recording vocals and acoustic guitar together

gordone

Well-known member
Hello,
I've been lurking for about a month and finally decided to ask a question(s)
I record folk music, mainly acoustic guitar and voice, sometimes a banjo or piano part.
I am currently trying to put together a nice sounding 'demo' to showcase my songwriting.

My recording set-up:
AT-4033 for vocals
TOA small-diagphram condenser for guitar (either strummed or fingerpicked) pointed ~ 6 inches from 14th fret
(this mic doesn't exist anymore, but it's similar to an SM-81)
mics into an Aphex 107 pre.
I then go into the AUX inputs on an MD4S.

I then mix down to WAV and burn CDs

Questions: (or ramblings)
I would really prefer to record the vocals and guitar at the same time, but my guitar bleeds too
much into the AT. This didn't happen (nearly as much) when I used an SM-58 for vocals. The AT is uni-directional,
would another patterned mic help with the bleeding? I also looked at the C3000,
would this have been a better choice? I have the option to exchange the AT if I don't like it.

However, I do get an interesting 'stereo' effect when the guitar is picked up by both mics,
but I would rather have the vocal and guitar remain on their own tracks. I run into eq problems
trying to get a setting on the vocal track which sounds good for the vocal and the bleeding guitar.

I did get a great true stereo sound with my Taylor 710 (no vocals)
I had the AT in front of the sound hole (~ 8 inches) and the TOA pointed towards the 10th
fret to pick up 'fingerboard noise' I then blended the two tracks with some EQ and panning
and it sounded really good.

Would you then recommend doing the above mic configuration to record the guitar parts first
and then adding the vocals with the AT? How do the pro's do it? Like I said in the beginning
I would rather do them together because I am free to improvise on the arrangements/structure etc..
Thanks a lot for your replies, I really enjoy reading this bulletin board!

-Evan Gordon
(but my friends call me gordone)
 
Hey Gordone:

Recording one track at a time gives you the power to do the EQ/FX & Tweaking for each track. So, my first thought is, why not lay the guitar music done first, stereo or otherwise. {While you're putting down the guitar, you can do the lyric in your head)

Then, you can put in the vocal track and have all the tweaks available.

OR, if this doesn't fit your style, use only on mic; the 3000 is a good vocal mic. I use one through a mic processor -- good clear up front vocals. With some practice and rehersal, you should get the right mouth-to-mic distance; for sure, your guitar will be heard. But, doing this will leave you but one track to tweak. So, your FX/EQ, etc., will have to fit both the guitar and the vocal. I'd go for one track vocal, one track or more tracks music. When I cut stuff in my studio, I do one track at a time and here something you might try: run your guitar through a mic processor rather than trying to mic an amplifier. Better control of the input.

Hope I've helped,

Green Hornet
 
Back
Top