New Music Gear Monday: Grace Design Felix Blender Pedal

Here's a very cool device that even though it seems to be more live oriented, I can see being used in the studio as well. It's something new from Grace Design called Felix, and it's an acoustic instrument preamp/blender pedal.

Felix is specifically designed for blending the sounds of an acoustic instrument together so it has an input for the built-in pickup of the instrument, plus another for a mic featuring one of those great Grace preamps. It also has an extra 1/4 input so that you can switch from two different guitars if you want.

The top panel is pretty complete in that it has an independent EQ section for each channel that features hi and low pass shelving filters, a parametric EQ, and a very cool notch filter that can be a Godsend for certain acoustic instruments.

There's also 10dB of boost for soloing, a mix control, and an amp output control that also sends to a built-in headphone amplifier.

Then there are the footswitches. The first is an A/B switch so that you can switch between channels, a boost switch, and a mute/tune switch that mutes all the outputs except for a dedicated tuner out.

The outputs of Felix are pretty impressive. Four 1/4 inch jacks include tuner out, dedicated amp output, an effects insert and effects output. It also has two direct outs on XLR's, one for each channel, which can be separate or #2 output can supply a blended output.

Additional controls include 48V, phase reverse, mid-range frequency, and notch filter frequency selection on the side panel.

While Felix looks more like a live device, I can see it in the studio as well, since it has some features that would make it easier to get a great sound before it even hits your preamp. If a player already has the variables of his sound dialed in, you can see how the recording would be up and running in a flash.

The Grace Design Felix isn't cheap at $995, but considering the consistently high quality of Grace products, it seems to be worth every penny. The unit should be available in April.

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The Who "Pinball Wizard" Isolated Guitars

If you grew up playing in bar bands back in the 70s/80s, chances are you played "Pinball Wizard," the seminal hit from The Who's Tommy rock opera. But how many of us actually played it correctly?

Take a listen to the isolated acoustic and electric guitar parts in the song. Here's what to listen for.
1. There are two acoustic guitars, one playing the low 8th note pedal note on the intro parts, which then doubles the other acoustic during the strumming.

2. The electric guitar, which plays on the intro, first verse and chorus.

3. Take notice how the electric drops out in the second verse, and one of the acoustic guitars changes to different chord inversions so it's slightly different from the first and last verses.

4. There's a nice long delayed reverb on the guitars that give them that big sound that we're familiar with.

3 Advanced Techniques For Miking An Acoustic Guitar

Figure 1: Miking the guitar neck and body

Many times it's surprising the difference an extra mic can make when miking an instrument. A second mic can add depth and ambiance even without resorting to a stereo configuration, which can be perfect for the right track. Here are 3 techniques for using two mics when recording an acoustic guitar, culled from The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook that I wrote with my good buddy Rich Tozzoli.

"The use of a second microphone on an acoustic guitar opens up numerous tonal options. Remember, the sound does not come from the soundhole alone; it’s a combination of all the elements of the instrument – its body, neck, strings, and the integration of the overall design. 

The two mic option has many alternatives in terms of positioning, where each mic can be placed on a different part of the guitar. Several mics can be also be placed directly next to each other in order to create a wider sound field. You can also separate them where one captures the direct sound of the instrument and another records the room ambience or is placed over the guitarists shoulder. 

Although the mics can be grouped onto just a single track, recording the mics on individual tracks provides more options during mixing.

Two Mic Technique #1 - Recording Different Parts of the Guitar 

Many excellent recordings have been made by placing a single mic where the soundhole and neck meet, and another on the body (see the Figure 1 on the left). For example, you could place a small diaphragm condenser such as the AKG C451 on the soundhole/neck to capture the brightness of a guitar, while placing a ribbon such as the Royer 121 near the body of the instrument. Or, you could choose to place the ribbon on the soundhole and the condenser on the body – or any combination of mics. 

You can also experiment by moving the soundhole mic further up the neck to increase the brightness captured by that mic, or further towards the bridge to darken the tone. When placing a mic on the body, it’s best to listen to the instrument first, as every guitar has it’s own unique projection. Once you’ve listened and found what you think is a sweet spot, place each mic the same distance away from the instrument.

