Hey man, i have a serious question and i cant seem to find any help on it..so i created a mono track.. recorded acoustic.. then i created another mono track.. recorded that acoustic.. panned it left and right.. and in my HEAD PHONES.. it sounds right.. but when i listen to it in my monitor speakers? it doesn't work? when i pan the acoustic to the RIGHT.. the right speaker doesnt play anything? yet... when they are both panned left.. the right speaker is working fine? HELPP?
The whole idea of the X/Y mic technique is to create a stereo spread. It would be effective if you panned the second stereo track opposite to the first. Ex: Mic 1-L, Mic 2-R, then the second take, Mic 1-R, Mic 2-L.
the XY condenser mic technique is good for live drumming if anyone wanna record acoustic guitar then u should use the phantom mic, i bet it'll give ya far better results......you can also perform live acoustic guitaring and vocals at the same time.
@taba83 Yes it does. In Pro Tools, notice how there are two panning knobs for each stereo track. The panning works as mono panning, which is the same thing as separating the stereo tracks to mono and hard-panning them.
My question is: Why do people vote erroneous information up to be the top comments?
In an ideal XY microphone placement you should have the diaphragms placed above each other, making them act like one stereo microphone. If you would try your microphone placement with large diaphragm microphones, it would sound more like an ORTF placement.
@Dokdude Agreed plus it is pointless having two mics in stereo and hard panning them because a stereo tracks pan is the balance between left and right so the hard pan L will only be the left mic and hard right would only be the right mic whereas in mono it would be both mics for both tracks. I would of done 4 mono tracks (mic L mic R mic 2 L mic 2 R) gives you way more flexibility but does chew up CPU
@JimijaymesGuitarist In Pro Tools the panning works differently. You pan the left and right channels individually, so what he does in this video is equivalent to having 4 mono tracks in Logic etc. Just FYI.
@JimijaymesGuitarist Just a simpler layout. Also, when adding effects, the effects automatically apply to both "mono tracks", which reduces processing power needed.
Great tutorial. However, I seem to have a problem with getting my final track at a "commercial" volume. How would you go about this other than heavily compressing/limiting?
Wow this is a nice video. I'm not that good of a guitarist. I mean if I get one good take.... that's it. You do two duplicates.. identical!!! and then when you go from the tutorial open mic or whatever to the final mixed version.. wow that's the professional sound I was looking for. I run my electric pickup into the mixer, or use an SM57 and even if I get the guitarring ok. the result is no good. I have a Yamaha FGX 730 SCA. You never told us what your guitar is. Should mine sound this good
When you pan stereo tracks hard left and right aren't one of each of the tracks right in the center? Have you tried the Beyerdynamic MC930 on acoustic guitar?
So if you're recording stereo and then hard panning, aren't you essentially just eliminating one of the microphones? You might as well just record mono.
I hate to sound negative cuz you're doing a great job, but I find that the more I listen to pro recordings the less I hear hard panned acoustics. It's obviously a creative choice but I feel it loses it's intimacy.
I spent a day analyzing Mumford and Son's new stuff. Amazing sounding album.
of course not, the entire point of recording stereo is not the location in the mix but capturing a big spectrumc of the guitar's sound, the fret sounds totally opposite to the body, hence the mics are pointing at different locations of the guitar. Tomy Emmanuel records with 8 mics and then pans them ..
@joshuanaconda Something tells me he records them mono though. My point is that If you record something in stereo and then hard pan it you lose all the information from the other channel. Since he is doubling anyway, he could have done the same thing with one mic without setting up an XY. Stereo miking just doesn't make sense when you're doubling.
It doesn't matter if he records them mono. The point is that even if you record them mono, both mic will get a complete different sound due to their position, so even if you pan them both left on that take you will have 2 different "tones" or "signals" on the left, causa they sound different. If you double it with only one mic you would be missing on the sound of the other mic's position, fo example the one in the fretboard which is much brighter
Hey, I have a problem, when I'm recording the second track with my HEADPHONES it records the first one too, much louder, and even if i remove the first track I can still hear it, can you help me? Thanks...
Thank you thank you thank you!!!! Now I finally know how to record my guitar with that wide ambience kind of sound. Fantastic! You made it so much easier for me.
