Advice for first recording - acoustic guitar + vocals

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warpion

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Hi there,

first post here :)

Here's the deal. I've just acquired a whole bunch of gear for home recording, and my first project is to record my dad playing and singing a few of his songs, as I'm visiting him in a few days. Time is of the essence as I don't see him often.

He'll just be playing his nylon string guitar and singing, and I need to record both at once, as after 40 years of playing 3 songs he cannot do one without the other :)

Here's the gear I have at my disposal:
sE 2200A
Behringer B2 Pro
Rode NT3
SM57 & SM58

into a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
into a Vista laptop running Reaper

My original plan was to use the 2200a for vocals, the NT3 aimed at the body of the guitar, and the SM57 aimed at the 12th fret.

Questions -

1. Would I be better off using the NT3 and the B2 rather than the SM57?
2. Which should go where on the guitar?
3. Should the mics be angled directly at the guitar, or towards an end of the guitar (which?)? Up/down slightly? Or level and straight?
4. Is there an optimal distance between the mics and the guitar? Between each mic?

Any other tips and advice much appreciated :)

Oh, one other thing - I was testing the gear today and noticed I have to turn the gain on the preamps up quite high to get a decent level signal out of the mics playing guitar - about 60-70% with the condensers and 90-100% on the SM57 - does that seem right?

Cheers!
 
warpion said:
He'll just be playing his nylon string guitar and singing, and I need to record both at once, as after 40 years of playing 3 songs he cannot do one without the other :)

Here's the gear I have at my disposal:
sE 2200A
Behringer B2 Pro
Rode NT3
SM57 & SM58

into a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
into a Vista laptop running Reaper

My original plan was to use the 2200a for vocals, the NT3 aimed at the body of the guitar, and the SM57 aimed at the 12th fret.

1. Would I be better off using the NT3 and the B2 rather than the SM57?
2. Which should go where on the guitar?
3. Should the mics be angled directly at the guitar, or towards an end of the guitar (which?)? Up/down slightly? Or level and straight?
4. Is there an optimal distance between the mics and the guitar? Between each mic?

Any other tips and advice much appreciated :)

Oh, one other thing - I was testing the gear today and noticed I have to turn the gain on the preamps up quite high to get a decent level signal out of the mics playing guitar - about 60-70% with the condensers and 90-100% on the SM57 - does that seem right?

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Go with your original mic plan, and adjust from there using your ears. Use the 3:1 rule for spaced pair on the guitar mics, and check for phase issues. You may want to also try using just the N3 at the neck-body joint (rather than stereo).

To get the best isolation (lack of bleed) between vocal and guitar mics, I have found that using two multi-pattern mics in fig 8 mode worked best. In this strategy, you aim the vocal mic at the singer's mouth with the null aimed at the guitar, and the guitar mic is aimed at the guitar with the null aimed at the singer's mouth (mics oriented horizontally). Very good isolation with this approach, but you have to have a good sounding room. You don't have the mics for this, so go with your original plan, or 1 mic on guitar.

I have not used the Saffire Pro so cannot comment on its preamps, but what you are finding is typical. A good external preamp (Sytek MPX-4Aii) helped me on a similar issue.
 
Thanks for that. I'll see how I go with the SM57 at 12th fret and NT3 on the body. Are LDCs generally not great for recording acoustic guitars?

Also, do I need to apply the 3:1 rule in regards to the vocal mic vs the guitar mics (creating an equilateral triangle I suppose) or is it less important to worry about phase problems in the bleed?

Thanks!
 
warpion said:
Thanks for that. I'll see how I go with the SM57 at 12th fret and NT3 on the body. Are LDCs generally not great for recording acoustic guitars?

Also, do I need to apply the 3:1 rule in regards to the vocal mic vs the guitar mics (creating an equilateral triangle I suppose) or is it less important to worry about phase problems in the bleed?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

LDCs are good for guitars, but they are slower on the transients, and they pick up more of the room.

3:1 is for the two guitar mics for stereo image while minimizing phase issues (you should still check this).

Vocal mic goes where it sounds best (usually 6-12" with pop filter at 1-3").

Your biggest problem will be bleed (vocals in guitar mics, guitar in vocal mic).
 
Do you think your dad would agree to do a 'scratch' track of his guitar and voice together and then overdub the parts seperately?
 
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