When I watch my videos, I think that my sound is rather "dead", metal-y, no feel, I would want to sound softer and nicer. For example Sausage's recording of Cold Frosty morning has a very nice sound, that I'd like to obtain. Can it be my pick? I always use something at least 0.80 (usually around 0.90 up to 1.0) usually matte finish... what do you guys use? What more can I do to get a softer and nicer sound? Can it be that I play too hard (bad habit from playing in noisy Irish pubs)? Any advice appreciated.
One thing about Old Sausage's recording is he's using a high end mic...unless that's a prop I've seen in his vids. I tend to use a heavier pick, at the very least 1.0. But I've not found the ideal pick for me and I've been reading where some players use different picks for different occasions. Some folks swear by these Blue Chip picks...I think that's the name. They're like $35 US. There's a few others out there that are not as pricey but not always found in any music store. I used to use tortoise shell picks. The tortoise they come from is on the endangered list in the U.S. but they might still be available in Europe as a local music store here used to get them from Germany. But that was back in the 1980s. Though they gave me a great tone and response, they can be brittle and tend not to last long.
I was using a nice mic in Cold Frosty morning, which certainly helps with the sound. I use a Blue Chip pick, the TAD 60, which I really feel makes it much easier to get the tone I want out of a mandolin. I try not to pick too hard, I think it really wrecks my tone. I still pick loud, but not hard. I used to jam a lot more in the past, and I developed a fast and loud technique that was great for jams but just sounds horrible on a recording or if you are on a mic. These days I try very hard to let the mic do the work when I play on stage, but I still pick too hard a lot of the time. Just about all I think about when I'm playing is whether my tone is as good as I can make it. If you are making a good sound, a really good tone, it hardly matters what you play. You can pick slower or pick fewer notes because you don't have anything to hide.
I used a Red Bear medium for most of my videos, although my last one (Cold Frosty Morning) was done with a Blue Chip. I still haven't decided if I like it better or not, but I can hear a difference.
I find that the sound in my videos is kind of "metal-y" vs. the sound on mp3's I've recorded on my Zoom H2 digital recorder. Until I'd recorded the mp3's I had considered that it was my pick (Ultra Light V-pick) but now feel like it's just the mic in the iSight camera. I do find that I get a "softer" tone if I use something like a Pro-Plec 1.5, but the trade off is that my triplets just don't have the snap that I like, so I have to compromise a bit on that front.
There seem to be so many factors involved - mics, technique, monitors, tension, relaxation, etc. I try to let my pick hand float over the strings as I play. Easier done in practice than performance. Hopefully, some day it will all come together. Sometimes it does. I notice how hard or how lightly I hold a pick can affect the tone. The harder I play or hit the strings, the more metal-ly it sounds, too.
I had been using a Red Bear Pick, and was very pleased with it, but bought a Blue Chip TAD40 when I got my new Collings, and I love it!
You get what you pay for, they say.
Every one else in the band that I play with, gives my 'high dollar' picks one try, and are completely unimpressed. They all play with Cool Pick Cat Tongue 1.0 mm which are $.50 picks, and all prefer theirs to mine!
I've been debating getting a blue pick. Yes, they are pretty expensive for what they are. But wait, a pick is like a violin's bow in a way. I'm sure a better pick can be related to a better bow.
I'm planning on ordering a Bluechip TD35, which is the teardrop shaped pick, .89mm thick. It's the lightest one they sell - I'll use the rounded ends, not the pointy end, so it'll be interesting to see what it's like for ITM playing.
i started out with the teardrop shaped picks, and still use that shape in the very thin gauge for my TB, but once I used the larger TAD style pick, I REALLY prefer it!
I'd prefer the larger one too, but unfortunately Bluechip only offer the .89mm gauge in the teardrop shape.
What other Blue Chips have you used? Will be interesting to hear how you like the TD35, and how it compares to others. The only Blue Chip that the store had, when I got mine, was the TAD40, and I really like it. I started out playing with 1.0 mm picks.. never got into any much thicker than that. I know many here use the TAD 50 and even TAD 60, and swear by them.... but I've never tried them, so I don't have a clue! Do love my TAD40 though! You know, I got to thinking, if you take the teardrop shaped pick, but hold it 'cockeyed', with the pointed tip in your grip, it will feel like the larger pick (to that part of your grip) but just be shorter... right? I've never gotten the hang of playing with the more rounded corner of a regular pick, but many do!
