#1 resource for Cigar Box Guitars, Free Plans, How-To, Parts & More!

How do ya'all record your CBG's and music

hey ya'all,

i'm sort of new here and am curious about how folks are recording their CBG's and

their songs. don't get me wrong, i am a builder, but i'm a player and recordist too.

so i'de like to hear how ya'all go about capturing that beautiful sound and tone

of these instruments we all build and love. what are you tracking on, what kinds

of mics are you using,how 'bout mic techniques?

i'm using a Roland VS 2480HD, and Studio One in Windows 7 on my laptop for tracking

and i master on the Roland. for the CBG's i'm using large and small condenser mics and

a ribbon mic, and also a few dynamic mics.

for mono tracks i like to use 2 mics. one close mic on the CBG and a room mic for ambience.

on stereo tracks i almost always use the mid-side technique. this setup is fantastic. it gives you

complete control over where the track sits in the stereo field and mix. another big benifit of mid-side

is if your recording is stereo and it gets collapsed to mono things don't disapear from your mix.

if you've ever had one of your tunes played on the radio or television and it was just missing all

sorts of stuff, mid-side will eliminate that. i do use the X-Y technique sometimes, but most of

the time i go with mid-side.

i also use what is called corner loading. it's pretty much what it says. you position the player

facing into a corner as close as possible without being uncomfortable. a mic is placed 2 or 3

feet behind the player pointing at the corner. i really like this setup with unpluged CBG's.

if you have a CBG with no pickup that has an awesom tone and sound but has no projection

or volume, this is a great setup. you can also place a second mic further back and capture the

room ambience too.

are any of you using ribbon mics ? if you've never tried one, try one. they have a figure-8

polar pattern which means it picks up sound equaly from the front and back. to me they

have the most detailed sound of any mic. they kick ass on anything.

anyways, i could go on and on but i'll stop now i posted 4 tunes here and were recorded

using the setups i've described, all recorded, mixed, and mastered at home here in Memphis.

and let me hear how ya'all are doing it. glad to be here.

Myke

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on October 11, 2014 at 10:33am

Don't believe everything you read. Sure, they're very good for the price but I don't know about professional. The Zoom H6 is a really good unit, solid, great sound, a few more dollars but the difference is palpable.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on October 10, 2014 at 7:06pm

I've got two big racks of super valuable shit (including a few of those nice Roland recorders) but I'll usually use an iPad and iRig. Cos its painless and works great. I've found the more gear you bring to the party the more time you spend playing with it, and unfortunately while some small part of that time is fun and creative, the majority (at least for me) is not, it's running cables and fighting with crappy little controls, tiny screens etc etc. and that, to me, is the price for the impressive rig. I just wanna plug up and go

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on October 11, 2014 at 10:25am

Agree, I've got a zoom H6 for the very same reason and it is stellar.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by c# merle on October 10, 2014 at 7:54pm

"i guess if you record just for fun or don't sell your CD's

or you just record endless noodles of licks that aren't really coherent songs it must not matter."

man, you just slayed a few with that remark michael - welcome to the doghouse:)

on topic, just do the best you can with the equipment to hand. recording is just a wee hobby to me so i can't/won't spend oodles of cash on fancy mics etc - just hit record on something and see what happens...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on October 10, 2014 at 8:25pm

I stick a iphone on my filing cabinet at an angle, with free irig record app and then add reverb.. it's almost free...

and sometimes it kinda works..

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on October 10, 2014 at 8:27pm

I call it the Alan Lomax approach to blues recording for the 21st century..

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on October 10, 2014 at 8:33pm

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on October 10, 2014 at 8:36pm

They don't bounce on concrete very well...oops!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on October 11, 2014 at 2:03am

It had a case but I was pushed off a building
By a Woolf hound... There's a story under Clocks page comments

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James on October 11, 2014 at 12:53am

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on October 11, 2014 at 1:05am

That's neat..

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on October 11, 2014 at 1:07am

And it's earthed

▶ Reply

RSS

Welcome to
Cigar Box Nation

Sign Up
or Sign In

Or sign in with:

The Essential Pages

Site Sponsor

Forum

Nut

Started by Bill Andy in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by BrianQ. 12 hours ago. 1 Reply 0 Likes

You like Train songs on Handmade instruments as much as I do? Meet Eastwood station…

Started by BrianQ. in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts on Tuesday. 0 Replies 2 Likes

Free PDF Download: Vintage Guitar Effects Plans - 1967 Fuzzbox and 1969 Treble Boost

Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by BrianQ. Mar 9. 4 Replies 3 Likes

Tune up songs

Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies 1 Like

Duel output jacks

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies 0 Likes

No Harmonics

Started by Ken I in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Brian partington Mar 8. 8 Replies 0 Likes

Camera suggestions?

Started by Southern Ray in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 6. 5 Replies 0 Likes

CBG site issues, continued.

Started by Taffy Evans in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 5. 4 Replies 2 Likes

Anyone used a violin-style tailpiece on a CBG?

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Carl Floyd Mar 1. 15 Replies 0 Likes

Blog Posts

I'll be fashionable this summer =)

Posted by Vlad on March 31, 2024 at 11:48pm 0 Comments 1 Like

Everyone can make CBG. And I did it =)

Posted by Vlad on March 6, 2024 at 2:32am 5 Comments 2 Likes

.✨. Cover Me ..♪♫•¨•. ~ the Delta Blues Outlaws

Posted by billy jones bluez on February 28, 2024 at 2:09pm 0 Comments 0 Likes

Q&A with Arkansas-based talented blues musician Billy Jones, one of the very best authentic modern artists

Posted by billy jones bluez on February 17, 2024 at 11:00pm 0 Comments 0 Likes

Big Power Bank for Small CBG =)

Posted by Vlad on February 11, 2024 at 1:06am 1 Comment 1 Like

Latest Activity

BrianQ. replied to Bill Andy's discussion Nut

"It’s customary to include a pic of the neck when you’re asking these kinds of…"

12 hours ago

BrianQ. liked Rob (Uker) Porras's photo

Soresto ukulele

12 hours ago

Bill Andy posted a discussion

Nut

Just got a prefretted walnut neck, it does not have a lip to glue nut against, should i dado to set…See More

16 hours ago

1 Comment 0 Likes

AGP # commented on AGP #'s photo

AGP 8 Stand Carousels

""Thanx A.D." I tried slowing down the number of builds, but I enjoy it too much! :-)"

18 hours ago

Rob (Uker) Porras posted a photo

Soresto ukulele

My wife actually asked me to build this. Every time the dog gets a new collar she tries to find a…

18 hours ago

0 Comments 1 Like

3 String Blues posted a video

Delta Blues Freestyle Slide - MXL 990 Microphone Recording

Recorded with a MXL 990 Microphone that I bought used off ebay for 40 bucks. Music - from the webpage https://www.reddogguitars.com There is CBGs for sale...

19 hours ago

0 Comments 0 Likes

BrianQ. left a comment for Clydr

22 hours ago

BrianQ. left a comment for James C Bailey

22 hours ago

BrianQ. left a comment for Airam

22 hours ago