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Hello Forum,

I'm trying to find any tips on how to record a Rumba Flamenca Nylon string guitar using a single condenser mic. Also, any information on how to apply EQ, compression, reverb, etc to the guitar. Is there any online application that can provide you like a guide on what settings to use on reverb or delay or any other effect?

Thanks in advanced,

Jordan

Comments

pcrecord Wed, 11/27/2019 - 12:09

Hey Welcome to RO Jordan,

Every instruments, player and rooms are different, you will need to experiment with mic placement and find where it sounds the best.
A good starting point is to direct the mic at the 12th fret of the guitar. Listen carefully and move around.. an inch can make a hugue difference.

There isn't an explicit recipe for recording and mixing, audio engineers just react to what they hear and go foward.
it would be a mistake to give you specific settings of EQ, comp etc..
To me the content dictates what I will do or NOT DO.. (deciding to do nothing is hard for some)
Alot depends on the context of the song and what other instruments will be in the mix (if any)

I suggest to post a sample here (in mp3 version)
We will gladly give you some pointers ;)

paulears Thu, 11/28/2019 - 00:19

A top class player I’ve worked with brought his old 451 akg to every session and set it up exactly as he wanted to capture the sound he liked. I could do what I wanted but NOT change that position. His guitar was grubby because when it was made he tested it and liked the sound, before it was sprayed and stained. He just said stop. This is how I want it. It’s personal. What he gave me was 100% workable. He decided his ears were the test not mine! It did sound good though!

Boswell Thu, 11/28/2019 - 03:16

Jordan, post: 462772, member: 51770 wrote: I'm trying to find any tips on how to record a Rumba Flamenca Nylon string guitar using a single condenser mic. Also, any information on how to apply EQ, compression, reverb, etc to the guitar. Is there any online application that can provide you like a guide on what settings to use on reverb or delay or any other effect?

You are talking about two separate things here. The first is the recording, which should normally be done without any applied effects or EQ, and should be driven by the sound that the player gets from his instrument and the purpose of the recording. The second is how you should process the recording so that it best meets the intended purpose.

I've recorded many nylon-string guitar players, both in performance and in the studio, and I'm constantly surprised how different each one is. In this case, I'm assuming you are talking about a studio recording rather than recording of a live concert.

For the recording, you need to take into account several factors. These include: (1) the room, its dimensions, furnishings, carpeting and other reflective qualities, (2) where the player is to be positioned in the room to get the best recorded sound to fit the intended purpose, (3) how the player performs, e.g. whether he/she moves the instrument around during playing, (4) the sonic qualities of the instrument when played by that particular performer.

I should mention that almost the only time I record an acoustic guitar (both nylon and steel string) using a single microphone is when the instrument has to sit in a single position in a stereo sound field in the final mix. Adding a widening reverb to a mono track does not produce the same result as recording using a stereo microphone pair.

Once you have the instrument recorded, then the other parts of your question come into play concerning adding effects and dynamics to the recorded track.

From your post, it seems you are planning to use a single microphone, as you talk about "a condenser mic". However, you don't say what make and model of microphone is, or what you are connecting it to as a pre-amp. The sound from a flamenco guitar can have a very large crest factor (ratio of peak to average level), so the pre-amp is particularly important in this case.

Please get back to us stating the make/model of microphone and pre-amp, the purpose of the recording, and the type of room you plan to record in.

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