Acoustic guitar dilemma, any good solutions?

R

ryguy76

New member
I recently bought a Aura Spectrum DI and have been getting great results.

I was tired of setting up a mic every time I wanted to record a scratch acoustic track for an idea I came up. So I had a pickup installed in my Larrivee and saw some reviews for the Aura and thought I'd see how it sounded. So far, I'm quite impressed, better tone than what I was averaging with mic placement. I've decide I may abandon mic'ed acoustic altogether when I'm just recording my guitar.

My dilemma is... Now that I'm recording direct, what are my stereo options in regards to acoustic guitar. I have the tone down, but wondering how can I get the fatness/depth stereo provides when I need it on certain tracks.

I'd be happy with any techniques or ideas that you can throw my way!

Thanks
Ryan
 
ryguy76 said:
My dilemma is... Now that I'm recording direct, what are my stereo options in regards to acoustic guitar.
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Re-amp that sucker. Find a room that sounds fitting for your recording. Put your monitor speakers in there. Play back the mono guitar recording. Record the sound of the room with a stereo mic configuration.
 
Chibi Nappa said:
Re-amp that sucker. Find a room that sounds fitting for your recording. Put your monitor speakers in there. Play back the mono guitar recording. Record the sound of the room with a stereo mic configuration.
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I see your point if he has a DI track and can't retrack it, but....why wouldn't you just set up the stereo mic config in the first place and record it along with your DI track? Re-amping is more work than doing it in the first place I would think. Maybe not?

Ryguy, IMO you are thinking about this wrong. If you don't want to use microphones to record an acoustic instrument, you will never get that realistic "stereo acoustic ambience" that you desire. At some point you will need a mic(s), whether you re-amp as Chibi Nappa suggested or record the room ambience in the first place. If it is just an idea you are trying to get recorded, go DI and slap on a convolution reverb with a nice impulse response. There are free conv. reverbs on the web.

That is just my opinion of course.
 
Thanks for the replies thus far, folks.

What I was looking for a was a simulated way that mimics a mid-side technique that puts me in the ballpark for stereo outcome. Maybe there is no way... which is why I can't think of one.

Doubling is doubling, stereo mic'ing is stereo mic'ing.

Ryguy, IMO you are thinking about this wrong. If you don't want to use microphones to record an acoustic instrument, you will never get that realistic "stereo acoustic ambience" that you desire.
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I'm not after ambiance so much as I am stereo separation. Having said that, maybe one person's "stereo separation" is anothers' "ambiance." I may not get the stereo, but I have the acoustic ambiance already...at least to where I'm almost happy with, some more EQ fiddling is still in order.

Here's a quick improv clip I recorded directly through the Aura to give you an idea where I am at tone wise.
 
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I know this isn't the advice you are looking for, but i would suggest learning how to mic it properly. If your pickup sounds better than the mic'd guitar, then you were doing something terribly wrong when micing your guitar.
 
I know this isn't the advice you are looking for, but i would suggest learning how to mic it properly. If your pickup sounds better than the mic'd guitar, then you were doing something terribly wrong when micing your guitar.
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I don't recall saying I got bad tone/results when I used a mic... What I said was the tone/results I am getting using the Aura, is better than I was averaging with my mic. Am I surprised by that...yes... but that's what my ears are telling me.
 
ryguy76 said:
I'm not after ambiance so much as I am stereo separation. Having said that, maybe one person's "stereo separation" is anothers' "ambiance." I may not get the stereo, but I have the acoustic ambiance already...at least to where I'm almost happy with, some more EQ fiddling is still in order.

Here's a quick improv clip I recorded directly through the Aura to give you an idea where I am at tone wise.
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Yah, I like to think of stereo separation as just one component of ambiance...especially since we as humans observe everything in stereo:)

I listened to your sample and it sounds nice. The DI makes it a bit bright for my liking, but to each his own. The two guitar parts panned give it a bit of separation, but if I understand you correctly you are trying to get stereo sound from a mono track.