@jyses no. you should use 2 mono tracks. stereo means 2 different things coming out of each speaker. so if youre recording in stereo, and youre just going to pan it, it makes it pointless to record in stereo. once you pan the 2 mono tracks you will have a full stereo acoustic sound :)
@jyses You're right man, it's just like overdub two recordings with 2 different microphones you will obtain the same result recording in mono with one mic only. sorry FAIL. :-)
@jyses You're right man, it's just like overdub two recordings with 2 different microphones you will obtain the same result recording in mono with one mic only.
you also introduce some phase problems recording in this way if you don't pan hard the two tracks
one thing I usually do when doubling guitars that were recorded in stereo, as in this example, is, instead of hard panning them left and right, I invert one of the guitars stereo image, ie, the right mic panned to the left and viceversa. In this fashion you don't leave a hole in the center of the field, but you get two focuses, left and right. Sometimes you WANT a hole in the center, tho...
Hi Serv thesong. I´m using Protools 7.4 and my sterio track is strange. Only one side, the right side is recording audio. In another words, i´m not having tow chanel recorded exatly the same. The right is ok but the left is recording in a lower level.
this is one of the best demonstrations i've seen so far.. thanks for sharing the song as well. it gave me plenty of ideas to record my acoustic tracks.
Is it a little strange to record a stereo guitar part using x-y and then annihilate the stereo image by panning hard left and hard right? I think you are essentially left with a dual-mono doubled guitar part, which will (and does here) sound nice and wide, but sort of misses the point of x-y. Why not double it and leave it panned center, taking advantage of the natural stereo sound of x-y and gaining the example of a fat doubling. Would you get phase problems between the two performances?
@montezumasrevenge that's because there are no rules to follow, everyones equipment is different and settings will be different depending on the artist and the sound you and they prefer.
The stereo technique is genius. The original recorded tracks sounded flatter and more simple in comparison. Splitting the two tracks into different channels adds a warm, and traveling guitar track! Even better, since you have two mics you can switch between the right and left channel of the original recordings to better mix the right and left channel of the master! Lol, that's cool dude.
you are recording in stereo ok....instead of doubling up the tracks why not just split the original into individual L and R and add some EQ and a small ammount of reverb and compression? what you are doing doesnt really make sense! correct me if i missed something though.
yes. you can get good results using one mic. however, the actual quality of your recording depends on your equipment..... ie dont waste money on crappy mics. the rode nt1a is a nice starting point. :)
I've been experimenting with recording for years and I've actually found that panning each guitar part 45 degrees is more effective once you start adding multiple tracks such as vocals and maybe piano or multiple instruments.. whats your input on that method?
you can do whatever you want..... if it sounds good to you, keep it. there are no specific rules. there isn't a "recipe" for creating good recordings.
easier way to do the stereo effect is by instead of recording the guitar track twice you can use a stereo chorus , or theres a plugin you can maybe download for free called STEREO ENHANCER just type it in on GOogle, it saves you time an breaks youre mono into stereo giving it a sick sound.... but this way is great too :).
This was probably the most helpful acoustic micing video i've seen. i think you should make another video with different mic placements. the quality sounds great! nice riff also.
I agree, headphone listening tests are a quick and easy way to find the "sweet" spot for the mics. However, it's worth it to do test recordings, then listen back on bigger monitor speakers as that gives you a more accurate sound.
I'm not familiar with PT8 templates... maybe I'll check em out to see what they're all about.
12th fret is the sweet spot agreed. I find using headphones while recording or prerecordin rather is a good idea. Helps to find the proper placement. The templates for acoustic guitar on protools 8 are very good. But finding the best sound is doing it the way you do by creating your own session and not depending on one that might sound very good, but doesn't sound quite like you. I find myself bypassing a lot of prootools fx. Good tutorial by the way!
