Recording in stereo with 2 different microphones

[SKYflyer]

I want to mic an acoustic guitar in stereo using 2 different condenser mics. Is this a bad idea because I am using 2 different microphones, or can this still acheive good results even though they are not the same type of microphone or a matched-pair?

[Massive Master]

It'd probably sound odd as an X-Y, but it's done all the time, really.

[littledog]

Don't worry about it. Just do it. You may end up liking it even better than if you had two of the same mics. Never hurts to try.

[s_amuel]

(ouch... a lot of text now and my english is not perfect. And if I got the word "Cardioid" wrong, I mean a pick up pattern that most mics are using just in front. Not eight or ball around the mic - the most commond, Cardioid...)

If one of the mics can pick up the sound in an "8-character" you can do a "proper" stereo take (I would probably not hear any diffrence to x-y your mices, but anayway... ) with a technuiqe that was used alot before, because its sounding allright in both mono and stereo.

Put the 8-character so its picking up sound right and left in front of the source. Put the other mic just above (upside down to get it just above, head to head) and it should have a normal pic up pattern (maybe called cardioid?) and pointing to the source. Now you should have the Cardioid (hanging upside down) towards your guitar and "the eight" turned 90 degrees, underneathit.

- Record.
- Make a copy of the 8-character
- Phase reverse this copy in your recprogram.
- Solo the two 8 characters and you should hear nothing, these two in exact same volume.
- Pan one maximum left, the other maximum right.
- Mute off the Cardioid and find the volume spot where you like the stereoimage (if you need to adjust volume of 8-characters, these should always have the same volume)

when it comes to mixing this stereo-recording with the other tracks in the mix i use to make a group channel, of those three, to save alot headache and adjusting.

I really recommend this because its very easy to find the sweet spot between direct intrument and the room, just fading the Cardioid in and out.

[AGCurry]

^ this is called the "mid-side" method.

SKYFlyer, you can use two different microphones - people do it all the time - but it may not be stereo. Stereophonic has a specific meaning and is achieved by using a pair of matched microphones in one of several configurations. Except for mid-side, as s_amuel explained.

[RAK]

yeah, what AGCurry said.

If you want to use a stereo recording technique (X/Y, NOS, ORTF for example) then you probably want a matched pair. Usually stereo micing is not used for close micing, but that doesn't mean you can't experiment with whatever you want.

Now if you just want to put two different microphones on the guitar and record each to their own mono track, and then mix the two together, that is perfectly normal.

So, if you're in a big hall for example playing guitar and put up a stereo pair to capture the room, then you probably want them to be matched.

If you want to do a stereo pair close mic, they should still probably be matched, and I would recommend X/Y to get a tighter pick-up.

[Robert D]

SKYflyer - What are the two mics, or at least what are their characteristics?
Different mics are used often on acoustic guitar, sometimes for lack of a pair, but sometimes by design. Depending on how similar they are, and what kind of track they're going into (solo acoustic, dense rock mix, etc), you may or may not want to use them to try to achieve a left/right stereo image. Other popular techniques are to put one somewhere around the twelfth fret, the other over your shoulder, or twelfth fret and bridge. Mixing then becomes less about panning them hard left and right at equal level, and more about blending the two sounds appropriately, though panning them out is still an option. In a Daw, you probably should not record these to a stereo track, instead recording to two mono tracks.