Recording acoustic and vocals at the same time.

[ManInMotion711]

I've got my basic set up down for recording them at the same time. My large diaphragm AT-2020 used for recording my vocals with a pop filter. My AT-2021 Pointed at the 12th fret to pick up alot of the nice acoustic guitar tone. I've also got a CAD GXL 1200 pointed at the 1st fret to pick up extra string sound. But i keep getting alot of bleed from both the vocal mic and the guitar mics. Any tips on how to minimize that?

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hey ManInMotion.
You will get a lot of bleed no matter what.
You can play with mic positions, aiming the guitar mic so the voice is in the null, and vice versa, but generally I find that just compromises the tone more than it helps with bleed.

You can use dynamic mics if they're available to you. I generally go sm7b on vocal and sm81s on guitars.
A dynamic mics very close up for vocal and a DI from the guitar is probably the best options for bleed, but Hmm...who wants to do that, right?

The best idea is just to embrace the bleed and accept that it's there. If you can get a good overall sound, then it doesn't matter how much or how little is bleed.

If you need to minimise bleed so you can do corrective editing, I'd just forget about it.
Track the two instruments separately in that case.

Hope that helps.

 

[ManInMotion711]

Hey ManInMotion.

If you need to minimise bleed so you can do corrective editing, I'd just forget about it.
Track the two instruments separately in that case.

Hope that helps.

No corrective editing, just trying to reduce it a bit so i can make everything sound a bit more crisp. . . if that makes any sense at all

 

[Steenamaroo]

Ok, cool.
Is there a specific issue with the sound? Post an MP3?

If you just think you should minimise bleed because you should, I say don't worry about it.
I'd keep the mics fair and tight to their respective sources though.

Any time I do a live 3 mic setup, the vocal mic is literally an inch away from the singer, and the acoustic mics are maybe 6" away.

 

[ManInMotion711]

Ok, cool.

Any time I do a live 3 mic setup, the vocal mic is literally an inch away from the singer, and the acoustic mics are maybe 6" away.

I cant post one at the moment im not on my laptop so i cant get to my recordings, but i did have the vocal mic like 4' away from my face. . maybe that was the issue that would cause so much bleed?

 

[Steenamaroo]

I guess so. Maybe I just take that for granted cos I always use a dynamic.

I always get a noticeable amount of bleed, but it's never has a noticeable negative effect on the overall sound.
Might be stating the obvious, but make sure both your signals are of the same polarity. It wouldn't be unheard of for two mics or cables to be wired differently.

The further your mics are from their sources, the more bleed there will be and the more potential there is for noticeable cancellation.
I suppose you just have to play with distances and positions to find what makes you happy.

It's not eliminating bleed, so much as finding desirable or acceptable bleed. That's my take, anyway.

 

[grimtraveller]

Bleed is one of the few things that has remained from day one of recording. Doing everything separately totally eliminates this but the fact that you have worked out how to record both voice and guitar simultaneously indicates that you want to turn your back on the actual process and retain a live integrated sound. I like it both ways and I applaud you. But to do it your way, you have to bow to the laws of physics and you are going to get bleed !
Bear in mind that prior to the 70s many if not most acoustic guitar/vocal recordings were done together and they sound crisp, even some of those crackly old blues pieces from the 20s and 30s.