Recording singing guitarist

davecg321

New member
I'm using a NT1a to track my vocals and a rode m3 to record acoustic guitar.

Now, the NT1a perfectly isolates the vocal with very little guitar bleed (I'm playing and singing standing up to increase the distance from both mics/sources)

What compromises this is the guitar Mic. It picks up way too much vocal spill no matter where I position it, I've tried it on the 12th fret, bridge and soundhole, all at varying distances.

Basically I'm looking for a more suitable Mic, I was thinking of perhaps using a sm57 as I've heard that this isolates sounds better, albeit at the expense of some detail being lost.

This only seems to be a problem with my vocal as I've recorded other people using the same setup with no problem. I tend to play delicate fingerstyle stuff with raspy/louder vocals, hence why I'm having issues (I think)

Any other Mic recommendations/techniques would be great

Thanks

D
 
Dynamic mics do not "isolate sound better" they are just as stupid as every other operating principle.

What you need is a figure 8 mic pattern and have the null aimed at the gob. This almost always means a ribbon mic and they tend to be very expensive but I have found the MXL R144-HE and that is only about a third more than an SM57. The sensitivity is at -56dB/V/Pa about the same as the 57.

Dave.
 
If your room is well treated, so your voice is not bouncing around all over the room, aiming the mic down towards the guitar, at least 45º should help keep your voice from hitting the main area of that mic's pickup pattern in full force. If you can't make that mic work, I'd hesitate to suggest any other. If your voice is reflecting everywhere, i.e., an untreated room, that's a problem.

If you can't make those 2 mics work, then here's some things I'd try, rather than buying another mic:
  • learn to dial your singing back when trying to record both acoustically
  • do the guitar and vocal separately, as [MENTION=190964]arcaxis[/MENTION] suggests
  • if the guitar has a built in pickup, track that too and sum it with the mic'd track
  • just record with a single microphone placed closer to the guitar
 
Get a contact microphone if you don't have a pickup!

'A contact microphone, also known as a pickup or a piezo, is a form of microphone that senses audio vibrations through contact with solid objects. Unlike normal air microphones, contact microphones are almost completely insensitive to air vibrations but transduce only structure-borne sound. Often used as acoustic leakage ...'

You can make one for under 10 bucks! You just need an xlr connector, xlr cable and a piezo transducer. Quick solder and you'll have a very useful tool!

Cheers,
Lewis
 
A contact mic is excellent for isolation and notorious for sounding terrible! Great for live sound where if noise comes out, you've won. They make a 1000 pound Taylor sound like an 80 Maplins! Even the Martin jack plug output produces a sound very different (but maybe nicer?) than a mic.

There are some good suggestions here - Dave's ribbon solution is a good one, using the null, and you can use the same technique to help the vocal mic - but it's less effective because the guitar isn't a point source - so the vocal mic just needs to be in very close - maybe an RE20 right on the lips?

If you need absolute isolation to perhaps let you do some editing - moving the vocal about a bit in time - then you need to record both as a guide and then replace them. If spill is minimal and there will be no comping or editing, then live with the spill - it rarely spoils the end result.
 
I'm using a NT1a to track my vocals and a rode m3 to record acoustic guitar.

Now, the NT1a perfectly isolates the vocal with very little guitar bleed (I'm playing and singing standing up to increase the distance from both mics/sources)

What compromises this is the guitar Mic. It picks up way too much vocal spill no matter where I position it, I've tried it on the 12th fret, bridge and soundhole, all at varying distances.

Basically I'm looking for a more suitable Mic, I was thinking of perhaps using a sm57 as I've heard that this isolates sounds better, albeit at the expense of some detail being lost.

This only seems to be a problem with my vocal as I've recorded other people using the same setup with no problem. I tend to play delicate fingerstyle stuff with raspy/louder vocals, hence why I'm having issues (I think)

Any other Mic recommendations/techniques would be great

Thanks

D

Just plug in his guitar.
 
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