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Red Haired Boy / sound test
A test recording using pick-ups on my instruments for the first time.
Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 (1 votes) 
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KindaScratchy
Massachusetts
January 12, 2014 - 8:51 pm
Member Since: March 14, 2012
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My new video/audio recording system now includes a pick-up plugged into the wireless mic transmitter. I tried it today on my fiddle, mandolin and guitar by recording my most recently memorized tune: Red Haired Boy. I mixed the tracks in Adobe Premiere CS6.

I'll be interested to hear if folks think the sound quality is better than my previous videos. This is a test of the quality of the recording rather than the quality of my playing, but critiques of that are welcome, too. :) I know I play RHB much slower than it's typically played -- and I can play it a little faster -- but this is as fast as I can play it without mistakes while recording.

http://youtu.be/TwUvadslc6c

When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,

I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.

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LyleA
Little Rock, AR

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January 12, 2014 - 9:24 pm
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Great playing, Scratchy!  I like that song a lot, and it's nice to see a multi-talented person show off.

A few suggestions about the recording:

I only hear it coming through the left channel and not my right.  So, assuming my speaker hasn't suddenly gone out and that you didn't intend for this to happen, you should either re-export the audio track as stereo with both channels working or down-mix to mono.  There is really no reason for stereo in this situation unless you specifically set up your gear for it and are utilizing it in your playing.  But this really isn't addressing your sound quality, just a technical glitch.

I think your track could benefit greatly from a Parametric EQ effect added and adjusting certain frequencies to bring back some of the sounds tonal quality.  I am pretty sure that Premiere has one in the audio effects tab, but I'm not at work to check it out so I can't be certain (I will look tomorrow.)  I can't really tell you specifics on how to adjust the settings, but I say just toss the effect on and begin making adjustments.  If you have a good sound system at home you will be able to tell when you are doing things right.  If not, some quality over the ear headphones will work.

 

 

Never mind maneuvers, just go straight at them.

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StoneDog
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January 12, 2014 - 9:28 pm
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I liked that > I liked it a lot > I particularly liked the bluesy Slurs on the viddle > you did about 4 of them > They were SWEET!!!! >

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Feathers
Colorado, USA
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January 12, 2014 - 9:28 pm
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It sounds good, but a bit more treble-ish than in your other videos?

I compared it with your Josefin's Waltz video and noticed 2 differences:

Note - I have surround sound on my PC.

The Waltz video I had coming through both left, right, and center speakers, and it sounded fuller, and more even tone. 

Current video, only coming through the left and middle speaker, with slightly less fullness to the overall sound.

I hope that helps.

Your playing was great as usual BTWsmile

"Music is what feelings sound like." ~ Author Unknown

 

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Raywells
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January 12, 2014 - 9:51 pm
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Hi Diane; I like the tune and your versatility, the others may be right about the sound location. I wonder if the mic is too close to the instruments, I think I can hear the pick clicks with the mando and guitar because at first I thought I was listening to a metronome and I thought there was too much bow hiss from the violin but perhaps this to is related to the microphone location. Hope this observation is some help.

Ray

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Shell
Montreal
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January 12, 2014 - 9:55 pm
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Wow so cool.  Beautifully played and great set up and mixing!

Blogging my beginner journey and progress...Diary of a Fumbling New Violinist:  http://learningviolin.ca/

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
January 13, 2014 - 11:32 am
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16429

Great job Diane :-)

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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StoneDog
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January 13, 2014 - 11:33 am
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Ok > listened to it again and as Feathers said > only hear it out of 1 speaker > I was just using a single ear plug before. And it is a bit tinny sounding > the audio needs tweaked . But as always I LOVE your playing.

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HDuaneaz
Chandler, Arizona

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January 13, 2014 - 1:36 pm
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It sounded nice.

Duane

 

"Violin is one of the joys of my life."

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fiddlinsteudel
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January 13, 2014 - 8:04 pm
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Great playing! Loved all the different point of views. 

Re: sound, I think maybe one of the instruments was too "hot", I thought I could hear a little bit of it overloading, maybe it was the fiddle.

Wish I had a wireless pickup!

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KindaScratchy
Massachusetts
January 13, 2014 - 8:56 pm
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Thanks everyone. That's the kind of feedback I was looking for...how you experienced the audio. I knew about and grappled with the left-right channel issue.