Hey man, i have a serious question and i cant seem to find any help on it..so i created a mono track.. recorded acoustic.. then i created another mono track.. recorded that acoustic.. panned it left and right.. and in my HEAD PHONES.. it sounds right.. but when i listen to it in my monitor speakers? it doesn't work? when i pan the acoustic to the RIGHT.. the right speaker doesnt play anything? yet... when they are both panned left.. the right speaker is working fine? HELPP?
skateurself 4 days ago
The whole idea of the X/Y mic technique is to create a stereo spread. It would be effective if you panned the second stereo track opposite to the first. Ex: Mic 1-L, Mic 2-R, then the second take, Mic 1-R, Mic 2-L.
harvestsoulfly 1 month ago
your guitar reminds me of sex .... i love martins :D
epicfail199 1 month ago
what programe do u use to record with ...?
BensTunes101 3 months ago
very useful thanks :)!
BensTunes101 3 months ago
I REALLY liked your chord progression you created. Great Work!
Much love from ~Middle Class Millionaires~
-HITT
worldwideMCM 3 months ago
@worldwideMCM It's pretty much John Mayer - Daughters, lol.
GoodFortuneOfficial 2 months ago
Do you use a mic preamp? If so, which one do you use?
ilikeshoegazing 4 months ago
Why do you record stereo when you pan hard left and right afterwards? Any stereo image is lost after panning.
stramTuplik 4 months ago
Hey buddy how do i get rid of pick noise!?
bubbleabee 5 months ago
@bubbleabee dont play witha pick
SofaKing41 5 months ago
Nice video man. Do you just play the guitar without an amp ?? and if not, is it a bad idea to use an amp whilst recording?
WahTakVong 6 months ago
hey dude love the video! do you have to reverse phase one of the mics?
ahvaimusicom 6 months ago
is SM137 good to use to record with or is it to use for onstage
hto1971 7 months ago
the XY condenser mic technique is good for live drumming if anyone wanna record acoustic guitar then u should use the phantom mic, i bet it'll give ya far better results......you can also perform live acoustic guitaring and vocals at the same time.
TheD6er 7 months ago
Really nice tutorial, thanks
thesecession 8 months ago
Luv your idea.... Thanks for taking the time to record and share this tip.... God bless you in your career....
Manny4Sound 8 months ago
Sorry but it does not sound too good. Low frequency was not captured at all.
roygift 8 months ago
There are better techniques than XY mate .
You should try but one mic on 12th fret and other on the left of the guitar speaker .
This tech requires 2 condeser mics but it really works well :)
DimitrisPrasakis 8 months ago
Dude,did I heard some car passing sounds arround??? :))
lucianmarza 8 months ago
XY Configuration FTW
xDet3rmin4tionx 8 months ago
what is the point of recording in stereo technique if you are going to pan it full L and R?? that doesnt make much sense...
taba83 8 months ago 13
@taba83 its to get both sounds blended for the left and the right tracks.
Johhnywearyourhelmet 8 months ago
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caper121 8 months ago
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caper121 8 months ago
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caper121 8 months ago
@taba83 Yes it does. In Pro Tools, notice how there are two panning knobs for each stereo track. The panning works as mono panning, which is the same thing as separating the stereo tracks to mono and hard-panning them.
My question is: Why do people vote erroneous information up to be the top comments?
Blixish 1 month ago
In an ideal XY microphone placement you should have the diaphragms placed above each other, making them act like one stereo microphone. If you would try your microphone placement with large diaphragm microphones, it would sound more like an ORTF placement.
goreri 8 months ago
thanks man!!
klabonalu 9 months ago
If you do such an HardPan L/R there's no need to record in stereo. Two mono from different mics are enough, and you save space/processin/disk power.
Dokdude 10 months ago 13
@Dokdude Agreed plus it is pointless having two mics in stereo and hard panning them because a stereo tracks pan is the balance between left and right so the hard pan L will only be the left mic and hard right would only be the right mic whereas in mono it would be both mics for both tracks. I would of done 4 mono tracks (mic L mic R mic 2 L mic 2 R) gives you way more flexibility but does chew up CPU
JimijaymesGuitarist 3 months ago
@JimijaymesGuitarist In Pro Tools the panning works differently. You pan the left and right channels individually, so what he does in this video is equivalent to having 4 mono tracks in Logic etc. Just FYI.
Blixish 1 month ago
@Blixish Is there an advantage of this over mono tracks in pro tools. I have used pro tools but never on stereo sources.
