recording techniquies

I usually record the acoustic guitar first and add the vocal later but if you need to play while you sing it could be done several ways, one would be to use an electric guitar another would be to place the microphone close to the acoustic guitars sound hole if that's what your useing and sing quiet then record the vocal and place the microphone closer to your mouth,it would be easier if you had two microphones then you could do both at the same time,if your vocals sound bassier mix the mid range higher and adjust the frequency range of the highs or just adjust the bass by reducing the frequency and the position of the microphone will not affect the frequency of your voice that has to be adjusted before you record or it can be done after depending on your equipment,i would need to know what kind of recorder and microphone your useing also if your useing a audio program like audacity, because with audacity you can record and use the "equalization" feature after recording by highlighting the entire track and selecting "equalization" from the "effects" menu at the top of the audacity screen, a drop down graph will appear with a straight line the area to the right is treble and the area to the left is bass you can use your curser to move the line up or down at selected points these are the frequency ranges if there's to much bass lower the line on the left etc. if you still need help or dont understand something ask away

Your welcome and its russell or russ

Very helpful,fat strings. I think I am standing to close to the mic. I used to just use the internal mic on my computer but i bought a mic that plugs in to the computer so I have been trying all sorts of stuff now.All my songs are aucstic so I I try to keep it simple.
Sorry, Russell, just the way I was raised!

well, much respect to you,sir

Welcome to Chordie axman I dont think there are two many air guitar players on Chordie we have the real thing

My two cents worth are as follows:

Get a program that allows the use of plugins VST effects and instruments. The good ones are the likes of Pro Tools and Cubase but there is also a good cheapo out there called Mixcraft which comes with a ton of drum loops etc to help you along.

I always start by putting in a drum loop through the entire track. This will at the very least keep you in time. You can always delete after if you want a track with no drums. Alternatively you can insert some fills and things later on as the beat matching will be very easy as you have eliminating all timing issues doing it this way.

Second lay down your rhythym guitar track or piano whatever you are using and this will give your song some structure and allow you to see where it is going and add vocals etc.

When recording vocals I always stand close to the mic to avoid capturing too much room noise. Also I use a pop filter to get rid of the annoying explosive sounds. If you dont have a pop filter make on out of an old pair of pantyhose stretched over a wire hoop. There is an opportunity here for Old Doll to start up a cottage industry using some of her worn out pantyhose, course you may not be able to stand too close to the mic then lol.

I would strongly recommend only recording one instrument at a time ( a voice is considered an instrument ) unless you are after a 'live' sound. The reason for this is to avoid 'bleeding' of sound from track to track.

The main effects to use on mixing are:

compression - used to compress the volume range. Almost always need on both guitar and vocals. Alows you to lift the low volume areas up and stops the loud areas from getting awat from you.

reverb - Should be used on all vocals sparingly. A good rule of thumb is to put it on so you can hear it and then wind it back until it is only just perceptible. Of course sometimes you want more for effect. Also on slow tracks sometimes it is cool to have a delay of a second on reverb for a neat sound. Be aware that too much reverb will push your vocals into the background.

eq - use sparingly, and cutting is often a better way to go than boosting. To seperate sounds out eg: to make the vocal sound better give the vocal track a small boost at around the 1k mark and cut all other tracks slightly here. This stops the various instruments from competing in the same space. If your voice sounds too deep then cut a little un the low end.

To hear some samples of my recording please go to http://mixcraftlive.com/members/133/audio.php
I dont claim to be an expert on this, Ive only been doing it a couple of years myself, but I find these ideas to be effective.

My appologies, I was not intending to spam just trying to offer some samples of work using the basic techniques I was describing. I have replaced the link with another which stores some of music which is not for sale. Hopefully this is acceptable, if not please remove the link and I will refrain from inserting links in any future posts.