Recording acoustic guitar and vocals at the same time

C

Centropolis

New member
I currently have a Rode NT1A, a SM-57 and a cheap Apex pencil condenser mic. I am just starting to get into recording and I need your help.

I want to be able to have a set up that will allow me to record both acoustic mic'd with the SM-57 and the NT1A on vocals at the same time. I have plugged in the NT1A and it picks up a lot of things in the background because it is so sensitive. I am worried that the NT1A will pick up a lot of the acoustic guitar along with my vocals.

Now, I've seen videos of someone recording vocals and acoustic at the same time without issues so I know it can be done. But it was in a controlled environment like a studio. I live in the basement and I am just going to do this in the middle of the room.

Or would the NT1A not pick up any of the acoustic guitar because of the pattern is uses?

Sorry about the newbie question.
 
There will never be "no pickup" when you have two microphones in such relatively close proximity. Between reflections around the room and the fact that the cardioid pattern of your mics reduces pickup off axis but doesn't eliminate it.

You can reduce this unwanted pickup to a minimum though by using a few tricks.

First, reduce unwanted relections around the room by choosing where you sit to play. If you can get soft, uneven surfaces in front of you and maybe behind as well, this will deaden things a bit. Place yourself so you're facing heavy curtains (i.e. the curtains are behind the mics) and maybe get something soft behind you as well. I've been known to hang a thick quilt over a room divider screen we have for example. This is no substitute for proper acoustic treatment, bass traps and so on...but it can help.

Second, position your mics to take advantage of the null spots. Normally I suggest the vocal mic a bit above the singer's mouth--but that would point it at least partially towards the guitar. Try putting your NT1A sideways and a bit low with the capsule pointing upwards at the mouth and the null side towards the guitar.

Similarly, try the SM57 a bit higher than normal, angled down towards the guitar (probably the 12th fret, but that's up to you. Again, this will take advantage of the fall off in pickup as you move away from the end of the mic.

Beyond that, you'll just have to accept a bit of crosstalk between your mics. Frankly, it's usually acceptable...only a big problem when you solo tracks.

Bob
 
Bob has suggested some excellent techniques.
There are a couple other options you could try:
1. If your acoustic has a pickup, record it direct and just mic your voice. You will be able to go back and re-record your acoustic with a mic later.
2. Choose any one of your mics and place it a little farther away in the room and experiment with placement. You can get very legit recordings just using a single mic and capturing everything at once.
 
A cardioid mic on each is problematic due to the bleed of each into the other- Each one has its own signal plus out of time bleed of the other.. = phase problems. It can work out, favoring one over the other, or the phase tones happens to sound good.
Other approaches are mics picking up a nice balance of the voice and guitar together (in stereo or not). For the separated voice and guitar tracks idea a pair of figure-8 mics up close (like you were talking about), but with the nulls aimed at the 'other source works slick.

For the room, you'll likely want to at least have some soft stuff hung up around the mic area to tame the reflections- pretty standard unless you in a really nice big room or something.
 
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