The reason you should try to place both mics at the same distance from the guitar is so that they record in time with each other. Any slight time delay between the mics, even if not noticed during recording, can cause the mics to be slightly out-of-phase with each other, which will cancel out certain frequencies and cause an almost ‘washy’ effect. An easy way to check phase is to listen to one of the channels in and out of phase, either by applying a plug-in (with delay compensation!) that has phase reversal or selecting it on your mixing console or microphone preamp. If you notice one of the mics is out of phase, you can either move the mics or try to visually adjust the waveforms in your DAW.

With the old adage ‘there are no rules’ in mind, the above information should be taken with open ears. Some very cool guitar sounds can be had by actually recording out of phase, or better yet, by sliding separately recorded tracks on your DAW by a few milliseconds. This can create a short delay sound, which in certain productions, may actually work sonically to lift the guitar louder in the mix. A few minutes of experimenting should tell you what works and what doesn’t.

One last thing to think about with recording separate parts of the guitar. If you have one high quality mic and one that’s simply mediocre, it makes sense to put the good mic in the most important position, which is usually the neck/soundhole. By letting the quality mic do the ‘heavy lifting’ of capturing most of the sound, the other mic can then be placed either on the body or the strings to complete the overall sound.

Figure 2: Close and ambient miking

Technique #2 - Close And Ambient Miking

Another technique using more than one microphone involves placing a mic close to the guitar and another in the room to record the ambience (see Figure 2). The first mic, which can be placed either at the usual fretboard/soundhole position or near the body, will capture the more direct sound of the instrument. The second mic should be placed at least three feet further away from the first mic (out in the room) to maintain proper phase integrity. 

This method is quite effective when using either a small diaphragm condenser or ribbon mic up close, and a large diaphragm or omni mic as the distant mic. Make sure to achieve a good recording level on the room mic, as the sound level will obviously be less due to the distance from the source. This technique depends upon the quality of the room and the actual amount of room space that’s available. 

Two Mic Variation #1

Another optional placement of the second mic in the room is to position it above the shoulder or head of the player, facing towards the front of the guitar. This approximates what the guitarist hears at the playing position and can add a nice sense of depth to an acoustic recording. Try using a shotgun mic, if available, placed above the player’s head or shoulders. By virtue of its design, shotgun microphones are highly directional and will minimize the recording sensitivity to the left, right and rear, focusing on the sound projecting in front of the guitar."

To read additional excerpts from The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook and my other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.

Get That Vintage Sound From Fungi

Trying to determine why a vintage instruments sounds better than one recently made has gone back seemingly forever, with almost every violin maker wondering why a Stradivarius sounds the way it does to every guitarist wondering why that 1955 Martin beats a new one from the factory.

It's long been known that as an instrument ages it purges the moisture within, making it lighter in the process. Also, the more it's played, the more it begins to resonant as the vibrations are set in the wood (you can get more detail from The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook). But there's more to it than that, as any vintage collector will tell you. There are some vintage instruments that just sing while others aren't on the same level.

Now a team at the Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin believes they've found the answer - fungi. After analyzing wood from various vintages of violins, Professor Francis Schwarze discovered that the one thing that everyone has been overlooking all these years is the fact that back in the Stradivarius' day, two species of fungi (think mushrooms) were normally found in the wood, and it decayed it in such a way that an instrument's tonal properties improved. The fungi reduce the density of the wood (just like the moisture being naturally purged) and increased the speed that the sound traveled through it. The interesting by-product is that the wood still remained as strong as ever.

So why don't we have natural wood fungi today? Most wood today is treated with an ethylene oxide gas before it's processed, which instantly kill all the fungi.

To put it to the test, the team exposed a new violin to the two fungi for a period of 9 months and then held a blind test against a Stradivarius. Although a test like this is always subjective, a panel of experts were fooled into thinking that the new violin was also a Strad.

Will this work on acoustic guitars as well? Maybe. Violins are typically made out of spruce and sycamore, and acoustic guitars typically use spruce for the tops, so it seems like an exposure to fungi might work (more on acoustic guitar woods in this post). Any takers out there?

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7 Prep Steps For Recording Acoustic Guitar

Many new to recording acoustic guitars only think of placing microphones and watching levels, but the savvy player, engineer and producer all know that you can do a number of things to enhance your session even before it begins. In this excerpt from The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook (written with Rich Tozzoli), we'll look at the 7 steps you can take when prepping for recording acoustic guitar.
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It would be nice if all there was to recording was plugging your mic in and playing, but unfortunately it’s not that easy. Before you begin recording even the first note of an acoustic guitar, there are a few steps you should take first.

