Original subtitles

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okay today I want to up my game I want

to improve something that sounds so

simple just recording vocals and

acoustic guitar but actually quite a few

things can go wrong

there are so many processes that I put

in place just to protect myself from

making mistakes when I am running and

gunning it and I just I just want to

make a one percent Improvement on

something that if you get it right it

sounds amazing and if you get it wrong

you might suffer from phasing issues or

it just might not have the je ne Sequoia

that you really really want to capture

your just strip back acoustic

performance what has inspired me to do

this you ask yes well

there are

these

vintage neumans okay quick history

lesson about the Neumann u87 microphone

Neumann founded in 1928 and based in

Berlin is a prominent German

manufacturer of professional recording

microphones the company's pioneering

founder George Neumann was a technical

genius who simultaneously developed

phonograph record cutting machines and

rechargeable batteries as well as their

high grade microphones the u87 is the

best known Neumann microphone it's been

the world's most widely used studio

microphone for over 50 years expensive

but synonymous with quality and

dependability brought to Market in 1967

it's been the tech behind countless hit

records for the past 50 years from the

Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street to

Carly Rae jepson's Call Me Maybe as well

as being the preferred microphone for

radio DJs and other broadcasters Neumann

was awarded a technical Grammy in 1999

in recognition of its many technological

accomplishments it's been a part of the

Sennheiser group since 1991 and launched

its first headphones the Neumann ndh-20

in 2019 so I've got two of these to play

around with one for vocals one for

Guitar let's get set up

be back for you later okay I need two

mic stands two cables I need an

interface I need a laptop I need in-ear

monitors I need an extension cable

legs

I'm just fixing the mics while I'm sat

down so that I can really really think

about where I want them vocal mic I'm

I've got it upside down uh it's a figure

of eight polar pattern so just thinking

what that physically is and the space

and having it slightly angled up towards

my voice there is recording for the sake

of recording in a studio session where

you don't have cameras around and then

there's recording on camera and I would

say they are actually two different art

forms so I am going to do my best you

know squeeze the camera in squeeze the

mics in get as best as you can it just

might not be complete Studio level

recording with the guitar microphone I

don't want too much bleed from my vocals

so I think I need this a little bit

lower this is always where Josh Turner's

slogan I remember on his baseball cap

where it's fixing pre guitar mic

pointing towards the guitar having the

top near my voice so that it won't be

picking up too much of that having the

vocal mic

angled up get them as close together

so that I can be quite nice and intimate

with the guitar I just I just really

want this to work

obviously

but

it's nice having you along with me

so fun fact

um I got this about two years ago and I

opened it on camera and there is a video

of me discovering this gorgeous

instrument you wouldn't want to gig with

this case

oh

my God

hey oh and now it's still kicking around

still got it

and it was actually from 1937 not 1936

as it was advertised to me people have

um investigated this serial number and

discovered it was from 1937 instead

but uh yeah this Epiphone it feels like

I'm gonna capture something special

through something from yeah the 1930s

um and then these microphones might be

as old as sort of like early 1970s or

late 1960s

um I think they're I think they're the

70s versions okay I've got my in-ear

monitors I have two XLR cables

hello oh

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something is recording I'm gonna check

it's the right level

think the guitar could go up somewhat

depending on what I'm playing

so I've just set the screen recording

live and there is nothing going on there

are no plugins whatsoever on this audio

just as an example

I am directing the guitar mic towards

the f-holes and I really have

got the vocals I think pretty spot on I

still have a little bit of room for

maneuver if I'm moving my head but

here's just a separation

oh

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oh

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now I'm sure people will be able to tell

me

the guitar is definitely not picking up

on the vocal mic as much as the vocals

are picking up on the guitar mic

so I'm wondering if there is room for

improvement there but I'm just going to

take a listen and then do you know what

I think we're just going to get

recording I'm going to set up my in-ear

mix

um add a little bit of Reverb just for

me to listen to while

recording I'm going to have a click

track as well through the inners

one other reason that I love in-ear

monitors when recording These acoustic

intimate sets is that headphones make my

head hot

secondly I think the The Click bleed is

much worse from headphones than from

in-ears in-ears are basically almost

indistinguishable because they are

directly in your eardrums in your

eardrums that's not what I mean you know

what I mean let's get into performance

mode

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another turning point so this took a lot

of trial and error I did a whole session

earlier

I don't know how many times I actually

played through the song but it was far

too many times and I was doing it in the

wrong key

and it just sounded really like

and so I just shifted it up a little bit

I'm really happy with the results I've

just listened back and it's just really

crystal clear and this was

the way I ended up

putting it together the camera had been

over the other side but yeah it's just

it's just still figuring it out and just

um you know always experimenting and

always giving yourself enough time I was

a little bit rushed earlier

um and yeah sometimes you just have to

be able to film until very late in the

evening time does not stand still when

you're recording like hours will just

disappear and I bet you guys feel the

same but anyway thank you very much for

watching this vlog

I hope you enjoy the video that is of

the results of this session and please

subscribe give this video a thumbs up

and comment down below with your Insight

okay otherwise I'll be seeing you here

very very soon