Recording issue

[Guitarski]

Hello!

I was wondering if there's a way to eliminate from a recording the sound of your fingers sliding across the strings.

Thanks/regards
Guitarski

 

[Empros]

How loud is it? I like that sound, unless it's the loudest thing in a mix... It shouldn't be that noticeable with drums and stuff going on.

 

[Guitarski]

Well, it's clearly audible. It has its charm, but getting old. You hear it in acoustic guitar recordings, but you don't normally hear it in electric guitars, so there must be a way.

 

[Seance]

Hmm. Could try dampening it down by lowering some of the high frequencies.
But EQing it out you might also lose some good stuff too (high end sparkle, presence
and definition).

Try re-recording it with a guitar strung up with flatwound strings?

Or try to embrace the finger sliding noise as a stylistic element, and try to use it
intentionally as an effect while playing the part. Think of it as like breathing while
singing. If you control when it happens, then it feels organic.

 

[Guitarski]

All good points.
It makes me wonder if maybe I'm having this issue because I tend to play the electric like an acoustic, with 6-string chords, that's 3x the noise.
I'm certainly embracing it, but it can also be interpreted as sounding amateurish.

 

[Bob Womack]

Switch to Elixer Polyweb strings for recording. They've got a coating that reduces the squeak a lot.

Bob

 

[Empros]

One thing I like to do if the string sliding noise gets too much in the way of the music, is rearrange what I'm playing. I'll move chords around so I don't have to slide my hand up. Maybe try that? You could also try changing your tuning to experiment with open strings and cut down on moving your hand around.

EQing will only get you so far before you start affecting the tone itself. Gonna be very difficult to get out unless you record it without it. Good luck!

 

[thisday1]

Agreed with Empros, rearrange your part to avoid finger sliding. Also flatwound strings will get rid of it, but you may get a tone that you aren't quite used to.

 

[TomVanDeven]

Switch to Elixer Polyweb strings for recording. They've got a coating that reduces the squeak a lot.

Bob

Exactly my suggestion. The best strings for acoustic guitars!

 

[phazersonstun]

Some good suggestions here. Coated strings will indeed help a bit.
One thing that works well for me instead of re-voicing my chords is more of a lifting motion in the fret hand fingers instead of sliding.

I'll dampen with my picking hand & quickly lift my fret hand fingers whenever possible.
I realize this isn't always practical. Figuring out the fingering to use while switching from one chord to the next that provides the best economy of motion helps too.

The less motion, the less opportunity for squeaky squeak.

 

[kldonegan]

The acoustic guitar trick is baby powder on your hands/strings. It might work for electric, too.

 

[TC5]

GHS Fast Fret is good for that. It's a string cleaner and lubricant.

http://www.ghsstrings.com/accessories/category/ghs-lubricants-and-cleaners

 

[TwinkleDaddy]

I've been having this same issue. I"m def going to try out some of these techniques. Thanks!

 

[jurfin]

i have actually cranked my mics and played super quietly to emphasize the squeaking - it can be great for certain circumstances.

i read about a guy that dipped his fingertips in water to prevent the squeak. this will kill your strings quickly though.

 

[Guitarski]

A lot of good suggestions indeed, thanks so much. The baby powder sounds appropriate in my case anyway and a low tech solution which I will try the next session. Finding chordal alternatives would do it, but I like the parallel movement of the CAGED scheme.
Do flatwound strings sounds like nickel wound strings? That would be bad, in my book.
Doesn't the lubricant make things a bit....slippery?
In any case, it sounds like a solvable problem, thanks again.

 

[jcoriha]

Technique
Flatwound strings.
Mic placement
Less compression

 

[Nota]

- Just play G and C9, all the other guitarists do No, you can't play Em. Just those two chords.

- Yes, mic placement!

- Low-pass filters

 

[drbob1]

Biggest thing is making sure that the acoustic sounds of your guitar playing don't get into the mic: turn up the amp, stand well away from the mic, turn down the preamp, don't compress on the way in...

If your amplifier is actually amplifying the finger movements, check your setup. Higher action may cause the strings to "clatter" against the frets, as will stainless frets. String composition also makes a difference here with nickel I think being brighter and noisier.

I think most experienced electric players spend much of their time VERY lightly damping the strings with the left hand (unless you've got a part you want to ring out specifically) which tends to pretty much eliminate string sliding noise thru the amplifier.

 

[kevinhifi]

If it's in the track and doing another take isn't an option, a painstaking and thorough job of zooming in on the waveform and cutting out the bad parts, followed by fading in/out around the cut sections, would be the last resort. If it's mixed with a full band, you can do this without it feeling unnatural.

 

[Guitarski]

Kevinhifi is right. The noises are clearly visible in the waveform and can be eliminated easily.
I'm in the DAW for hours every day, manipulating waveforms all the time, but this obvious solution didn't come to me.
If it had, I would have missed out on this entertaining AND informative thread. Thanks to all posters.