1. Change Your Strings
It may seem obvious, but putting on a fresh set of strings may help alleviate any potentially problematic issues such as tuning and a lackluster tone. Don’t be lazy about this because unless you’re going for a dull sound, a fresh set of string will make the instrument resonate stronger, and therefore sound better to the microphones placed around it. Recordings are snapshots of time, and you won’t want to listen back after that magic performance and wish you had a clearer, brighter sound because you didn’t change your strings. With an electric guitar, you can compensate slightly for dead strings by turning the treble up on the amp. No such luck when recording an acoustic, unless you choose to run it through an amp, of course. Also, fresh strings will hold the guitar’s tuning longer, which in turn will make for a smoother recording session. You can even put a little graphite from a pencil in the nut slots to let the strings move a bit easier.

Don’t forget to keep wiping your strings down during the session, as the dirt and oil from your fingers, as well as the simple oxidation of the air, will shorten their useful life. The type and thickness of string you use, which will also be dictated by the type of instrument you play, will also alter the tone of your guitar.

2. Tune It Up
Tune your guitar with as precise a tuner as you can get your hands on, and check to see that it’s intonated correctly. You can do this by tuning each string, then playing it’s harmonic at the 12th fret, and then by fretting each string at the 12th fret. All three should register ‘true’ on the tuner. If they don’t, you know your intonation is off a bit, so either fix it first or be prepared to work around it.

3. Listen To The Guitar
Just sit quietly with the instrument and play it for a few minutes. Listen closely for any buzzes on the neck, since they signal positions you want to avoid if it’s an issue that can’t be immediately fixed. Get a good feel for how the instrument really sounds so you can compare it to the recording when you hear it played back.

4. Listen To The Room
Listen to how the guitar resonates in the room you’re playing in. Does it enhance the instrument’s sound? A good room will definitely compliment the sound of an acoustic guitar. Consider whether the room is worth miking. Do a quick check of the room by loudly clapping your hands and listening for any unwanted echoes or reflective ‘pings’. If the room isn’t great, it will dictate the type of mic you choose because you’ll want to pick up less ambience in the recording. However, if the room does sound good but has too much reverb, your sound can end up sounding cloudy and less defined. You can sometimes overcome this by setting up on a rug instead of the hard floor to keep the reflections to a minimum.

A short, bright room sound is best for acoustic guitar recording, especially when it includes any combination of wood, tile and brick. Carpeting will deaden the sound, depending on the thickness, so use it sparingly. To get a woody room tone in a carpeted space, lay down an area of wood tiles, like the kind you find in a hardware store. The sound of the guitar will reflect upwards off the floor, depending on the type of wood and how much you’ve lain down. Having the guitarist face a heavy wooden door is another great trick to get some additional positive reflections, if needed.

In mediocre to poor sounding rooms, consider close-miking close the guitar with a tight cardioid mic to keep the sound focused only on the projection of the instrument. Avoid using omnidirectional mics in poor sounding rooms as the 360-degree recording pattern will capture unwanted room reflections that will not compliment the overall sound.

5. Stand Back From The Instrument
If possible, have someone else play the guitar, using the same technique as you do (pick or fingers), since what you hear from the players’ position is different than what the mics will hear. Close your eyes, move around, and to try to listen for that sweet spot where the guitar sounds best as it’s direct sound combines with the reflections of the room. Is the best sound on the neck, on the body, or both?

Does your instrument resonate better a few feet back or up close? The only way to know is to listen. The results may surprise you, as different acoustic guitars project in different ways. Remember that the soundhole may not always be the best choice for mic placement. All of this listening will help you make suggestions to the engineer (or yourself!).

6. Consider The Guitar’s Part In The Production
Is the part you’re about to track supposed to fit into a dense mix, a sparse mix, or is the guitar to be recorded solo? Discuss this with the engineer/producer ahead of time, as it may dictate not only the type of guitar you choose, but also the amount of mics you select to use on it. The more mics you use, the wider the sonic space you can create in the mix, but this might not be what the song calls for. Do you really need to use stereo mics? If possible, think about the guitar’s place in the mix before you begin.

7. Take Off Your Clothes
Well, at least take off any offensive items such as watches, rings, or jewelry that may bang against the instrument. Also, certain jackets and/or shirts may have buttons that can cause a problem. And no big belt buckles! Big watches are also usually a problem, so don’t forget to take it off before you begin tracking.

