I can't afford another mic right now, and I don't think an SM57 is going to do his voice justice. There will be other instruments overdubbed and he can replay the guitar part later, and I could possibly even pull all the original guitar mics out and just focus on the vocal, but I just don't know how to go about getting the best sound with my current limitations. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Rob
[ February 18, 2004, 07:31 PM: Message edited by: Rob Chittum ]
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Many times when I do these sort set-ups (Singer/Acoustic Gtr'st)
Many times when I do these sort set-ups (Singer/Acoustic Gtr'st) I use a Dynamic on the vocal, like an SM7 (or sm57). But I'm usually running that into a 1073 & a 1176. The aggressiveness of this pre/compressor combo adds the life to the SM7. The SM7 (or dynamics) in general are much less sensitive than condensers, so I get less A-gtr in the vocal.
I only mention it because it's a quick way there, and I have those particular tools.
To solve your problem in particular: use just two mics.
1. First focus on the vocal. Have the Singer/Guitarist sit and play. Mic the vocal only at this point. Get a great vocal sound. This means proper mic placement, Good gain structure and some limiting &/or compression. Use the High pass filter on the mic (if there is one).
2. Next, Bring the A-gtr mic up. Pan it and the Vocal Center.Go out to the talent. Where the headphones. With headphones on, and with him/her again playing, holding the a-gtr mic in your hand, sweep around until you find a spot where it ADDS to the sound you already have from the vocal mic.
The Vocal mic should already have a great vocal sound, and with the bleed, some of the acoustic. Your mission is to just reinforce the acoustic. You should be able to find a spot where you get very little if any cancelation. Forget the stereo mic'd agtr with the live vocal.