Classical Guitar Tune

[Timothy Lawler]

http://timothylawler.com/bbs/danzadelnorte3.mp3

Let me know what you think.



Vid of it here:
Danza del Norte - YouTube

[KGS]

Is that you playing? *favourites*

I have no comments on the mixing. It sounds good enough for me, though admittedly I'm judging it based on the video alone. The mp3 you linked doesn't work for me. It would appear in the usual player thingy in chrome, but this thing doesn't seem to like it for some reason. It never starts playing.

[greatgreatriver]

Lovely! You got skillz yo!

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by KGS

Is that you playing? *favourites*

I have no comments on the mixing. It sounds good enough for me, though admittedly I'm judging it based on the video alone. The mp3 you linked doesn't work for me. It would appear in the usual player thingy in chrome, but this thing doesn't seem to like it for some reason. It never starts playing.

Thanks KGS. Yep, that's me.

Wonder why the mp3 download was a problem. I checked it on Firefox, not Chrome though.

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by greatgreatriver

Lovely! You got skillz yo!

Thanks, my friend.

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by KGS

The mp3 you linked doesn't work for me. It would appear in the usual player thingy in chrome, but this thing doesn't seem to like it for some reason. It never starts playing.

OK, I uploaded it to the GS server as well. Thanks for letting me know.

[Andreas G]

Wow Timothy,

great guitar performance in maestro manner, I love it!!!

As for the sound (not knowing if it's just the raw track), it needs some eq cleaning in the mids and a bit of concert style reverb would also be nice.


Cheers,
Andreas

[vintagelove]

Sounds good (from a fellow classical guitarist).

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by Andreas G

Wow Timothy,

great guitar performance in maestro manner, I love it!!!

As for the sound (not knowing if it's just the raw track), it needs some eq cleaning in the mids and a bit of concert style reverb would also be nice.


Cheers,
Andreas

Thanks very much Andreas! Re the EQ, do you mean the mudiness of the bass strings' tone? I don't think they were bright-sounding enough, myself. There's a short reverb on it, just enough to take off the small room starkness. I haven't had much success using a large room verb on a small room recording but I'll give it a try on this.

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by vintagelove

Sounds good (from a fellow classical guitarist).

I appreciate it.

[Andreas G]

Originally Posted by Timothy Lawler

Thanks very much Andreas! Re the EQ, do you mean the mudiness of the bass strings' tone? I don't think they were bright-sounding enough, myself.

Here is what I meant...

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by Andreas G

Here is what I meant...

Thank you so much, Andreas. I appreciate the time you spent to do this. I'm remote on an iPad at the moment but I'm going to study your EQ revision in my studio.

[Andreas G]

Originally Posted by Timothy Lawler

Thank you so much, Andreas. I appreciate the time you spent to do this. I'm remote on an iPad at the moment but I'm going to study your EQ revision in my studio.

Hey your are welcome, no big deal, really!

The main issue with the sound is the ringing frequency at around 1.2kHz.
Try switching it on and off with your eq, it will almost sound like switching an ugly sine wave in and out.

With the eq bands at around 2.1kHz and 272Hz you can make your guitar either a bit clearer but also thinner or fuller and warmer, just to your liking. A couple of dBs up or down already should do the trick.

Cheers!

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by Andreas G

The main issue with the sound is the ringing frequency at around 1.2kHz. Try switching it on and off with your eq, it will almost sound like switching an ugly sine wave in and out.

Night and day difference! [Edit: What I mean is... when checking it that way it's so clear what was wrong with the sound. I need to figure out what the cause of it was - must have been in the tracking stage.]

With the eq bands at around 2.1kHz and 272Hz you can make your guitar either a bit clearer but also thinner or fuller and warmer, just to your liking. A couple of dBs up or down already should do the trick.

That's pretty much my usual approach - balancing the 300Hz and 3kHz ranges, with some gentle dynamics control in the low mids as well. Listening with fresh ears, I do prefer the brighter balance of your version.

Thank you Andreas.

[Andreas G]

Originally Posted by Timothy Lawler

Night and day difference! [Edit: What I mean is... when checking it that way it's so clear what was wrong with the sound. I need to figure out what the cause of it was - must have been in the tracking stage.]

Ringing peaks in the midrange are not that seldom I think, often it's the guitar itself.

That's pretty much my usual approach - balancing the 300Hz and 3kHz ranges, with some gentle dynamics control in the low mids as well.

Do you mean you use some sort of dynamic eq for the low mids?

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by Andreas G

Do you mean you use some sort of dynamic eq for the low mids?

Usually, but with only a dB or two of gain reduction with bands in the lows and low mids, slow attack (20 ms), very slow release (500ms). Then I balance the level of the lower mids with the upper mids. Usually use Waves linear multiband comp or Voxengo Soniformer. Helps me get what I hear as a more realistic sound in small or medium size rooms.

[Andreas G]

Originally Posted by Timothy Lawler

Usually, but with only a dB or two of gain reduction with bands in the lows and low mids, slow attack (20 ms), very slow release (500ms). Then I balance the level of the lower mids with the upper mids. Usually use Waves linear multiband comp or Voxengo Soniformer. Helps me get what I hear as a more realistic sound in small or medium size rooms.

Ah I see, so far I never used a multiband compressor for this purpose, just eq. Don't you have any problems in very quiet passages where the lowmid band doesn't get triggered as much as in louder parts, I mean the quieter part might sound muddier than the the louder parts in relation – well of course that's just theory, I guess I've to try it next time.

Cheers!

[nameo]

The playing/technique sounds very good.

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by Andreas G

Don't you have any problems in very quiet passages where the lowmid band doesn't get triggered as much as in louder parts, I mean the quieter part might sound muddier than the the louder parts in relation – well of course that's just theory, I guess I've to try it next time.

Cheers!

I see your logic there but haven't noticed it to be a problem. It seems to me that when playing more quietly the balance between low mids and highs is different, with the low mids not quite as loud, though that might be my own playing style or taste in instruments. But I've noticed a difference in that aspect with other guitarists I've recorded, as of course everyone has their personal tone. Also, I usually mic at 3 ft or so distance, and that might relate, though thinking about the physics of it I wonder if that would make the potential problem smaller or bigger. Hmmm. If I did hear a problem, there's always automation of the multiband's band gain if needed. Or separate EQ automation following. I use a bit of spot EQ automation already, but usually in the upper mids and high end to handle the occasional note that's tone needs to be smoothed. Interesting subject and thanks for the thoughts you've given, Andreas.

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by nameo

The playing/technique sounds very good.

Thanks!