Solved Acoustic Guitar: Mic + Pickup (MP3 Sample)

[danny.guitar]

Ever since I got my first mic I've unplugged my acoustic and never looked back. I always hated how it sounded direct, and never bothered messing around too much with recording direct as well as with a mic, which seems to be pretty popular.

Anyway, I recorded this short sample real quick, let me know what you think, and of course offer any suggestions/opinions if you have any.

 

[choinga]

the tonal quality is great...as in, you can really hear the natural sound of the guitar. However, it comes across a little muddy to me.

What kind of compression are you using - it's nice!

 

[flamin-gitaur]

Sounds great IMO. I agree, mixing the DI with the mic really opens things up sonically, and give you lots more to work with.

 

[Monkey Allen]

The obvious questions...

1. What kind of guitar?
2. What kind of mic?
3. What if any eq did you apply?
4. What kind of pick?
5. What kind of room?

Sounds pretty good.

 

[Broken_Hal0]

I agree with the previous post , we need some more specifics .I like the sound it has some good tone qualities to it , a bit "airy" though , are you running through a pre amp of any sort? If you aren't I would guarantee you would fill those muddy spots with a good warm sound , if you chose to go through a nice tube pre amp... not one of those hyrbid / solid state "tube" pres.

Thats my 2 cents
Neil
Plenty Of Rope / The Little Studio

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[danny.guitar]

Thanks for the responses guys.

The obvious questions...

1. What kind of guitar?
2. What kind of mic?
3. What if any eq did you apply?
4. What kind of pick?
5. What kind of room?

Sounds pretty good.

1. Cort acoustic/electric (beginner's guitar I think). Lacks low end but has a clear sound in the highs, but can also sound kind of muddy in the mids

2. Microphone was a Behringer EMC8000. Couldn't find my MSH so I used that.

3. A 3.3db boost at 100Hz on the direct recording. No effects at all on the mic'd track (miked track is on left channel, direct is on right). Used ReaEQ (which comes with Reaper).

4. Dunlop pick, sort of inbetween thick and thin, which is what I prefer.

5. Small, (untreated) bedroom: 8'x12' with 8' high ceilings. Miked from about 1 ft away from the neckjoint of the guitar.

Signal chain was:

Miked:
Behringer ECM8000 -> DMP3 Preamp -> Audiophile 24/96 sound card

Direct:
Guitar output -> DMP3 1/4" input -> Audiophile 24/96

Hope that's enough details.

Choinga - I used a mild compression using the built in ReaComp that comes with Reaper. I'm not sure it had much effect though as it's hard to tell the difference between when it's enabled or disabled.

Thanks again for the responses.

 

[Monkey Allen]

So there was a direct in there? I thought there was...but you didn't mention it straight up in your OP. When I read it I got the impression you were sick of direct...then when I heard it I thought, hang on, I can hear direct.

 

[danny.guitar]

So there was a direct in there? I thought there was...but you didn't mention it straight up in your OP. When I read it I got the impression you were sick of direct...then when I heard it I thought, hang on, I can hear direct.

Yeah it doesn't really sound like a direct until you listen for it, that's why I was surprised. But soloing the direct track sounds like ass. Somehow it doesn't show through though, just sounds like a good, wide, stereo recording. I think I'm going to record like this from now on for parts where the guitar plays a big role.

 

[Monkey Allen]

Yeah, I could still hear direct in there. If you don't like that sound, why don't you just stereo mic your acoustic? You can then eq each trach a little different, play around with mic distancing, types of mics and positioning and all that.