I recommended a convolution reverb in my prior post. I still think that is a good option as you can get some good stereo impulses that might get you the separation you desire, albeit simulated. Its a reverb, but you don't have to just use it to make a large room effect of course. A major component of reverb is spatial as well.

There are other non-reverb plugins that try to mimic stereo separation or stereo widening. I have a free stereo widener which you might try. It is called quickquak Upstereo. I never really use it for anything, but it simulates a spreading out of the stereo field. Here is a link:
http://www.quikquak.com/Prod_UpStereo.html

The other idea I have is to copy your mono tracks so you have two of them. Pan one left and one right and then EQ them differently. Maybe one has more low-mids and the other a bit brighter? Try putting a different reverb on each of them and mess with the settings(short decay). Then pan each reverb to the opposite side of the stereo field as the dry track. I have never done this, but it seems like it could work to create a stereo spread (In my head at least:D).

In the end, I think stereo micing the damn thing in the first place with your DI track would be the easiest and most accurate!
 
In the end, I think stereo micing the damn thing in the first place with your DI track would be the easiest and most accurate!
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Lol, I hear ya... I think you're right. I thought that there might be a way to do it and I just couldn't think of it. I'll revert to the standard.
 
The best way to get the big stereo sound is to record 2 separate tracks and pan each at 75% left/right. Provided you are good enough to play the same phrase close enough, you will be quite happy with the results!
 
matttheaxe said:
The best way to get the big stereo sound is to record 2 separate tracks and pan each at 75% left/right. Provided you are good enough to play the same phrase close enough, you will be quite happy with the results!
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75% is pretty specific, what if the song calls for them to be panned at 83%?

Just about anyone engaged in recording should nail key changes more often than not. It's the differences in the takes that makes recording the same part two different times worth doing.

It's probably my favorite technique, to the point that I over-use it. Most often though, I use different guitars, different amps, different just about everything for the opp. fade.
 
Sound & Vision said:
The other idea I have is to copy your mono tracks so you have two of them. Pan one left and one right and then EQ them differently. Maybe one has more low-mids and the other a bit brighter? Try putting a different reverb on each of them and mess with the settings(short decay). Then pan each reverb to the opposite side of the stereo field as the dry track. I have never done this, but it seems like it could work to create a stereo spread (In my head at least:D).
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This is what I do sometimes. It works quite well. Don't forget compression also. Using two different sounding EQs, Compressors, or Reverbs can make the two tracks different enough to sound like a stereo track. Also playing with the phase can sometimes bring about some interesting results. Try recording your guitar as two mono tracks, then reverse the phase of one, EQ, compress a bit and run it through a stereo bus. It'll sound like a stereo track.
 
Sound & Vision said:
I see your point if he has a DI track and can't retrack it, but....why wouldn't you just set up the stereo mic config in the first place and record it along with your DI track?
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That is what I would do too, but I am going on his initial statement that he likes the DI and does not want to mic the guitar. Putting mics in the room while you play I guess is technically micing the guitar.

And micing a room during a reamp can be easier for the engineer going solo since he doesn't have to place mics and strum the guitar at the same time.

Ryguy, IMO you are thinking about this wrong. If you don't want to use microphones to record an acoustic instrument, you will never get that realistic "stereo acoustic ambience"
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I didn't want to say it because he was happy with his recording setup, but I just plain don't like acoustic instruments with pickups. I'd suggest mics all the way if he were open to that suggestion.
 
ryguy76 said:
What I was looking for a was a simulated way that mimics a mid-side technique that puts me in the ballpark for stereo outcome. Maybe there is no way... which is why I can't think of one.

Doubling is doubling, stereo mic'ing is stereo mic'ing.
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If that is literally what you are looking for, start auditioning reverb plugins/pedals/rackmounts that have a mono in and stereo out.


Faithful to stereo micing? No.
A way to simulate it? Yes.
 
I'm not sure what kind of DAW/hardware you are using to track your recording but, I would suggest that you record your track as you have done. Then, copy the track to a second track panning one right and one left. I'd also EQ one of the tracks to add a bit of bass and compression to mimic a mic placed to near the sound hole or bridge.
 
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