Need Help With Muffled Guitar Sound

[goldylocks]

How can you get rid of a muffled guitar sound? I've tried an expensive microphone, audacity, turning up the equalizers on the out put of the stereo. Nothing seems to work. Everyone that listens to the recordings thinks my husband is using the Wah- wah effect, when in fact he's playing an acoustic guitar. It's ruining what could be a half decent recording.

 

Any suggestions would be so appreciated. Thanks

 

Goldy    

 

Here is a sample of what it sounds like

 

 

http://www.reverbnation.com/SandyMason/song/19350868-see-his-face

Edited January 30, 2014 by goldylocks

[dnafe]

a couple of questions

 

1) what kind of mic are you using

 

2) are you recording guitar and vocals at the same time with this one mic

 

3) what is the interface to your computer

 

4) where are you positioning the mic

Once I know what your doing I might be able to help

Don

 

ps. if you could post a picture of you recording the guitar that would help a lot

Edited January 31, 2014 by dnafe

[dnafe]

I'm going to go out on a limb here a say you're recording guitar and vocals in one take with one mic.

Now without knowing your set up I'm just going to throw out an idea or two that might be easy to integrate...might not.

Now because you seem to be using one mic I'm guessing you're having to place it a fair distance away (2 feet, maybe more) from the sound sources so that you can capture the guitar and voice in a nice balanced manner.  Unfortunately because the mic is so far away from the sound sources it is picking up a lot of the natural sound of the room you're recording in.  In many cases you might want this, in this particular case you don't because the mic is picking up a lot of mid range from the room which is adding to this muffled sound.

Re: the mic - if this is a dynamic mic it is really designed to pick up one sound source and generally pretty close to that source as they are generally quite directional (focused). So I might suggest getting a second mic and using a mixer, record the voice with one mic and the guitar with the other. If that isn't an option you might want to try recording the guitar first then overdub the vocals.

Now unless you have the ability to record with two mics or do the over dub thing you can try...

 

1) record in a room that isn't so mid range sounding

 

2)  try recording in a corner of the room

 

3) create a temporary isolation booth - try hanging a quilt or really heavy blanket in front of the performer but behind the mic and another quilt behind the performer - hopefully this will reduce the mid range sound reflecting off the walls and ceiling reaching the mic. Alternately you could buy one of these products from RealTraps or GIK Acoustics or make your own if your handy with tools and have an hour or so to kill (I can help you with this)

 

4) all of the above

hope this helps
 

Edited February 2, 2014 by dnafe

[goldylocks]

Thank you Hobo Sage, and Dnafe, for your help and suggestions. Your right, we used one microphone and recorded using audacity. The room is a small room and Mike was recording in front of the computer into audacity about 2 feet away. So the sound card has nothing to do with recorder? This is a brand new Gateway HDMI Vision PC. I thought it was a cheap sound card that was effecting the sound. We will try your suggestions Dnafe, and see if that improves the quality. Again thank you both for your help.

 

 

Goldy      . 

Edited February 3, 2014 by goldylocks

[dnafe]

It is very unlikely that the sound card would be causing the problem, more often than not it's the mic, mic placement and the recording environment that have the biggest impact on the quality of the recording.that are the issue.

 

[TapperMike]

If,,,

One records to high a volume...clipping(unfavorable digital distortion) occurs.  Generally a muffling sensation.  As well if you record to a high bit rate with lots of headroom and then have it dithered down to a lower bit rate.... The same thing happens. 

 

Normally people jack up the volume and then sing/play softly.  As a song progresses they become more confident and play/sing harder.  Which raises the volume into the red.

[dnafe]

Hey TapperMike

 

Digital distortion is hard clipping creating a scratch sound. Now over loading your analog preamp (mic or line) inputs (as you said) will create the effect you mention.

 

The change in bit rate from high to low really only applies to MP3s...most bit rate / sampling rate reduction software for wav files is pretty darn good.

 

Dither is noise added to a track mainly to allow fade outs to appear seamless

 

Just wanted to clarify the terminology so we're all on the same page
 

[EJB]

I get that EXACT same sound when I am (not on purpose) using my laptops built in Mic.

I don't know how audacity works BUT I imagine you have to make sure it is getting input from the

Mic you are using and NOT from the computers built in Mic.

I would bet thats your problem.

 

I hope this will fix your problem.

 

EJB

Edited May 8, 2014 by EJB

[Chris Perra]

That sounds like a low sample rate or not recording as a wave.. kinda watery sounding..

 

See what settings you are using as far as type of file you are recording as.. The suggestion above that the computer mic might be the one that is being used could be right as well.. definitely doesn't sound like a high quality mic with 44.1 sample rate.. the way that is is..