Stereo Pair/Mic, to add to AKG C414 B-ULS for Classical Guitar

H

Him

New member
Hi there

I've always been very happy with my AKG 414 B-ULS as a solo classical guitar mic, within a foot or so of the guitar. I've used it live too, with an AER compact 60, to decent effect! I'm sure technology has moved on, but it will do for now, as the main source.

Now I want to make stereo recordings, by adding a stereo mic or stereo pair a few more feet back, capturing the acoustic and also allowing me to mix the perceived distance of the listener from the guitar. It needs to go into a standard mixer - ie not a USB mic.

If I've grasped the information in the 'stickys' correctly, perhaps I need small diaphragm condensers, for their accuracy and excellent ability to capture sound from a multitude of directions.

Please can you suggest a fairly inexpensive pair (or even a single stereo mic?) for the job - especially if you know it to be nice with nylon strings. Ideally as far under $250 or £200 as possible for the whole job. Many cheap mics used to sound terrible with nylon strings - almost steel-like. I'm hoping you're going to tell me things have improved, or that their use in the mix here (with a large condenser already on the guitar) will mean I can get away with a fairly low-cost option... but I'm sure you'll let me know!

Thanks
Graham
 
I use a pair of Rode M3... they work very well in near or medium distance recordings - not the best for distant miking purposes. They're very reasonably priced, as well.
 
elbandito said:
I use a pair of Rode M3... they work very well in near or medium distance recordings - not the best for distant miking purposes. They're very reasonably priced, as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Do you mean you've used it with classical guitar, specifically? In any case, I appreciate the recommendation.

Listening to some online clips, the M3 sounds less bright and radiant than the more expensive NT3. However, the worst mics I've heard on Nylon strings (such as the AKG c1000 a few years ago) tend to sound too tinny, which can come with brightness. So maybe a slight lack of brightness isn't necessarily bad, for my application.

I realise these are all very subjective terms, and just my perception!
 
Him said:
Thanks. Do you mean you've used it with classical guitar, specifically? In any case, I appreciate the recommendation.

Listening to some online clips, the M3 sounds less bright and radiant than the more expensive NT3. However, the worst mics I've heard on Nylon strings (such as the AKG c1000 a few years ago) tend to sound too tinny, which can come with brightness. So maybe a slight lack of brightness isn't necessarily bad, for my application.

I realise these are all very subjective terms, and just my perception!
Click to expand...

No, I haven't used it with classical guitar, so I can't really comment on how they would sound with nylon strings. The M3 is definitely less bright than the NT3 but that's actually the reason why I like them. I've got far too many super bright mics. They're quite flat in their frequency response, for what that's worth. They're also rugged and do a great job whenever I need them to. Definitely worth a try, imo.
 
Just a bit left field, why not put a single fat head style ribbon mic up about 3 to 5 feet away and blend this with the stereo pair. I tried this during preproduction for a classical guitar album a few weeks ago and it sound very interesting. Added a kind of dark room sound but brought the guitar to life in a realistic way.

Alan.
 
Well, obviously for around only £140 I like the idea of getting the job done with two Rode M3 mics - if they do turn out to be good. I know where I might be able to borrow a couple before buying, to test, so I'll definitely do that at least.

As for the idea of getting a second 414 instead, and just using a 2-mic arrangement: what are the views on that (for solo classical guitar, trying to capture the acoustics of the room too) rather than a stereo pair further back with a bigger condenser close up (3-mics)?

The second option would probably cost me twice as much, though...?
 
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