T
tdukex
Man of the Muse
The big sticky mic thread by Harvey is a must read. If you want to know about mics from an expert that is the place.
I only have one LDC, a 797 Audio CR998. I like a single acou guit mic in a mix with other instruments, and I like my LDC better than my SDCs for that app. But for solo acoustic, when I want a bigger sound, I use an MXL 603s and an Oktava MC012 in either xy, ORTF, or spaced pair depending on how big I want the sound. Try a spaced pair, for example, with one mic up on the neck (9th fret or so), and the other mic at or behind the bridge, and you will get the wood and you will get the shimmer, and by panning wide you will get a very big sound--especially with a little reverb added. It won't sound like a natural acou guit in a room, but that's not always the sound I want, and it will sound big and it will sound good. You can also place the mics about three to six inches from the guit with this technique, still get the big sound, and keep a bad sounding room out of the recording. Sometimes I have used an omni on the bridge or bout mic to get the wood tone without the boominess caused by the proximity effect. It's really fun to just experiment on each song 'till you get a sound that you like for that particular piece.
I'm not the expert of experts, but IMO if you really want the big sound you need to stereo mic. Actually, I almost always prefer stereo micing a solo acou guit, even when I'm not going for that big sound. Stereo, done right, just sounds better to me.
I only have one LDC, a 797 Audio CR998. I like a single acou guit mic in a mix with other instruments, and I like my LDC better than my SDCs for that app. But for solo acoustic, when I want a bigger sound, I use an MXL 603s and an Oktava MC012 in either xy, ORTF, or spaced pair depending on how big I want the sound. Try a spaced pair, for example, with one mic up on the neck (9th fret or so), and the other mic at or behind the bridge, and you will get the wood and you will get the shimmer, and by panning wide you will get a very big sound--especially with a little reverb added. It won't sound like a natural acou guit in a room, but that's not always the sound I want, and it will sound big and it will sound good. You can also place the mics about three to six inches from the guit with this technique, still get the big sound, and keep a bad sounding room out of the recording. Sometimes I have used an omni on the bridge or bout mic to get the wood tone without the boominess caused by the proximity effect. It's really fun to just experiment on each song 'till you get a sound that you like for that particular piece.
I'm not the expert of experts, but IMO if you really want the big sound you need to stereo mic. Actually, I almost always prefer stereo micing a solo acou guit, even when I'm not going for that big sound. Stereo, done right, just sounds better to me.
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