Gear to record acoustic + vox videos

thomasross20

If I wanted to put up videos of acoustic playing + singing how would you go about it? 

I have a mic. 

I have a toneport interface + DAW.

I have a camera with good video quality but does not record the audio (pain!) so I'd have  to sync up audio afterward. 


Not sure what the easiest way to do this would be... Don't want guitar to overpower vocals or vice versa. 

Guitar into DAW and mic pointed at me and into DAW then mix?

Thanks

Modellista

Hi Tommy. If you do three claps at the beginning you can easily sync the audio from the camera with the audio in the DAW (by magnifying the waveforms and lining them up) and then mute the mic track from the camera. 

If your camera truly doesn’t record audio (weird) you can still sync up the clap noises with the claps on screen.  

Cubase 10.5 allows exporting video which has been a lifesaver for my workflow. Instead of having to go back and forth between DAW and video editor I can do everything in Cubase, only needing to bring it into Davinci if I want clever stuff like titles. 

Not sure why you’re worried about guitar overpowering vocals, surely your normal recording workflow would take separate tracks for guitar and vox so you can mix them nicely? Even easier if you’re using a plugged-in guitar so there’s no vocal bleed on the guitar track. I like to use a dynamic mic for live takes like this so it doesn’t bleed as much as a condenser. 

thomasross20

I think it does do audio but the quality is poor. The claps are a good tip, thanks! 
I was trying to be lazy and just record guitar & vox with one mic but I think that's a bit silly. 
If you're recording at home... do you do guitar and vox separately? Or do you take the guitar into your interface... and use the mic for vox (wont the mic pick up some of the guitar)?

Branshen

Ideally, you'd have at least two mics. One for guitar, and one on vocals.

I'd sooner use one mic and use mic placement to get a good vocal/guitar balance than use a direct in from the guitar. Those direct sounds will never sound as good as mixed acoustic guitar. 

thomasross20

So I really ought to get a second mic for guitar... Got it. You're up late lol

hollywoodrox

https://youtu.be/EK9t20TqZCU

These are about £15 on Thomann . Very good . I don’t have an acoustic but works good and good for recording in pubs or out and about 

TheBigDipper

I bought one of these about 18-24 months ago when the price first dropped to £20. It's got an analogue input gain, so you can make sure the AD converter doesn't clip. Takes power from the phone. Great value at the price. Never used it for video, though, just casual audio recording at home of my mate & me playing acoustics in the kitchen and singing. In stereo. Works with Multitrack DAW and Garageband.

Modellista

Branshen said:

Ideally, you'd have at least two mics. One for guitar, and one on vocals.

I'd sooner use one mic and use mic placement to get a good vocal/guitar balance than use a direct in from the guitar. Those direct sounds will never sound as good as mixed acoustic guitar. 

Generally I’d agree with this if we’re talking about just DI’ing a piezo. If you bring modelling into the equation you can get very close with either an on-board modelling preamp, pedal, or perhaps a VST. I have a Yamaha A3R which has their modelling preamp and it’s genuinely good. 

The advantage being there’s no guitar mic to pick up the vocals so better isolation of each track. 

If thomasross20 said:

I think it does do audio but the quality is poor. The claps are a good tip, thanks! 
I was trying to be lazy and just record guitar & vox with one mic but I think that's a bit silly. 
If you're recording at home... do you do guitar and vox separately? Or do you take the guitar into your interface... and use the mic for vox (wont the mic pick up some of the guitar)?

I’ve got a little project to record a live acoustic cover every month this year, the thread is in Making Music. I’m doing these single take just to prove I can do it live. I did think I was having some phase problems but I’m not sure it’s a biggie. Yes there’s a bit of spill but nothing serious. I’m using an SM58 on vocals which sounds decent enough for now, which rejects a lot of the acoustic guitar. The guitar condenser does pick up quite a bit of vocals which would be solved if you DI’d the guitar as above. Although don’t just go with a piezo because they sound bad, some sort of modelling is a must. 

thomasross20

My two acoustics both have a K&K Pure Mini in them. I can see the benefits of both the two mic approach and the DI approach. I saw your thread and thought the two so far were great, by the way!! 

Branshen

thomasross20 said:

So I really ought to get a second mic for guitar... Got it. You're up late lol

Not in my timezone! 

thomasross20

Mics.


I have an SM58. But does that thing have to be right in my face to get anything out of it? If I do videos, I'd rather not have it right up to my mouth. What's the best mic for this sort of thing? (BTW I have a Zoom H2n, too). 

Also, same question for mic'ing the guitar. SM57?


Would anybody just use the ONE mic to record both?

How do these YouTubers record acoustic & vox and not have mics in view?


--> I think I'm going to use my SM58 to record my acoustic and get a RODE NT1 for vox. DONE.

Branshen

Whatever it takes to get a good sound. I close mic to get more of the source sound, as opposed to room sound.

As for Micing, I've done guitar and vocals with one mic (Rode M3) and I think I got a decent sound out of it. But it's a compromise as it was done outdoors and I didn't want to set up multiple mics! See video below. 



I think it's fine to have the mic in the shot personally, as in the video above. 

thomasross20

gear4music do a rode nt1a pack with shock mount, pop filter, mic stand etc. Going for it. 
Will use SM58 for guitar. 

Considered getting one of the mic boom stands that attaches to desk but don't want to risk having to drill holes in desk. Will stick with actual stands. 

That's great man - good sound and great performance! What's that mic cover called - just a wind filter? 

Branshen

I have nothing bad to say about the NT1A after 6-7 years if using one as my main mic. If I were starting over, I'd probably get it all over again.

The wind shield is a 3rd party thing bought off ebay. Just search "your mic name" + "dead rat windshield", but u only need it outdoors. It can cope with a light breeze but anything more will be an issue. 

thomasross20

Dead rat  

I did consider just using my Zoom H2n but why not GAS a little?

thomasross20

So this isn't acoustic but I used the SM58 to mic up my amp today. Sounds good TBH!!
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/174549/knockin-on-heavens-door#latest

I think it will do just fine for mic'ing up acoustic 8)