Recording acoustic guitar

[JIM DENNIS]

I'm struggling to record my acoustic at a volume that will sit well against a banjo and a slide guitar. I have to whack hell out of it to get enough signal, but I end up with mid/low range rumble and heavily clipped signal. Any mic positioning tips would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

 

[dwillis45]

Could you say a little more about your signal chain? Guitar > Mic > Preamp > Dynamics > effects > recorder, etc.

Avoid pointing the mic directly at the guitar's sound hole. Try aiming for the area where the neck meets the body. You might also insert an EQ during tracking and drop several db in the 100-200 hz range. Or, check your mic to see if it has a switch to cut at the low end. If your signal is clipping, you might benefit by inserting a compressor.

It's also possible that some of your sound issues can be addressed during mixing. Banjos, guitars, and dobros exhibit a lot of overlapping frequencies and sometimes you need to carve out space for each instrument by using an EQ. You might also accomplish the same thing by altering the arrangement. Try not to play lead parts on all the instruments at the same time. Use the approach that bluegrass bands often take: one guy at a time steps up to the mic, plays lead and then backs off. Depending on your style, you can also "squeeze" the guitar in between the banjo and dobro by playing bass runs instead of full-blown chords.

(INSERT SMILE HERE: The only weapon in the war against those nasty resonator instruments is the D-28! Or should I say the D-$2,800)

 

[Echoes]

In terms of mic placement, try positioning your mic at different angles relative to the soundhole. If the mic is dead on pointing straight at the guitar, often it will sound too boomy. You can also try moving the mic so that it isn't actually pointed towards the soundhole, but near the neck-body joint instead.

 

[JIM DENNIS]

The signal chain is as follows:

Yamaha FG-413L 6-string > Behringer B5 condensor > Zoom MRS802 digital rec.

It's straight to the recorder, parametric EQ rolled way back in the bass and mids and no effect beyond that. I'm playing sharp three and four note chord stabs on beats 2 & 4 in a rhythmic sort of role, but I'm struggling to get them clear. The comp. sounds like it could be a go, but I'll certainly adjust my mic position for starters. As for the D-28, do you know anyone selling a cheap Leftie?

Thanks, folks.

 

[tdukex]

The mic positioning tips were good.

Two other things. (1) The sound from a lot of guitars will start distorting (breaking up) if you strum them too hard. The top wood or bracing just can't handle the loudness without distorting. Sometimes you can get a clearer, better sound that can be recorded louder and is easier to eq by strumming a little softer and increasing the gain on the preamp. (2) If the mic is too close to the sound source you can overload the diaphragm which will also distort the sound. Backing up the mic another 12" will often cure this and will also pick up more of the entire guitar sound (higher frequencies) instead of being overloaded with low-mid frequencies. And it will also be more eq friendly.