acoustic advice?

  • Thread starter Thread starter beatlejuice
  • Start date Start date
B

beatlejuice

New member
i am recording acoustic guitar using a apex 460, and was just wondering if anyone had any advise on general things. this is the first time trying to do a good quality demo. before this i always just used sm57 for vocs and guitar, but it always sounded like poo. anyways i am just using audacity till my other program comes. and its just guitar and vocs. maybe banjo. anyone have any advise to get the best sound possible. like how far should the mic be away from the guitar? 6" or so? my set up is pretty simple, i use a tascam 464 as a mixer , that goes into the cpu.

any help would be great for this newbie.

thanks
beatlejuice
 
beatlejuice said:
i am recording acoustic guitar using a apex 460, and was just wondering if anyone had any advise on general things. this is the first time trying to do a good quality demo. before this i always just used sm57 for vocs and guitar, but it always sounded like poo. anyways i am just using audacity till my other program comes. and its just guitar and vocs. maybe banjo. anyone have any advise to get the best sound possible. like how far should the mic be away from the guitar? 6" or so? my set up is pretty simple, i use a tascam 464 as a mixer , that goes into the cpu.

any help would be great for this newbie.

thanks
beatlejuice
Click to expand...

Alot is going to depend on the sound of your guitar and the room you are recording in. Here are some places to start. Have the mic in cardioid mode, about a foot away, level with the neck, and pointed at the neck/body joint (around 12-15th fret). If you are recording yourself, make sure you have some good headphones on that isolate relatively well, so you can fiddle with mic placement.

Listen via headphones to the sound you are getting with that mic placement. Try moving the mic a little closer or a little further away. Point it more toward the neck, or more toward the body. Notice how small changes in mic position give you a dramatically different sound. Move the mic around until you find the spot that seems to give you the most natural tone. Then lock the mic down and don't change where you are sitting.

The Apex has variable patterns, so you'll also want to experiment with those. The hypercardioid will give you a very tight sound, while omni will let a lot of room sound in (which could be good or bad, depending on your room). Definitely try the mic in figure 8 (turned sideways) with one capsule pointing up the neck and the other side toward the body. Again, these will all give you different tones to work with.
 
For a condenser mic like the CAD m177, is there any side of it that is the most respnsive to sound...do you point it at the sound source, or do you put it on its side? if so, which side? any side?
 
Monkey Allen said:
For a condenser mic like the CAD m177, is there any side of it that is the most respnsive to sound...do you point it at the sound source, or do you put it on its side? if so, which side? any side?
Click to expand...

That is a cardioid pattern, side-address mic, so you'll want the side that has the switches (pad & rolloff) facing your sound source. Under the grill is the front of the capsule that captures the sound. Again, don't point it directly at the soundhole of a guitar, or it will be too boomy. Instead, place it at the junction of the neck and body and adjust from there.
 
As far as recording acoustic guitar, I usually record it dry with an SM-57 at an angle 6 to 8 inches 'above' the soundhole. Depending on how hard you play, picking or stumming. It's worked very well for me. Good Luck!
 
General Questions

The best way to get answers from this messageboard (or most any for that matter) is to use the search function... Try searches like micing acoustic guitar... Tips, tricks, advice, etc... There is a wealth of information in this site if you just look for it... Also people will get mad because they consider it lazy to not at least try to search it out yourself before you have a question for the board... This post is in NO way meant to discourage you from taking your questions to the board, but we've all got to pay our dues, ya know??? Once you've done that and you run into the myriad of advertisements instead of information this board is probably THE very best place to get great insight into your questions!!!
 
Well that's just the age old problem on message boards isn't it? Happens on every message board/ forum on the net. No big deal as far as I'm concerned.
 
Ya, no big deal as far as I am concerned. Sometimes a little personal one-on-one is just what we all need. So, ask away!
 
Do take the time to read the Sticky in the Microphones forum. There is really great info in the section on micing acoustic.
 
how far

I have a Digital Referance Mic -DR-GX1 I just started recording .I have the 99.00 cubas soft wear , I recorded a acoustic slide guitar. mic 6'' from the guitar and about 4'' up on the neck from the hole , I ran the mic threw a pre amp the guitar cost 119.00 To let you know it was'nt one of those killer expensive job's ,I have a freind who has been recording for 20 years has a lot of money tied up in his eqipment his house is a recording studio I have a extra bed room Im using , He heard the recording and was blown away by the quality the mic really is nice and very affordable. beginners luck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top