Many great takes have had to be redone because of extraneous noise from clothing and jewelry, so remove the problem even before it becomes one.
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The Essence Of Acoustic Guitar Tone

Adirondack Spruce - Ideal For Guitar Tops

Beyond the basic body style, there are quite a number of elements that go into giving an acoustic guitar its sound. Here's an excerpt from The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook (co-authored with Rich Tozzoli), that shows why the kind of wood that the guitar is made from makes such a big difference.
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The size of the instrument, types of strings used, style of picks, finger technique, soundboard, nut material and even the structure of the bracing inside all have an effect on the sound. However, the woods used for the top and body probably are the most important tonal factors involved in the overall sound of a guitar. 

Since most acoustic guitars are primarily made of wood, each will have it’s own sonic character and soul. Rosewood bodied guitars will sound different than mahogany, which will be different than koa. Within a subset of that picture, wood comes in many varieties from countless different parts of the world so even different species of the same wood will sound different when built into the body of a guitar. 

Back And Sides

The most important traits for the back and side wood is that it be both resonant and good at reflecting sound. Rosewood has always been considered the best wood for this because of it’s bass response, with Brazilian rosewood being the most desirable sub-species. It’s hard, dense and resonant, and flavors the tone in a pleasing way as it absorbs the vibrations from the top. The problem is that Brazilian rosewood is now extremely rare and it’s use is restricted, so other types of rosewood are now used instead.

East Indian rosewood isn’t as hard as Brazilian, but it’s the most available and also has a rich bass response, while Cambodian, Amazon, and Madagascar rosewood all have many of the same tonal properties as Brazilian and are sometimes used as a substitute. Tulipwood is also a member of the rosewood family, as is Kingwood, but they both have a problem with availability, quality, and sizes large enough to make guitars from. 

While rosewood makes for wonderful live guitars, they might not be as appropriate in the studio because they may actually have too much bass response. Mahogany, on the other hand, has a very crisp, crystalline and glassine tone that works well for recording because it’s an extremely light wood without the reflectivity of rosewood. However, each type has its strenghts and weaknesses, and both can be successfully used in studio recording situations.

Koa, from Hawaii, is another popular wood for guitar making since it has a density that falls between mahogany and rosewood. Maple has been a traditional choice for violins and many other instruments because it’s extremely hard, but for guitars it doesn’t have the resonance of rosewood and it’s tone is sometimes considered harsh. That can be tempered with the right combination of soundboard wood, however, sometimes resulting in a very projective, powerful sound. Ovankol, which is also called shedua or African teak, isn’t as dense as rosewood so it’s sound is somewhat dark sounding.

The Top

The real job of a top (called the soundboard) is to be light enough to vibrate yet be strong enough to withstand the pull and pressure of the strings. Spruce has the highest strength to weight ratio of any of the woods, which is why it’s a typical choice for a guitar top, although cedar,  redwood, mahogany and koa wood have also been used. None of them are as light as spruce however, so they produce a totally different tone.

Adirondack spruce is known for its great tone but it’s from a protected forest in New York and therefore very rare. Sitka spruce from Alaska is very strong and easily available, so it’s become a popular choice for most guitar tops. Engelmann spruce has a very light weight and produces a very open sound, but because it’s not as strong the others there’s a possible longevity problem, which is also true of cedar. 

Carpathian and Italian alpine spruces from Europe are somewhere between Sitka and Adirondack in their tonality, but they’re also rare so they come at a premium price. 

Mahogany is also sometimes used for the soundboard but it has less projection and fewer overtones than spruce, which produces a punchier sound with less bass.

Figure 10.9 Tonal Qualities Of Various Types of Woods 

Wood Type	Description
Rosewood	Great projection and balanced tone with excellent bass response.
Mahogany	Fewer overtones and less bass than rosewood. Necks are warm sounding.
Spruce	Used for tops because it’s light yet stiff. Good projection and clarity.
Ebony	Used mostly for necks. Lowest projection of all woods used for guitar building.
Koa	Used for soundboards, low projection and lots of mid-range. When ussed for back and sides behaves like mahogany with more mid-range.
Maple	Low projection, few overtones, and sometimes harsh sounding.

You can read additional excerpts from The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook here.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating the music business.