I haven't tried any of the Blue Chip picks yet, so I'm looking forward to trying the TD35. I have been using a teardrop shaped Dunlop .96mm, holding the pointy end so the rounded end is the one contacting the strings and it was quite easy to get used to and quite comfortable too.
I recommend practising in the bathroom for feedback on the real sound. If that is ok, anything different on the video must originate in either the mic or the compression process. If normal mp3 recording does sound better than a video over the same mic, work on video sound compression settings (if optimized for bandwidth, those can be more brutal than mp3). Bertram
I don't want to pay lots for a pick because I just lose them. That bathroom trick sounds interesting We just bought a zoom H4 but I don't know how to use it yet. The interface isn't really obvious Anyway I'll try some different picks and see what happens, and try to play softer, since I can't change my video camera mics. I don't think I sounded bad when my aunt filmed our first gig with the same camera, so maybe I was just being tense when recording these.
susiakasinead, I really do not think there is anything wrong with your videos soundwise -- I think the idea of better acoustics of the room you recored in and the recording equipment obviously will improve the sound -- but I record with a $100 RCA video camera (i.e., low end) and considering that when you upload to YouTube they manipulate and compress and sqeeze the life out of it there is only so much you can do. On picks. I used D'Andrea Proplecs for years -- I still use them from time to time - they are fine. Then I tried Dunlop Ultex 1.14 for a while, V-picks (mando and larger size), Red Bears (B's and C'), and now I use the Wegen T-140. They are all good picks. I think the Wegen is the best bang for the buck -- you can get them for around $5 (USD) each and there is no way on earth that a Blue Chip is 6 times better (I have tried one and they are fine picks no doubt -- reminded me most of the Red Bear Trading Co picks -- but I did not get weak knees and faint
Today I actually tried recording in the living room instead, and the sound was much better in there. The problem is I don't know how to get a good camera position there, I have to work on that a little.. as for picks, here in Sweden I never find any fancier than Dunlop, Planet Waves, Ibanez and stuff like that. I think I prefer Planet Waves. I used the Big Stubby (is that dunlop, I don't remember) for a while, but now think it causes too much noise.
A good friend of mine says to stand facing the wall when you play so you can hear the sound that people standing in front of you hear. So maybe next time I film a video my back might be to you as I stand next to the wall...no, wait, I think that would be an even worse visual angle then letting you see my bare knees........LOL
Do y'all remember the Robert Johnson lps? He was a blues singer who recorded only 26 or 27 songs. The cover of the lp shows him facing the corner of room. The lore used to be that he was shy but later on I heard that he got a better sound when recording facing the corner of the room and the mic was behind him or maybe it was two mics, one off to each side. Don't know which of it is true.
My mandolin has had a little illness this spring, since I moved back from Ireland. The air humidity over here is waaaaay lower than in Ireland, and the mandolin didn't like that, it got a horrible condition and I phoned the builder in panic and was told it would be ok He told me to raise the bridge and expose it to humidity, so I put it in a room with a water boiler that I put on several times a day, and some big green plants..... after 2 weeks it was better and after some month it seemed to be back to normal, now it is doing fine, and yesterday I actually tried to lower the bridge a little. It worked fine, and it may help the tone a bit... I'm not sure, do you think having the bridge too high can give a bad tone?
A higher bridge usually gives better tone and volume. However, it also raises the action which makes fingering harder... it's a trade-off.
Wegen Picks are on the expensive side ($6.00 ea). But they're worth EVERY penny! Get some. you won't regret it. Chris
I like the Golden Gate picks.
I've been a Dawg pick user for the past few years, except for a brief diversion when I got a pack of Wegen M150's for the extra volume boost they provided. When I got my Collings I went back to the Dawg, because I had plenty of volume with it and the Wegen sounded too harsh. But I recently got a Red Bear Mondo-Heavy, and it sounds very nice and is my current got-to pick (don't think I used it in any videos yet). I'd like to try a Blue Chip, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
