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Post by bellyshere on Jul 30, 2018 13:21:28 GMT
Anyone mix mic with pickup when recording? Is it worth doing and any tips for doing it?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2018 13:26:31 GMT
Yes, I’ve done it and it can sound great with a little bit of pickup mixed in. But it’s usually always the case that the pickup signal will need its phase reversed/ inverted. I won’t go I Tom the reason she why, but experiment and you will always find the sound is better.
Robbie
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Post by oustudent on Jul 30, 2018 13:27:30 GMT
This explains how to do it with Audacity; however, he does say the final sound is personal taste. This covers the techy bit
J
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Post by bellyshere on Jul 30, 2018 21:22:47 GMT
Cheers. I'll give it a go.
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Post by andyhowell on Jul 31, 2018 7:16:22 GMT
I’ve tried on numerous occasions and really don’t like it. I know some pros like Simpson do it but I’ve always preferred the mics - and always take the pickup out of the mix.
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Post by bellyshere on Aug 2, 2018 10:05:00 GMT
Tried it with not much success. Just didn’t add anything nice.
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Post by jackorion on Aug 3, 2018 6:51:09 GMT
I sometimes put a little bit in to boost the bass - I'll low pass everything over 200 and then just add the DI'd signal at a low level for sections where I might want a bit more low end.
Another trick I've done is to EQ the pickup so it sounds as good as it can, add a little reverb and then spread it across the stereo field to widen a mono guitar - again at a very low level...
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Post by andyhowell on Aug 3, 2018 7:01:25 GMT
The low level is key isn’t it? I’ve done this and then decided it wasn’t worth using - marginal gains. Mind you, I’ll experiment again I think.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2018 7:52:49 GMT
Did you reverse the phase? Almost always the pickup is going to be out of phase with the mic. This means when you mix the two signals together certain frequencies are cancelled out, and you end up with a much weedier sound.
Also, as already said, very low level is the key. I find even having it lower than about -16 dB is enough just to reinforce the bottom end a little. And at the end of the day, that’s all I would use it for. I should say that my pickups have always been k and k and so are less ‘quacky’ than under saddles.
Robbie
P.s if you can’t reverse the phase whilst recording, almost all software will allow you to invert reverse the phase post recording, usually in the audio editor, on the software mixer or as a plugin.
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Post by andyhowell on Aug 3, 2018 10:58:13 GMT
Did you reverse the phase? Almost always the pickup is going to be out of phase with the mic. This means when you mix the two signals together certain frequencies are cancelled out, and you end up with a much weedier sound. Also, as already said, very low level is the key. I find even having it lower than about -16 dB is enough just to reinforce the bottom end a little. And at the end of the day, that’s all I would use it for. I should say that my pickups have always been k and k and so are less ‘quacky’ than under saddles. Robbie P.s if you can’t reverse the phase whilst recording, almost all software will allow you to invert reverse the phase post recording, usually in the audio editor, on the software mixer or as a plugin. I will always flip the phase to see what happens! I agree about the bottom end. That's what I have been looking for — it adds little on the top. I think a lot depends on your style. Simpson, for example, has that very strong, clear, fundamental and the pickup probably does add body to that. With me it doesn't seem to do much. But that's probably me :-)
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Post by bellyshere on Aug 3, 2018 12:11:23 GMT
I did flip the phase but it just sounded muddy.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2018 17:41:38 GMT
I can't stand the sound of obvious/cheap quacky piezo pickups (I get very annoyed when I hear them in YT acoustic demos), but then I've only ever used a crappy one, the expensive ones may be way better. But when in general a good mic positioned well trumps a pickup every single time, I see no reason to ever use the pickup unless it's for deliberate "effect". But then I have heard a lot of people do like to blend it in subtly under the miced sound. You can make anything work and of course it is all source/track/song/mix dependent! If it sounds good...
Also, instead of flipping the phase, you could also monitor the record chain with headphones on (closed back or in ear monitors work best as they will cut the ambient sound a lot, letting your hear just what the mic/pickup combo is hearing), and experiment with the best mic position for most phase coherant sound.
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Post by andyhowell on Aug 4, 2018 11:00:40 GMT
The expensive ones are better but they are still not mics. They give you an aceeptable sound when playing live when there is a lot else going on to focus on. When you are just listening at home you really don’t want to hear them!
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Post by michaelwatts on Aug 4, 2018 20:23:05 GMT
Every time I've done this I've told myself it's just in case I need a bit more body to the sound. Every time I listen back I delete the pickup track immediately. Unless you're doing some really involved new age type stuff and want to dump a load of oceanic reverb in the mix then I'd stick to a natural sound. But that's just me.
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Post by andyhowell on Aug 6, 2018 12:58:30 GMT
Every time I've done this I've told myself it's just in case I need a bit more body to the sound. Every time I listen back I delete the pickup track immediately. Unless you're doing some really involved new age type stuff and want to dump a load of oceanic reverb in the mix then I'd stick to a natural sound. But that's just me. My thoughts and experience entirely (from a more humble point of view). I know Simpson does it but then he has a very fundamental sound using those Sobell's and PRS instruments (that have been designed in a similar way). His recorded sound while excellent doesn't sound that authentically acoustic to me!
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