best way to mike acoustic guitar

[theflyingfoal]

Guys

Got Studio Projects T3, sm57, and Joe Meek VC3 pre

The guitar in question is just a tanglewood with a shitty action but very nice sound, finger-picking folky style

Any advice on position / range etc?

Thanks

The Foal

 

[ewegogetemtiger]

I almost always record M/S and probably closer to the guitar than most folks.
I aim at the neck/body joint

 

[giraffe]

sooooooooo many options.........

and lots of them will sound good. just try a bunch of different ways and use what you like.

 

[espskully]

I would use a microphone and an acoustic guitar.

 

[billrost]

This can differ with the sound of the acoustic but I have found pointing at the 12th fret with a 45 degree angle works best. If you have a 2nd mic put it off the bottom end of the acoustic pointing toward the bridge. You will wont to avoid the sound hole. Otherwise it gets to boomy. This way the mics are pointing at the player in an X pattern.

 

[theflyingfoal]

billrost, 45 degree upward or downward tilt?

 

[gbondo9]

I would use a microphone and an acoustic guitar.

epskully is right

but I would add 2 important elements that alot of homerecers forget about: The Mic Cable and The Mic stand. Absolutely vital!

Seriousy though. Play around with the mics in front of different places on the guitar (near the headstock, bridge, fretboard, etc) and at diff distances. Depending on your room and equip, you'll find something you like. There's no right answer.

good luck,
Todd

 

[theflyingfoal]

yeah, I know. Just don't like smart alecs is all!

 

[brandrum]

yeah, I know. Just don't like smart alecs is all!

well then you probably won't like this forum.

 

[XLR]

You just pick a likely starting postion, like the neck/body joint on axis a foot away, and start testing, adjusting, testing, adjusting...

You're getting to know your guitar in a whole new way. Lots of variables depending on what it sounds like live in the room, your own taste, your mic, room acoustics, preamp, etc.

And if the recording's very clear and detailed, when you listen back you may notice things that you didn't notice while playing that you may or may not like. All part of a cyclical process..... record, listen, adjust.... record, listen, adjust....

You'd think getting a good sounding recording of an acoustic guitar would be simpler than it is.

Tim

 

[IronFlippy]

You'd think getting a good sounding recording of an acoustic guitar would be simpler than it is.

I never really thought it would be simple, but that's besides the point.

I like to use an SDC (it's the only thing I have, but I've tried other mics elsewhere and like the SDC best) pointed at the neck/body joint. Since an SDC doesn't pick up lows as much as a dynamic or LDC, I angle it towards the sound hole. As with everyone else's suggestions, you just have to keep moving it until you find that sweet spot. It's different with every guitar, too, which is a pain in the ass .

 

[tourettes5139]

epskully is right

but I would add 2 important elements that alot of homerecers forget about: The Mic Cable and The Mic stand. Absolutely vital!

Seriousy though. Play around with the mics in front of different places on the guitar (near the headstock, bridge, fretboard, etc) and at diff distances. Depending on your room and equip, you'll find something you like. There's no right answer.

good luck,
Todd

Well, as long as we are getting into pedantics, you need a guitar player, too.

 

[invisiblenemies]

well then you probably won't like this forum.

Yeah, best of luck to you.

 

[XLR]

Since an SDC doesn't pick up lows as much as a ... LDC...

Yeah, you hear that from folks sometimes but in my own experience I haven't found it to be that way.

Tim

 

[foo]

Two mics.

One horizontal, level with the guitar about a foot in front of the nut pointing at the soundhole.
The other about 6 inches above, and about a foot in front of, your picking hand's shoulder, pointing downwards at the soundhole.

This was advice I got from someone on this board (can't remember who) and it worked great for me after many hours of trying different things.

You will need to make some minor adjustments, but this will give you a nice stereo spread.

Enjoy.

 

[jalbert]

Right now I'm using a condenser pointed at the bridge and about eight inches away. I also have a Lawrence A300 pickup in the soundhole and I use just a touch of that to get an extremely full sound. I know it's cheating but it sounds great.

 

[Sonixx]

you need two good condensers

M+S is nice but it's not as spacial as I like and it requires one mic to have a fig-8 pattern. the advantage is you can adjust the stereo width during mixdown and virtually no phasing issues

This next technique captures an excellent sound field and with minimal phasing issues... when done correctly

- The distance can vary but start with 15-20 inches for both mics
- Two condenser cardioid mics
- Assume Right handed player

Mic 1 -
Reference point: Body/Neck joint
Positioned in front of and slighly down of...
pointed at...
measured from...

Mic 2 -
Reference point: Bridge
Positioned over the players right shoulder, slighly in front of the gtr body top plane extended up...
pointed at...
measured from...

Now radially adjust the mic angles to center the bass

It looks funny, but it works very well. This probably is not for live performance, but for studio it's excellent.

-kp-

 

[buzzboy1597]

Hi Guys my first time here,

great thread , i have been messing about with recording the acoustic guitar for a few weeks now and thought my poor results (Always boomy) were down to me being thick. So your comments above have encouraged me to have another go. It helps not to sit on a creaky chair as well.

A classical guitar player pal of my made a c.d. recently using a tape recorder and it sounds brill! Makes one sick don't it.

Buzzboy

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Since an SDC doesn't pick up lows as much as a dynamic or LDC, I angle it towards the sound hole.

Not true. This is discussed in more detail in the big mic thread at the top of the mic forum.