JimijaymesGuitarist 1 month ago
@JimijaymesGuitarist Just a simpler layout. Also, when adding effects, the effects automatically apply to both "mono tracks", which reduces processing power needed.
Blixish 1 month ago
excellent ; i will try this, the idea is worth spending time with it.
abegoify 10 months ago
Thanks - very useful and straightforward video.
otter57 10 months ago
Is there any fine microphone less than $100? i dont wanna be spending that much money, knowing that Im just starting with this stuff.
sweet13prettyheart15 10 months ago
Great tutorial. However, I seem to have a problem with getting my final track at a "commercial" volume. How would you go about this other than heavily compressing/limiting?
EvilBenson 10 months ago
i prefer logic
sunflower7202 10 months ago
sounds like a coldplay riff. very cool man, thanks
bogsnorkling91 10 months ago
Wow this is a nice video. I'm not that good of a guitarist. I mean if I get one good take.... that's it. You do two duplicates.. identical!!! and then when you go from the tutorial open mic or whatever to the final mixed version.. wow that's the professional sound I was looking for. I run my electric pickup into the mixer, or use an SM57 and even if I get the guitarring ok. the result is no good. I have a Yamaha FGX 730 SCA. You never told us what your guitar is. Should mine sound this good
paulmpianist1 11 months ago
When you pan stereo tracks hard left and right aren't one of each of the tracks right in the center? Have you tried the Beyerdynamic MC930 on acoustic guitar?
Celticsaint777 11 months ago
So if you're recording stereo and then hard panning, aren't you essentially just eliminating one of the microphones? You might as well just record mono.
I hate to sound negative cuz you're doing a great job, but I find that the more I listen to pro recordings the less I hear hard panned acoustics. It's obviously a creative choice but I feel it loses it's intimacy.
I spent a day analyzing Mumford and Son's new stuff. Amazing sounding album.
TylerOmega 11 months ago
@TylerOmega
of course not, the entire point of recording stereo is not the location in the mix but capturing a big spectrumc of the guitar's sound, the fret sounds totally opposite to the body, hence the mics are pointing at different locations of the guitar. Tomy Emmanuel records with 8 mics and then pans them ..
joshuanaconda 11 months ago
@joshuanaconda Something tells me he records them mono though. My point is that If you record something in stereo and then hard pan it you lose all the information from the other channel. Since he is doubling anyway, he could have done the same thing with one mic without setting up an XY. Stereo miking just doesn't make sense when you're doubling.
TylerOmega 11 months ago
@TylerOmega
It doesn't matter if he records them mono. The point is that even if you record them mono, both mic will get a complete different sound due to their position, so even if you pan them both left on that take you will have 2 different "tones" or "signals" on the left, causa they sound different. If you double it with only one mic you would be missing on the sound of the other mic's position, fo example the one in the fretboard which is much brighter
joshuanaconda 11 months ago
can we straight plug in to the amp?
factory2012 11 months ago
Very nice guitar tune, your own song, or?
shadowoflightvideo 11 months ago
Does this still work if i only have one mic and im setting the guitars to a mono instead of a stereo?
nufsaid321 1 year ago
What model were these mics? I mean I know they're Octava mics, but exactly WHICH Octava mic?
vidmaker48 1 year ago
This should have been recorded as TWO mono tracks, people. NEVER record a "stereo" track this way... phaaaaaase issues, baby!
siriusisastar 1 year ago
@siriusisastar we get it, you know about recording.
BillyC15 1 year ago
@BillyC15 Spreading the love, Billy... :)
siriusisastar 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I enjoyed watching this :-)
paultasker6 1 year ago
hey bro. this a great video! It really helped me out! Just out of curiousty, what are the chords you're playing?
HahaZak 1 year ago
Yeah man. Good job,not so professional, but this is what i like.so keep going on dude:D
schlagl123 1 year ago
Hey, I have a problem, when I'm recording the second track with my HEADPHONES it records the first one too, much louder, and even if i remove the first track I can still hear it, can you help me? Thanks...
sighisoaraa 1 year ago
sounds great man, with sound card are you using ???
moumen888 1 year ago
Where did U get your sound absorbers on the wall behind you from? i could use some of those in my room.
jackerscrackers 1 year ago
Thank you thank you thank you!!!! Now I finally know how to record my guitar with that wide ambience kind of sound. Fantastic! You made it so much easier for me.
