Any tips for acoustic guitar "finger noise".

Hmmm, Rocko, I'm pretty sure that there's something, almost like a gate(?) that you can use. I had the same problem with one of my tracks, and I just re-recorded with better strings (I used those Elixer coated puppies). But, I'm pretty sure there's something else you can do, though you may have to sacrafice some of your tone. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will but in their 2-cents; I'd like to know too just in case.

This is one of the reasons for the popularity of the common micing technique of placing a cardioid mic about mid-neck and aiming it at the 12th fret. It tends to pick up less finger-squeak.

Fresh strings help, always a good idea anyway when recording acoustic guitar because you want to start out bright - you can always take bright out but you can't put it in. If you start with a nice bright tone you can then treat squeaks the same way you treat ess-y vocals, using a multiband compressor.

You can also use a spray lubricant like Finger-Ease. That'll help, too, although some swear it's evil. When I used it regularly it seemed to cause strings to go dead out faster.

Ultimately, you gotta accept that 1) it's part of the performance and you wouldn't want to completely eliminate it anyway, and 2) the only way to really stop it is by improved playing technique.

(I never mastered that technique of precisely lifting and setting the fingers, but then I've never pretended to be a guitarist. Except when faking it with keyboards - come to think of it, I have synth patches for acoustic guitar that include finger squeaks, so there you go!)

#1- get a really out-of-key singer to bellow over those parts of the track
#2- rename the track adventures in a distasteful sitarist

not much you can do with that once the track is recorded, though Audition I believe actually has a spectral plug-in that claims to have a specific preset where you highlight the noise area with a rectangle: BOOM, problem eliminated...

string noise or yes finger noise is a common issue that classical guitarists wrestle with all the time, & as bitflipper aptly pointed
out the higher end guitarists actually take this into consideration when chording their notes, the rest use gadgets such as coated strings, sprays(sic), and the better of the three, flat-wound strings are a fascinating route to explore
http://adobe.groupbrowser.com/archive/t-7204.html

why can't he come back?..... hope it's not the dreaded guitarist's ego....
oh mercy

-JD

from a recent post on a guitar forum: "Hope a bass string question is okay on the guitar forum... i've played with compression wound strings and flats mostly. i like the mellower sound and less fret noise of the above strings, but am still searching for a string that provides this but has a somewhat uneven surface...."

here's the forum: http://www.daddario.com/Discuss/Default.aspx

You can apply a volume envelope to the track, add nodes around each squeak, and create a little 'valley' for each one - reduce the volume enough so they are still just audible. I've done this a couple of times, it works fine, if a little laborious.

ORIGINAL: bitflipper

come to think of it, I have synth patches for acoustic guitar that include finger squeaks, so there you go!)

that's true!! That says a lot right there :) lol

ORIGINAL: jay_zhead

If you have Ozone, you should try that. If you don't have Ozone... then why don't you have Ozone?!..

Okay, that's it! I keep hearing nothing but good things about this Ozone I gotta' get it!

ORIGINAL: jamesg1213

You can apply a volume envelope to the track, add nodes around each squeak, and create a little 'valley' for each one - reduce the volume enough so they are still just audible. I've done this a couple of times, it works fine, if a little laborious.

I've found this to work really well and effectively! I was actually surprised with how good it sounded. Here's the process I used:

*listen to the track, and with scrub & slice tool in hand. Slice the squeaks into their own
clips.

*highlight the clip, right click and select "add nodes around selection". I'm using Sonar 7.

*Then just lower accordingly. It really didn't take that long actually. I'm happy now :)



Thank you everyone for the excellent suggestions and tips!! This thread has turned into an excellent resource for "fing noise"
Rocko

+1 what Larry sez, but also... just move the mic back a bit further. As far as "fixing in the mix", I'd rather have a hot poker jammed in my eye.

Hey Krizrox,
I'm with you man. I used the Elixirs along with FingerEase spray so that the frets and the back of the neck is really slick. I find that my hand seem to slide right to the proper notes without what a friend calls "zeeeek.' I'm officially zeeekless and loving it.

later,
Chipstar

ORIGINAL: bitflipper
You can also use a spray lubricant like Finger-Ease. That'll help, too, although some swear it's evil. When I used it regularly it seemed to cause strings to go dead out faster.

Rub the outside of your nose, your forehead or run your fingers through your hair for a quick, light oiling before your take. HTH.

Edit.

Well good then! I only have your best interests at heart. If it were me I'd let your band's guitarist re-record the part, correctly, and tell the original guy it was his part that you fixed.

Sneaky, I am. He he.

ORIGINAL: j boy

A professional would never accept a flawed take and then polish the turd. Wouldn't happen. It's a bad habit to get into. I find it really hard to believe that if the project is worth the effort you can't re-track a part. What, did the guitarist lose his arm in an accident? If the project is worth the effort then re-take the flawed part. Simple as that.

Agreed but you're assuming we always have control over such things when in fact, sometimes we don't. I've learned to be diplomatic about such things - especially when the client is paying me to do whatever it takes to make it right.

Oddly enough, this very same issue came up last night!!!! I was in a mixing session with a band that had recorded here back in June. We were revisiting these older tracks when we noticed finger squeek problems with a couple of electric guitar tracks. One of them was easy to fix, the other was not. Both guitarists had differing styles of playing which I guess accounted for the difference in finger noise. The problem with the second track was that the guitarist was sliding his hand while also fingerpicking some hi notes. The squeeks were long enough in duration to go over the top of a bunch of other notes. You couldn't really isolate just the squeek noise. We ultimately ended up just EQ'ing the problem until it was not as annoying (still there, just not as annoying). I tried to talk them into retracking but they were lazy (I guess). For some reason we just missed it at the time of the original session. In the heat of the moment, sometimes you just gloss over that kind of stuff.

I'm with you Asseli....I actually LIKE hearing the ZEEK of string noise - to a certain degree.

At times it can be very annoying if it's TOO loud.

I've successfully recorded certain changes to different tracks so as to avoid the movement of the hand. Say your progression is F/G/A/C, you could possibly lay down the F and A on one pass, and the G and C on a second pass - removing the movement from F to G - and possibly the ZEEK from that particular switch. (Or whatever the problem area is for your particular player in question.)

May or may not work for you depending on the feel of the song and the ability of the player to "get it" or adapt.

I just thought of one thing reading this thread. Some MIDI-philes would KILL or pay a lot of money to have those squeaks in their "guitar" tracks.

Having some gives your music that organic feel that so much of todays recorded/electronic music lacks.

Copter,

In defense of the OP, he was talking about fixing someone else's tracking, not his own.

Unless the squeek is out of control, I personally think the sound is fine. Why don't you post a link so we can hear it?