guitar miking and tone

[bachconnelly]

hey guys,

I've been a guitarist for many years now and I have a les paul with EMG pickups and a line 6 pod that I like using to record direct. I usually mic and old marshall combo as a double for the pod. My question is if anyone knows how to relieve your tone of the pick noise that I can't seem to get rid of in my recordings. When listening to leads by john petrucci, i notice that every note has almost no articulation, they just occur. I have tried EQ and compression and nothing has worked. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to get rid of the loud articulation that occurs, it would be great! Thanks guys!

D-Bird

Dual 1.8 G5, 1Gig RAM
DP 4.12,

[shankyboy]

You might try something like a gate. Set the attack time very fast and then find the frequency that is annoying and use that frequency for the gate. Attenuate it until the picking noise is gone or tolerable. Many times, it is your own self criticism that makes it stand out when it really isn't as bad as you think it is.

The picking noise your are producing can usually be attributed to inexperience. (unless it's intentional) When I first started playing live, I would go through 5-6 picks per 45 minute set because I was picking way too hard and inefficiently. Several years later, I find myself going through 1 pick the entire evening. That is because I don't pick nearly as hard as I use to and I am much more efficient with my strokes.

I am not saying you are an amateur, but you might want to spend some time with your picking technique and see if you can improve it.

[sholland]

The other day I was recording a small acoustic group that included me with my ES 335 plugged straight into the instrument jack on my Focusrite Octopre. The Octopre has a compressor (of sorts) on each channel; when you crank the compressor knob all the way it turns into a limiter. Anyway, I had compression on the channel my Gibson was plugged into and it accentuated the pick sound a lot. I figured that this was because the compressor diminishes the difference between loud sounds and quiet sounds, which brought the sound of the pick on the strings forward. So, on the basis of that one little experience, I'm guessing that compression isn't going to help you get rid of pick sound; quite the opposite.

[Tim]

Try a thicker pick, like those little Dunlop jazz ones. I don't prefer using them, but they do produce less pick noise. Either that or a felt pick!

[jaffi]

Dunlop nylon picks are a good choice, too. They make a good chioce for a thin pick that doesn't make a lot of noise.

[psgrooves]

it's technique.. work on your legato phrasing.. and amp settings could contribute.. if you put the mic right on the cone, try moving it out a bit

[Henry Robinett]

Originally posted by pat shepard:
it's technique.. work on your legato phrasing.. and amp settings could contribute.. if you put the mic right on the cone, try moving it out a bit

Absolutely. The blessing and curse of recording is how it reveals deficits in our playing technique. Trying to find solutions outside of physically improving technique, such as compression/limiting, etc. is just compounding the issue because it's not really the right solution.