TheRealFreekBos 1 year ago
It has no sense to record in stereo two tracks if they have to be panned 100%
jyses 1 year ago
@jyses lol right?
juliewillchompyou 1 year ago
@juliewillchompyou Stereo tracks: L -> input1 / R -> input2
It only takes 1 stereo channel, you don't need to record 2 stereo tracks and pan. Right?
jyses 1 year ago
@jyses no. you should use 2 mono tracks. stereo means 2 different things coming out of each speaker. so if youre recording in stereo, and youre just going to pan it, it makes it pointless to record in stereo. once you pan the 2 mono tracks you will have a full stereo acoustic sound :)
juliewillchompyou 1 year ago
@jyses You're right man, it's just like overdub two recordings with 2 different microphones you will obtain the same result recording in mono with one mic only. sorry FAIL. :-)
MrFerroni 1 year ago
@jyses You're right man, it's just like overdub two recordings with 2 different microphones you will obtain the same result recording in mono with one mic only.
you also introduce some phase problems recording in this way if you don't pan hard the two tracks
sorry FAIL. :-).
MrFerroni 1 year ago
I am sorry to say but the sound of this set up ,sound more or les out of fase
beter take one mic close and two a/b mic furher a way
viceadmiraal61 1 year ago
coool
one thing I usually do when doubling guitars that were recorded in stereo, as in this example, is, instead of hard panning them left and right, I invert one of the guitars stereo image, ie, the right mic panned to the left and viceversa. In this fashion you don't leave a hole in the center of the field, but you get two focuses, left and right. Sometimes you WANT a hole in the center, tho...
tx for the tutorials!
foketesz 1 year ago
damn the metronome
AMRhonemusic 1 year ago
Hi Serv thesong. I´m using Protools 7.4 and my sterio track is strange. Only one side, the right side is recording audio. In another words, i´m not having tow chanel recorded exatly the same. The right is ok but the left is recording in a lower level.
Can you help me?
Thank you!
bmac1974 1 year ago
damn whats the chord progression? i like it.
initialdluvr 1 year ago
hi , do you know if i can connect a microphone to a camera ? So i can film and record at the same time .
PS. sorry if my question is silly , but i thought i'd better ask if i don't know
r2cristi 1 year ago
this is one of the best demonstrations i've seen so far.. thanks for sharing the song as well. it gave me plenty of ideas to record my acoustic tracks.
thank you!!
m0n4c3 1 year ago
Very good video, thanks! Very informative and helped a lot!
chrisphp 1 year ago
I also use the Oktavas for Recording Acoustic, theyre just perfect for that.
messiahs84 1 year ago
How come you use 2 condenser mics? could I get the same effect, or close to with only 1?
jakekvas 1 year ago
I used two SE3's and a se2200 on the main body of the guitar just below the hole, sounds sweet
InfidelMC 1 year ago
are these same mics?
how to prevent clipping,
what level do you record?
do you use EQ, Compressor before it is sent to computer?
thanks.
normality123 1 year ago
cool video,lovely sound and playing---how far away are the mics from the guitar ?
PatandUli 1 year ago
Is it a little strange to record a stereo guitar part using x-y and then annihilate the stereo image by panning hard left and hard right? I think you are essentially left with a dual-mono doubled guitar part, which will (and does here) sound nice and wide, but sort of misses the point of x-y. Why not double it and leave it panned center, taking advantage of the natural stereo sound of x-y and gaining the example of a fat doubling. Would you get phase problems between the two performances?
davidmmcg 1 year ago
im diggin that chord progression
Blakenaats 1 year ago
Murky there isnt much detail. Try Nashville Stereo. Over shoulder, 12th off axis
Abaraniecki 1 year ago
Man...what were your preamp settings? How much gain? Noone ever reveals this detail. They only ever talk about mic placement.
