Fingernail clicks when recording :(

[Samilyn]

Arghhh.......getting a sound that's too clean when I record, which makes it sound dirty. I can hear the clicking of my nails on the strings. Recording with git directly plugged into my MR8, p'up is a K&K Pure Western. Not sure how to cope with this, short of having hubby take time to clean up the tracks in ProTools.

 

Any ideas or suggestions?

[magmadeth]

Depends on what kind of clicks. Now, I'm not smart or anything, but from what I understand, flatwound strings help reduce noise when your hand is sliding across the strings. Give 'em a try?

[Samilyn]

Depends on what kind of clicks. Now, I'm not smart or anything, but from what I understand, flatwound strings help reduce noise when your hand is sliding across the strings. Give 'em a try?

 

Thanks. I love flatwound strings, but can rarely afford them. However, slide noise and string squeak isn't the problem.

 

I should clarify....

 

I'm a fingerpicker and the clicks are coming from my right hand, my picking hand, not my fretting hand.

[DarkHorseJ27]

I've noticed a similar thing when I play my acoustic amplified if I haven't plugged in for a while. I've found that for me it corrects itself after a bit of practice through an amp. That is why I made it a point to practice through an amp when I had one. It is like a magnifying glass, for both good and bad, and it uncovers small problems such as those and forces me to fix them.

[blue2blue]

For acoustic guitar, I always try to use a mic. To my tastes, it's a very, very rare pick-up/transducer that can capture the kind of natural sound I like. (And I can't afford any of those I've come across that do. )

 

Electrifying acoustic seems to exaggerate some overtones I'd rather do without. Now, that might or might not include the sounds you're having problems with.

 

That said, I have a slightly different finger picking problem... I often find that the brushing of my fingertips across the string before the nail connects create a less-than-ideal noise... Maybe if I used a pick up...

 

And all that said, I've found, particularly on my (relatively new) 000, that I sometimes pluck my strings (with my nails) too hard and get a nasty sort of resonance.

[LeonardScaper]

As a fellow fingerpicker I struggle with this issue myself......as well as all those other guitar noises. That old Kalamazoo of mine is a noisy beast.

 

I have learned to use it to my advantage a bit....by way of playing technique. If you are going to play this way I guess you just need to develop a 'nail conciousness'. I use the edges of my pointer nail to get a certain percusiveness and try to keep the rest out of the picture. I'm not saying that there are nail clippings on the floor of the studio, but......

 

When I fail at that.......I usually do......I automate an EQ cut on the guitar track to mitigate things.

 

 

EDIT:

Just checked out a couple of your originals....nice. From what I hear it seems as though your nails are important. Still thinking EQ automation.....carefully applied. Nice looking Guild.

[SnorkelMonkey]

Combination of playing technique, mike placement, and a touch of eq on the board.

[OldGuitarPlayer]

I can't offer any solutions but I thought this might make you smile.

 

[video=youtube;gTpHctk1rMs]

[g6120]

I use a mic to record and prefer to use flesh rather than nails. Never could get used to fingernails while playing. Still fingernail clicking is a problem for me but it really stems from the fact that I'm a sloppy player. By that I mean I play by instinct and gut feel.

It's just the method that works for me. So as I flail away my fingernails hit my pickguard.

 

I've tried thinking about this as I play and trying not to do it however this just messes me up.

The minute I start to think about what I'm playing and how it's over for me.

So I've learned to accept the fingernail clicking as part of the package. Some have even said they like my "percussive" playing style (as if I plan it that way...lol). I just tend to hit the guitar hard is all. Maybe a padded pickguard would work...lol.

 

Seriously though there have been recording where the clicking was too loud. I don't know of any easy way to eliminate the noise but I have found that editing the wave file the clicks show up as sharp and high spikes. It takes a lot of time but you can go through and lower volume on all those individual peaks. That will dampen the click enough I have found. A Lot of work though. I've learned to accept clicking as part of my style.

[garthman]

Hey Sam. Dig out your emeryboard and gently file the edges of your nails into a nice rounded semicircular bevel. After that it's down to technique.

[MDR]

I have a recording of the Montreal jazz singer Karen Young on which her only accompaniment is a double bass, played by Michel Donato. Donato produces some interesting sounds using the nails on his plucking hand; it adds a percussive "click" to the otherwise sparse track.

[baldbloke]

How about filing the nails down so they just take effect and no more. It tends to work, more or less, for me. I say more or less, 'cos tbh I don't pay an awful lot of attention to it. But I do know if I leave them too long, they make the strings sound over bright and percussive like you say.

[Samilyn]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and tips. Sorry it's taken me so long to reply - been under the weather lately.

 

I don't wear "girlie" fingernails - darn things just get in the way. Mine are well groomed, but pretty short. I do like a well-defined picking sound because so much of my music is built around fingerpicked guitar track(s).

 

Thanks to the advice/tips you've given me, I'm slowly-but-surely resolving the issue by filing my nails a bit shorter than I'm accustomed to wearing, altering my technique (lots of practice needed!) and adding a EQ to my signal chain to soften the clicking sound to the point that it doesn't bug me.