Best way to mic an acoustic guitar?

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Creep

Creep

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Pretty much as the title says. I'm new to recording acoustic guitar (or recording in general really) and I've tried just sticking the mic in front of the guitar, but it didn't sound right.

Is there any techniques or special way of doing this? What have you tried and what works? Or is a mic in front the only way to do it?

Cheers.

-Creep
 
Ive been doing a new technique latley that i like quite a bit. Place your mic where the neck and the body meet with the diaphram pointing towards the floor with it slightly tilted towards the soundhole. Kinda hard to explain but maybe you understood it.
 
Yeah, nothing wrong with that. I was just asking so we could know what KIND of mic you are using. It helps for suggesting different ways of using a mic. I'm not familiar with the mic and didn't have much luck finding anything on it.

But if what I found is right then it is a dynamic uni. It might be a sort of sm58 or sm57, but I don't know for sure. If I were you I would spend quite a bit of time experimenting with placement. Mics can really change from the slightest of positions.

Couple ideas for starting...Aim the mic at the 12th fret from about 6 inches away, then angle it toward the soundhole. See how it sounds and then vary that position a bit, maybe leave it where it is but angle it more toward the fret board rather than the soundhole. Really just toy around with it.

You could also go drastically the other way. Aim it at the nut from about 6 inches out and then angle it hard toward the 12th fret, and of course toy around there as well.

You could also place it behind you aiming over your left shoulder, aiming down toward the sound hole. In all honesty I would just experiment like mad, just be sure to listen to the differences based on where you are moving it. Also be mindful to the difference in sound when making slight adjustments.
 
Almy said:
Yeah, nothing wrong with that. I was just asking so we could know what KIND of mic you are using. It helps for suggesting different ways of using a mic. I'm not familiar with the mic and didn't have much luck finding anything on it.

But if what I found is right then it is a dynamic uni. It might be a sort of sm58 or sm57, but I don't know for sure. If I were you I would spend quite a bit of time experimenting with placement. Mics can really change from the slightest of positions.

Couple ideas for starting...Aim the mic at the 12th fret from about 6 inches away, then angle it toward the soundhole. See how it sounds and then vary that position a bit, maybe leave it where it is but angle it more toward the fret board rather than the soundhole. Really just toy around with it.

You could also go drastically the other way. Aim it at the nut from about 6 inches out and then angle it hard toward the 12th fret, and of course toy around there as well.

You could also place it behind you aiming over your left shoulder, aiming down toward the sound hole. In all honesty I would just experiment like mad, just be sure to listen to the differences based on where you are moving it. Also be mindful to the difference in sound when making slight adjustments.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for that :) Yeah some people have said it's kind of like a 58. I'll just keep experimenting then... hopefully I'll get some kind of decent sound out of it.

Cheers Almy!
 
Mic position is the key factor when recording and acoustic instrument. That being said and out of the way, also consider how you are setting the gain on your mic. Too hot and you may get a lot of pick noise, string noise, or boominess. Too low and the guitar will sound weak or tinny or like you have dead strings. There is a lot of experimentation involved to find the best placement for the mic and this depends on the sound you want, then use a little tweaking on the gain to bring out or diminish the sound. There really isn't a right or wrong way, figure out how you want it to sound then experiment until you find what it takes to get that sound.
 
Your biggest problem is probably the mic you're using. You don't need expensive mics to get a good sound, just the appropriate type.

www.naiant.com - Get one of the Naiant MSH omni mics, they go for about $20-$30. All of my recordings are done using either those, or a Behringer ECM8000.

Here's a recent one I did with those MSH mics in a stereo setup:


I also have a lot of clips with just one if you want to hear (and there's even more clips on the Naiant website from people who have a better sounding guitar than I do ;)).
 
Thanks a lot Danny :)

So I should definately go omni? I've heard they can be frustrating because they pick up too much noise around the guitar :S

Thanks for the example too!

:)
 
Creep said:
Thanks a lot Danny :)

So I should definately go omni? I've heard they can be frustrating because they pick up too much noise around the guitar :S

Thanks for the example too!

:)
Click to expand...

Yeah, an omni picks up from all directions so whatever noise you have going on in the background might be a problem. Best option there would be to get as close to the mic as possible and have it still sound good (I close mic almost everything).

Those MSH mics are also very flat and sensitive, it will pick up any sound going on in the room and possibly in your neighbor's room. :D

You might want to sort out any noise issues first. I had to move my computer out of the room, made a huge difference.
 
danny.guitar said:
Your biggest problem is probably the mic you're using. You don't need expensive mics to get a good sound, just the appropriate type.

www.naiant.com - Get one of the Naiant MSH omni mics, they go for about $20-$30. All of my recordings are done using either those, or a Behringer ECM8000.

Here's a recent one I did with those MSH mics in a stereo setup:


I also have a lot of clips with just one if you want to hear (and there's even more clips on the Naiant website from people who have a better sounding guitar than I do ;)).
Click to expand...



Danny, great track! Good sound, good tune. You wouldn't happen to have a picture from what kind of stereo set-up you mentioned, would you?
 
I'll add one more thing. The type of microphone diaphragm makes a difference in the recording of acoustic guitar, too. I've tried several different types of large diaphragm mics on acoustics. They make wonderful recordings of single string work and slow, mellow strumming stuff. But, they sound lousy for quick, hard strumming stuff. It's kinda like the diphragm doesn't react quickly enough. It just kinda jumbles the sounds together. For fast strumming, a small diaphragm mic does a much better job. And, a small diaphragm still does a good job on the slower stuff, too.
 
I'm with Nick on the diapram size thing. I recently did a shoot out with a hard stumming player. I used several large diaphram mics (c414 good, u87 better, and my Funkwerks tube mic better still) however the small diaphram (km184) was by far the best. way less boomy and a tighter more natural sound. BTW all of the mics are condesors set on a cardiod pattern.

As far as Creep's application, I think that an sm57 (cheap) aimed at the 12th fret would work. I'm not a big fan of recording with an sm58 (or similar). Not as tight sounding to me.
 
Nick The Man said:
Danny, great track! Good sound, good tune. You wouldn't happen to have a picture from what kind of stereo set-up you mentioned, would you?
Click to expand...

One mic about 8" from the 7th fret, another about 1" from the saddle aimed at the soundhole.

The soundhole mic was panned 84% left, the other 84% right.

Hope that helps. :)
 
Nick98338 said:
I'll add one more thing. The type of microphone diaphragm makes a difference in the recording of acoustic guitar, too. I've tried several different types of large diaphragm mics on acoustics. They make wonderful recordings of single string work and slow, mellow strumming stuff. But, they sound lousy for quick, hard strumming stuff. It's kinda like the diphragm doesn't react quickly enough. It just kinda jumbles the sounds together. For fast strumming, a small diaphragm mic does a much better job. And, a small diaphragm still does a good job on the slower stuff, too.
Click to expand...

Cheers for that! :)

Thanks also to Talldog, danny.guitar and Monroe! :D
 
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