I thought I had finally found the correct export setting in Premiere, but I guess not. It's funny that when I listened to the mpeg2 file before uploaded it, it came through both sides but after the upload it was back to one side only. Guess I've still got a lot to learn about audio.

@Raywells : regarding mic placement...I used a pick-up on each of the instruments. You can't get any closer than that. :) This was my first experience using a pick-up so I'm not sure whether I placed it in the optimal place for each instrument. I'll have to read up and experiment with that.

I'm playing around with settings in Premiere right now, per the suggestions above and will likely repost another version. If you can stand to listen to it again, I'd appreciate opinions on whether it's better.

Please stay tuned (so to speak) and thanks again!

When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,

I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.

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KindaScratchy
Massachusetts
January 13, 2014 - 9:18 pm
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OK, I've exported it with the mono audio setting. Here's the result. Please let me know if you hear it out of both speakers/ears. That's the only difference between this and the previous video.

http://youtu.be/Er6Ea-aq7iA

@LyleA : I found the Parametric EQ audio effect in Premiere. I'm not quite sure what to do with it but will play around with the settings and see if anything helps.

I figured it would be good to work on one variable at a time, so thought I'd start with the mono setting, which was the simplest thing, and move on to more complex settings.

When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,

I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.

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StoneDog
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January 13, 2014 - 9:45 pm
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I got it out of both sides that time > you do this thing @ 0.21 and @ 0.39 and @ 0.56 and @ 1.14 that is SOooo cool on the viddle > SWEETness.

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wookieman
Tennessee, USA
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January 13, 2014 - 11:12 pm
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Only one thing to say:   mix_master-1255

There is no failure, only results.

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Feathers
Colorado, USA
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January 13, 2014 - 11:47 pm
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That's better. I have it in both speakers now too, as well as my other 3. thumbs-up

"Music is what feelings sound like." ~ Author Unknown

 

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KindaScratchy
Massachusetts
January 15, 2014 - 8:34 pm
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OK, I've worked out some of my technical issues.

1. The channel problem was due to the wrong kind of adapter on the connection between the wireless receiver and the camera. I needed a mono to stereo adapter. Now that I have that, the sound comes through both the right and left channels at the same volume.

2. The pick up I'm using is fine for the fiddle and mando, but it's not really right for a guitar. So, I boosted the bass in the editing process. I think that helps, but I'm going to get the right kind of pick up for future videos.

3. Even though the mic input was mono, by using the mono-stereo adapter, I was ultimately able to export it as stereo, which resulted in a fuller sound.

So, I shot another video of the same tune with the same instruments. Apologies if you're getting tired of this tune; I know I am...but I thought it was the best way to compare sound quality.

http://youtu.be/fFw5Ohx6brc

Here's the previous mono version for comparison:

http://youtu.be/Er6Ea-aq7iA

And here's the original version, which only came through one speaker/ear for most folks:

http://youtu.be/TwUvadslc6c

Personally, I think the difference is noticeable. I'm interested to hear what you think.

When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,

I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.

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RockingLR33
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January 15, 2014 - 10:38 pm
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what an awesome setup! how much fun that must be to use :D and you are sounding awesome! maybe someday i'll be on your level. i didint' know you could play so many instruments! i'm really looking forward to seeing more videos :D  

Lead me, Follow me, or get out of my way!

             ~General George S. Patton

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fiddlinsteudel
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January 17, 2014 - 12:22 am
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That sounds waaaay better. I still think the fiddle might be too hot, and on certain notes on the E string I think I hear it fuzzing a little. But for 99 percent of it it sounds great!

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KindaScratchy
Massachusetts
January 18, 2014 - 8:02 pm
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Thanks for the additional feedback, @RockingLR33 and @FiddleDetroit ! It's amazing what a 65 cent adapter (it was on clearance at Radio Shack) can do.

I'm sure the sound isn't perfect...it's not exactly a professional recording studio, but the set-up is better than what I was using before, which was just using the built-in mic on my camera. In future videos, I'll play around more with mixing and effects in the software.

After listening to it some more, I think my synchronization was off just a tad, but that's an editing issue.

Making these videos is educational; I'm learning more about video and audio recording and editing.

 

When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,

I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.

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