[Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 79, Issue 49

[Sean Murphy <taser8@xxxxxxxxx>]

I recently recorded a track for a song my dinky garage band was laying
down (note: we are rank beginners!) and was really dismayed by the
results. For starters, despite many attempts to get it down right, my
playing was just not what anyone would call good. But beyond that, the
quality of the recording was really wretched - it has a very AM radio
quality.

I set up like I did with my guitar: ran my bullet mic into my Fender
amp, then mic'ed the amp, straight into the recorder. No matter what I
did I ended up with a really kind of thin, tinny sound with none of
the full richness I hear on harmonica recordings.

I have been advise by my instructor (Hi Michael!) that I should not
expect professional-quality results from a dinky home-recording setup,
but I know I got much better sound quality from all the other
instruments and from the vocals.

So my question is, are there any general guidelines for setting up to
record harmonica? Some good basic do's and don'ts? I know it's highly
situational, but any general advice would be great...

Sean

>
> I've been playing harmonica in recording studios since about 1965... That's
>  a Long time. I don't think I EVER have been 100% satisfied with ANYTHING I
> have  ever recorded. I know I could most always have done it better in one
> way or  another.