montezumasrevenge 2 years ago
@montezumasrevenge that's because there are no rules to follow, everyones equipment is different and settings will be different depending on the artist and the sound you and they prefer.
scaryfried 2 years ago
The stereo technique is genius. The original recorded tracks sounded flatter and more simple in comparison. Splitting the two tracks into different channels adds a warm, and traveling guitar track! Even better, since you have two mics you can switch between the right and left channel of the original recordings to better mix the right and left channel of the master! Lol, that's cool dude.
tunafishjoe 2 years ago
you are recording in stereo ok....instead of doubling up the tracks why not just split the original into individual L and R and add some EQ and a small ammount of reverb and compression? what you are doing doesnt really make sense! correct me if i missed something though.
crackshotnoodles 2 years ago
Stereo mics recorded into mono tracks seems more logical.
TheFoulPhil 2 years ago
hi....i have a question.....does one mic do the job???....
wow the recording sounds very good
zejo14 2 years ago
yes. you can get good results using one mic. however, the actual quality of your recording depends on your equipment..... ie dont waste money on crappy mics. the rode nt1a is a nice starting point. :)
thepriceofreality 2 years ago
I'm sorry, I use mixcraft and not all programs have circular pan knobs. 45 degrees, or almost half way panned.
alexhylton 2 years ago
I've been experimenting with recording for years and I've actually found that panning each guitar part 45 degrees is more effective once you start adding multiple tracks such as vocals and maybe piano or multiple instruments.. whats your input on that method?
alexhylton 2 years ago
you can do whatever you want..... if it sounds good to you, keep it. there are no specific rules. there isn't a "recipe" for creating good recordings.
thepriceofreality 2 years ago
Gonna try your stereo doubling technique...Do you use this technique as default or just in certain applications? Good vid BTW.
zorbazoo 2 years ago
What the Fudge?
I'm recording with one Mic Though, and over tracking.
teainthegardentv 2 years ago
You can Just a copy guitar track))))
Martal1 2 years ago
Very nice doubling
NYG4 2 years ago
nice vid.
i cant wait to get one of these mics
TheSecrecyOfSolitude 2 years ago
Yeah, there is no point recording something with a stereo pair of mics, then summing them together to one side.
toshodin 2 years ago
Great demonstration man.
I'm hoping to record like this soon. =)
DuskY1991 2 years ago
I LOVE Octava mics! This is the first time I've seen anyone else use them.
Vittoria10538 2 years ago
The mics I'm using in this video are a matched pair of Octava MK012 condenser microphones.
Not sure if they're still on the market, but you could probably find them for less than $100 each.
servethesong 2 years ago 2
thanks for sharing your experience.
what are your mikes?
smartti1970 2 years ago
Hey that sounded great man.
DigiRarefaction 2 years ago
easier way to do the stereo effect is by instead of recording the guitar track twice you can use a stereo chorus , or theres a plugin you can maybe download for free called STEREO ENHANCER just type it in on GOogle, it saves you time an breaks youre mono into stereo giving it a sick sound.... but this way is great too :).
good vid.
shoksurf 2 years ago
@GARRENF - thx! great idea about videos for various micing techniques. It's on the to-do list ; )
Always trying to mix it up and cover lots of different topics for songwriters and bedroom producers... stay tuned
servethesong 2 years ago
This was probably the most helpful acoustic micing video i've seen. i think you should make another video with different mic placements. the quality sounds great! nice riff also.
GARRENF 2 years ago
very good
ludobeat 2 years ago
Thx for the comment...
I agree, headphone listening tests are a quick and easy way to find the "sweet" spot for the mics. However, it's worth it to do test recordings, then listen back on bigger monitor speakers as that gives you a more accurate sound.
I'm not familiar with PT8 templates... maybe I'll check em out to see what they're all about.
servethesong 2 years ago
12th fret is the sweet spot agreed. I find using headphones while recording or prerecordin rather is a good idea. Helps to find the proper placement. The templates for acoustic guitar on protools 8 are very good. But finding the best sound is doing it the way you do by creating your own session and not depending on one that might sound very good, but doesn't sound quite like you. I find myself bypassing a lot of prootools fx. Good tutorial by the way!
fridrikur 2 years ago