Acoustic Query...

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Atom Bomb

Atom Bomb

Wtf is a PRS
Im getting ready to record some acoustic guitar. But sadly the house im in is ENTIRELY laid out with ceramic tiles and almost an open concept? To my ears... I love the sound of everything in here im just worried it might make for a crappy Recording? Any words of wisdom?

The upstairs is all small rooms and they are empty and have just regular pine boards? Im lost.

All i have at my disposal is an SM57? but i can rent from the local music store any multitude of mics.

Any suggestions?
 
Atom Bomb said:
Im getting ready to record some acoustic guitar. But sadly the house im in is ENTIRELY laid out with ceramic tiles and almost an open concept? To my ears... I love the sound of everything in here im just worried it might make for a crappy Recording? Any words of wisdom?

The upstairs is all small rooms and they are empty and have just regular pine boards? Im lost.

All i have at my disposal is an SM57? but i can rent from the local music store any multitude of mics.

Any suggestions?
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You are probably going to want a condenser mic to record the guitar. The SM57 is a great stage mic and has some recording uses but you can do a lot better. There are people around here that know a hell of a lot more than I do about which mic to use.
If you are bugged by the room acoustics you can make a tent out of heavy blankets and record inside the tent. I had to do this one time and it worked lihe a charm. In the USA we kind of like dead rooms for recording the Europeans rely on the room acoustics to a much greater extent. Here we kind of add the room with electronics after the raw recording is done.
Hope this helps.
 
lay quilts, blankets, even matresses about on the hard floors. Sure, it looks wierd- but you are recording AUDIO, not VIDEO- no one's gonna see it.
 
Actually you might be surprised at how good your SM57 can sound. It may be a good choice for you because it won't pick up as much of the room ambience as a condensor mic would.
 
The tile floors aren't a problem in themselves. Think about most studios you've been in; most have hardwood floors. The problem is only if every surface is reflective.

I record in a carpeted basement room with brick on 3 walls and a wooden ceiling. I actually lay plywood underneath my mics usually because I've treated the walls and ceiling for mixing purposes. I find I like the sound much more with plywood under the mics than without it.

What I would do is build a few gobos to tame reflections on the sides and maybe one on top if necessary. It's pretty easy.

1. Get some Owens 703 rigid fiberglass in 2x4 sheets, or Mineral Wool works very well too, and it's considerably cheaper.

2. Build a frame around them with 1x4's.

3. Cover with a breathable fabric, like burlap or muslin sheets. Just pull it over one side and staple it to the back. I like to cover the entire back, but some people don't.

I built little tempory, removable "feet" for mine with 2x6's.

See the attached. Excuse the crude drawings.

Anyway, I'd say, with two or three of those around the mic position and maybe one laying across the top, you should be good. What I'll do some times is put two gobos together, as if two sides of a triangle, and lay one across the top of that. Then I'll play/sing/have the amp facing into the corner of that triangle and have another gobo behind me/the amp as the disconnected "third side" of the triangle.
 
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Awesome thanks for that. Actually one of my friends mentioned using office dividers and make a few 45 degree angles with them. Very similar to what you have suggested. Thats great. And i like the blankets and quilts on the floor i may end up giving thast a try.
 
If you can record in a big open area with tiles floors you may not want any absorbtion or reflection. Spend some time playing-recording in the area facing different directions and see what sound you get.
 
If you like how it sounds in there with just your ears, why not try to capture what you're hearing? Put a sdc* in fron of the fingerboard, then one by your right ear. Mix, see what happens. I think that downstairs sounds like a cool place to record in, if unconventional. A lot of us spend a lot of time twiddling with delay and reverb from little electric doowhackies. You have the real thing, why not have fun with it? I'll bet a lot of drummers would like to give it a shot!

* I like sm81
 
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