Acoustic Guitar Recording Opinions

[Toastedgoat]

When recording solo fingerstyle AC guitar/s, using whatever mics you have, do you like your mic placements to bring in plenty of low end with more dynamics ? Or do you like to keep the mics back a bit farther, till the low end levels out a bit, but a little less dynamic?

 

[ecc83]

When recording solo fingerstyle AC guitar/s, using whatever mics you have, do you like your mic placements to bring in plenty of low end with more dynamics ? Or do you like to keep the mics back a bit farther, till the low end levels out a bit, but a little less dynamic?

One acid test that seems to have become lost these days is "does the instrument/singer sound like it did in the room when reproduced on monitors?"

Speaker reviews of 30 yrs ago always included comparisions with live sounds. Of course, monitors that CAN give an accurate reproduction are expensive but if you don't have them the question really answers itself? You ain't never gonna know!

Dave.

 

[keith.rogers]

Solo fingerstyle is one place where I'd use multiple mics, either a MS configuration if the room is important, or I've used a LDC plus a matched pair of SDCs in XY at the same location. (I hate phase issues.) The angle and distance are up to you after doing some tests and listening, but the added stereo tracks give you more ability to fine tune that balance between fingerboard and top sounds, plus let you spread things out a bit. Here's a snip of something I recorded with a friend playing his HD-35.

View attachment opening-snip.mp3

But, IMO there are no hard and fast rules on where to put them or how to angle them because that's going to depend to some degree on the player's technique and the instrument. You'll want to avoid getting too close or having too much bass because the finger noises and woof are a PITA to try and tame IME.

 

[Btyre2013]

it depends on the track, I record a lot of classical guitar, sometimes it just needs more room tone so I move back.

I use my line audio cm3 mics, usually in X/Y position, I'm not as keen on ORTF and spaced pairs, sounds too wide for my tastes and not as natural, you loose something in the centre when collapsed into mono, I also prefer the cleaner audient preamps vs my neve preamps which are amazing but have too much colour for classical guitar or classical music.