Posts by jhunger

DanHoodMusic said
jhunger, this is great! I am glad someone took the initiative. I record Uke the same way as you, but my mic is a C-460b. That runs into a 70’s API pre. I use just a bit of compression more for the tone then the “squish” (Waves stuff) and just a touch of EQ. My room has a bump at about 385Hz and another at around 160Hz. The only difference is where I want the Uke to sit in a mix. if it is prominent, then I record closer to the source, if it is a background instrument, then I back up about a foot or so to get a bit of my room. (acoustically treated, but I still have to add more)

Thanks for the info! That’s interesting about the placement for a background instrument, but it makes perfect sense – I may try that next time

Hey Dan, substitute clarinet for the trumpet and I think I followed a parallel path as you for a while. I started on piano and got reasonably good but disliked it because I was basically just repeating what was on the sheet music and not creating anything. So I quit when I was about 12, and didn’t play for a year until I got a little cheesy casio keyboard for Christmas. At that point, I started playing around with the beats and automatic chords and started learning that chords were the foundation of music and a building block for songwriting. Around 14 I picked up a guitar and taught myself to play. I loved my parents music more than the contemporary stuff (this will be a politically incorrect statement for a lot of you, but there wasn’t much I liked going on in popular music in the late 80s). I got into the Beatles, Cat Stevens, and especially Paul Simon. I learned to finger pick by learning to play The Boxer, and also learned a lot about good lyric writing there as well.

I tried to play in bands in college (Eugene, OR), and later in Seattle, mainly with my SeaportSound co-collaborator, Natt, but it never really went anywhere except that we composed literally 100s of songs. After that, I mostly just muddled around in my spare time. And then in 2009 I discovered stock music, and started writing and recording again. That’s about it! Now I’m just climbing the learning curve, and having a blast.

Thanks for this thread, Jamie – I haven’t read everybody’s bio yet but I plan to go through them in the next day or two.

Sounds pretty similar to how I record mine. I agree, I’m a little hesitant to link to my AJ tunes (and also I don’t keep track of how I recorded each one usually), so I may put up a couple of soundcloud samples instead in the next few days, along with a few more details (when I’m not supposed to be at my day job :)).

permain & vaisnava, no problem – I love talking about this stuff! When I get time I’ll try to write a little more about at least what I’ve learned.

vaisnava said
Well it seems like the ukele recording techniques might be a good place to start actually. I don’t have a uke or mic, so if people who have done it can share their techniques and their tracks featuring their technique I think that would be a good way to get the ball rolling. A new thread would be appropriate.

I went ahead and added one here. I’m curious to see what other people are doing with the uke as well.

Inspired by vaisnava’s thread, I’m starting a thread around recording everybody’s favorite instrument, the ukulele!

The idea here is that anyone can share what they know or ask questions about the instrument, good brands, types (e.g. soprano vs concert vs tenor), how they record it and fit it in the mix, anything around playing and recording ukuleles, really.

I’ll start with some basic info about how I like to record:

I normally use a Kala concert acacia wood ukulele to record with. I like a single, bright SDC microphone, and the one I use most often is an AKG C451B, usually 6 inches to a foot away and angled toward the soundhole. When mixing, I don’t do a whole lot of EQ other than a bass roll off and a little bump in the 4000+ range, and if I’m plucking I’ll normally put a bit of compression (maybe 3:1), but again, not too much. Other than that, I don’t typically use any effects.

I’d always like to improve on my sound, so I’m interested to hear if anybody else does things differently.

P.S. -

Yes, we already know that the ukulele is a much maligned instrument on these forums. If you want to add a snarky comment about how you’d never stoop to such depths as to touch an ukulele, feel free – we’ll totally respect you for it .

P.P.S. -

I really like vaisnava’s idea and I’m hoping that we can continue this in some form or another for a variety of audio areas, e.g. for other instruments, how to use various effects, etc. It would be great if each topic were specific to one subject, for instance covering specifically EQing techniques rather than just a general mixing thread. Perhaps there could even be a naming convention to title the thread “Audio Education Thread – [n]” (or something else if anyone has a better idea) so it’s easy to find them amongst the other topics.

Of course there is already a lot of information online on these topics, but we have such a rich pool of expertise along with one of the most productive forums around here, so I think we could get a lot of discussion going that will help a great number of us DIY musicians.

My extended sales are consistently right around 2.5 – 5% of my normal sales. So not very often, but it’s nice when you get them. I know that in the past other authors have said they have a much higher rate than that, so it may depend on the type of music you’re doing, style, length, etc.

BTW daveydad, be careful about calling out other stock marketplaces by name – it’s not allowed on the forums. No big deal this time – I think that the name will just be removed by a moderator at some point if they notice.

petrenj said
Its C451B dynamic or condenser mic?I know its good way to record amp to use both mics…dynamic or condenser in some different positions.Mostly condenser mic for some ambiance

It’s a small diaphragm condenser mic – it’s got a brightness about it that makes it harsh on a lot of sources but I like the airy feel it gives the ukulele. I don’t know much at all about recording amplifiers, though.

However, I was mostly just making a joke in reference to vaisnava’s ukulele reference and didn’t mean to derail this into the “recording ukulele” thread! Maybe I’ll start one of those in a bit to get a nice mix of recording advice and the typical anti-uke vitriol.

I think it’s a great idea as well. I’d even like to see an entire forum section on it. I know there are a lot of experts here, but I for one am learning on the job as it were, and love to get insights from other producers, as well as share a few of my own.

BTW I normally record ukulele with a single bright mic (C451B), about 6 inches away and barely off axis. But I’d love to hear how others do it

SFXdragon said
Many vaccines contain mercury and make many children ill. It is linked to autism.

Let’s please be careful here. I’m not going to go into the other claims on this thread, but this one caught my eye because the statement (originally from fraudulent research by Andrew Wakefield) has been widely discredited and has actually caused a significant amount of harm.

Particularly:

The claims in Wakefield’s 1998 The Lancet article were widely reported; vaccination rates in the UK and Ireland dropped sharply, which was followed by significantly increased incidence of measles and mumps, resulting in deaths and severe and permanent injuries. Physicians, medical journals, and editors have described Wakefield’s actions as fraudulent and tied them to epidemics and deaths, and a 2011 journal article described the vaccine-autism connection as “the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years”.

Sorry, I know I’m breaking forum rules by even posting this, but a lot of people who really should have known better, even people who I know, may have delayed giving or prevented their children from getting important vaccinations as a result of this result of poor research and reporting.

Also, US obesity is a serious problem, sure, but flouride? Look up Earl Butz and the proliferation of cheap corn instead and you might find better answers to the obesity issue.

Mat, you totally deserve this and more – I think that silver paw won’t take too long. Nice work!