Recording a percussive acoustic guitar

[Emily13426]

I am currently recording my own songs in my home studio. I play finger style acoustic with some rhythmic slapping with my thumb. So my guitar tracks have an obvious slapping sound throughout. It sounds cool on an acoustic recording but i am worried that when the song is fully produced (drums and all) it will just sound like noise. Should i try to record with a really quiet slap or leave it out? This would not be easy as the slap is kind of written in to the guitar part. or can I blend the slap in with the drums somehow later? Im just wondering if there is a standard procedure for something like this.

 

[Davedog]

The style that you wish to impart to your songs should be as obvious and individual as the songs themselves. In this case, the 'slapping' or the thumbing percussive effect is how you view your songs to require, as it is part of the ambience of the arrangement.

Adding drums and other percussive instrumentation to 'flesh out' the songs in the future needs to take this into consideration, for you WILL have a problem with jarring and out-of-focus beats if the drums arent carefully placed to accent and enhance this percussive guitar style you already have.

When I am listening back to tracks one of the most important things to identify in the arrangement is things hitting together or at least in harmonious marriage so that nothing makes me jump or twitch.

When you do take the arrangements up another level it will be of the utmost importance to find a percussionist who understands this style of playing and who is able to work around it and with it in order to bring it out while also being able to add a part that contributes to the overall feel of things. Whether its a live drummer of someone programming, it will need to be addressed with taste and precision.

There is no 'magic' procedure to this other than finding the right person to play the part. A great studio drummer will most likely be the choice here.

 

[Emily13426]

thank your for replying so fast! seems like great advise. I was wondering if baby you would listen to this clip. I feel like the slapping sound is too crude for the recording. thoughts?

[="http://soundcloud.com/emmaleed/clip-of-well-be-ok"]Clip of we'll be ok by EmmaLeeD on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free[/]

 

[Davedog]

It sounds great. Very even and I cant see this being a big problem if you adhere to keeping everything orderly.

 

[SunDaze]

Dont be too orderly though cause you run the risk of sounding really good but
also very much the same as a ton of other stuff out there.Keep some human elements
in there e.g mistakes .....lol.
The slapping sounds nice. Dont be afraid of a bit of ebb and flow in the timing cause
it might well end up being the gold when the drums are under it.
Thats my 10 cents worth in hindsight of some of my efforts....lol
In my experience, if you are trying to stay in time when recording the part then it
wont work . Worry bout timing when you rehearse with the metronome.
When you record just let it go and let your uniqueness shine.

Dont forget to post a sample for us