Recording Acoustic Guitar

[deanc2000]

Hello,

When I record my acoustic guitar, the end result sounds thin and weak. It's like there's a high pass filter on it, but it's the dry recording. I do record at a slower tempo, then speed it up to the song's original tempo. Any suggestions?

I recorded the same guitar on Sonar last night, same method, and the sound was full and not thin and weedy. Am I doing something wrong?

D.

[BobSubgenius]

Hi there, how do you record the guitar, directly from a pickup (if your acoustic has one) or with microphones? Do you use one mic or several? Where did you put the mics? Did you change the position of mics or yourself between the two recordings you did in Ableton and Sonar?

[deanc2000]

One condenser mic in front of the guitar, positioned about 1 foot away from the sound hole (not sure what it's called). What is it about Ableton that makes the recording sound so thin? Is it the time stretching?

[BobSubgenius]

I was asking about mics because I thought you maybe just had phase issues recording with two mics.
The warping algorithms do change the sound depending on which one you chose and how much you stretch the sound.
Ableton even states that "complex" and complex pro" modes are not neutral even if you just switch them on without any stretching at all. See manual chapter 32.2.3 for more info (I have the german manual, hope it is the same chapter in your's).

How many BPM do you change the tempo?
Does the guitar also sound thin before you time stretch?
Try recording the guitar into a new set in Live and then import into the set of the song. It doesn't happen often but I sometimes had weird behaviors of a track in one set, even if I created a new track. Recording the same in a completely fresh set always helped then.

[doghouse]

What does the guitar sound like in your headphones while recording? The playback should sound exactly the same.

[deanc2000]

To illustrate my point, I have recorded myself playing a 4 bar chord progression in Ableton and Reason. I recorded at 80bpm, then sped both of the originals to 100bpm. Here they are:

Ableton Live 9:

80bpm: https://soundcloud.com/deanc2000/ableto ... -dry-80bpm
100bpm: https://soundcloud.com/deanc2000/ableto ... -to-100bpm

Reason 7:

80bpm: https://soundcloud.com/deanc2000/reason ... dry-80-bpm
100bpm: https://soundcloud.com/deanc2000/reason ... -to-100bpm


As I listen to them, the 80bpm recordings are very similar sounding. When sped up to 100bpm though, the Ableton recording contains much more high end frequencies, and much less bass frequencies, whereas the Reason 7 recording has the bass frequencies intact.

I am using the Complex Pro algorithm in Ableton if you are curious.

So, can someone explain why there is such a degradation in the bass when the warping is used in Ableton, and how can I avoid it?

D.

[Tarekith]

Did you try any of the other warp modes in Live? Forget what they are called or are supposed to be for, sometimes you just need try each one and pick which sounds best for your needs.

[BobSubgenius]

True, the Ableton version sounds really bad, even the pitch is not stable.
Like the poster before me suggested, maybe try a different warp mode if you haven't done so. In your case that would probably be the "normal" complex mode.
Did you try changing the "formant" and "envelope" controls of the complex pro mode? They have a big impact on the sound.

[Mister Natural]

yeah, fwiw I've also had poor results when warping guitar lines. It just really changes the character and destroys the delicacy of the instrument. Creates a very artificial sounding recording. I'll try again with Bobsubgenius' suggestions of varients of complex pro but I'm not really hopeful . . .