ORIGINAL: j boy

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.

haha. I like the way you think!

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.

flying through this thread i would say everyone is right with his helpful advices.
Being a (classical) guitarist myself i can say that avoiding "finger-or fret noise" can achieved by playing in a special technique which everybody could learn to some extent (practizing, practizing....) The main thing is that guitar strings are normally not "flat-wound" so it's natural to have some noise when moving your left hand fingers. but here comes this technique into the game : it's how you leave the string with your finger: do it (even when you're playing fast)in an angle of 90 degrees and then move to the next note. Most players move in a degree like , let's say 30, to get the next tone as soon as possible, but this tiny movement scratches your finger just a little over the string and: "squeek" the sound comes up! Other colleagues play for recording sessions with extra nylon strings which are flat wounded (don't remember the brand's name).
But: Let's stop and think for a while.....is it not this little 'unperfection' of an "analog" instrument which is so attractive to our ears? Well, i would miss something never hearing that typical "zeeeeky" sound of a guitar again.
just my 2(euro)cents
all the best for 2008
Michael

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.

And don't forget. Sometimes effects can amplify squeak.

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.

but he is very lazy when it comes to re-doing guitar parts

and lifting his fingers, apparently - it's 90% technique really. The remaining 10% (if that) is, as remarked, spice.

Same with learning to play slide and muting the strings again in time. Try removing *that* from a mix, you'll freak out.

Hope he does not drag his feet, too...

Copter,

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

Not blaming the OP, just taking a jibe at the guitar player. But laziness it is, of course. And 'can't be re-recorded' only applies to dead people.

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?