Gettinig a great Acoustic sound in small studio

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leegodden

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Hi There

I have a great Martin acoustic guitar, and an average sized square bedroom studio. I've managed to deaden the sound with some acoustic foam on walls and a covered mattress which i can move around. My question is, how can I ensure that i get the best sound possible before going into my equipment. I have experimented with mic placement and have a decent mic and mic pre, but i don't seem to get the sound comparable with stuff I have heard on CD. What kind of setup do professional studios have, do they have special kind of surfaces for acoustic recording or is it all just done with quality pre's and microphones.

thanks
 
Well, not to say you can't get something good with your set up and room. But since you're comparing your stuff with stuff you heard on CD, it's important to point out that the stuff on CD probably wasn't recorded in a small, square room using acoustic foam. I know I'm sort of pointing out the obvious, but it has to be pointed out.
 
Thanks , yes I know as much, But what could I and thousands of others do to try and go some small way towards replicating what they do in the large studios?
 
Sounds like you are taking some of the steps to treat your room, but not all. Your bedroom is square, so you are in the worst case scenario for room acoustics. Normally a recording room, isn't treated the same as a control room, but in your case, I would seriously look into some corner bass traps man.

What are your room dimensions?
 
jimmys69 said:
I would seriously look into some corner bass traps man.
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That's pretty much it. Treat the hell out of the room and experiment with mic positioning, and where you place yourself with the guitar. There aren't really any "tricks" or quick fixes. It's sort of like saying " I know I don't have the same engine, driving experience, or tires as the guys in the Indy 500, but what can I do to allow me to go as fast as them?". There isn't really an answer other than treat the hell out of the room, and experiment like a mad man. You probably won't get the same results, but you can get as close as possible by changing the things that are in your power to change.
 
Thanks, I guess room size is roughly 14 x 13. Base traps in top corners and some more acoustic on ceiling maybe?
 
I never get the sound I want from an acoustic but I frequently get complimented on the acoustic sound in my recordings.
I record in a completely untreated and pretty empty bedroom.

I use stereo sm81s, decent preamps and just spend some time on positioning.
Now, the sound is never as full and close as I want; I put that down to lack of room treatment.

In a completely non arrogant way, the record in my sig is probably a good example how how far you could get in an untreated space.
 
Steenamaroo said:
I never get the sound I want from an acoustic but I frequently get complimented on the acoustic sound in my recordings.
I record in a completely untreated and pretty empty bedroom.

I use stereo sm81s, decent preamps and just spend some time on positioning.
Now, the sound is never as full and close as I want; I put that down to lack of room treatment.

In a completely non arrogant way, the record in my sig is probably a good example how how far you could get in an untreated space.
Click to expand...
You do get a great acoustic guitar sound. You prick.

:D
 
In a completely non arrogant way, the record in my sig is probably a good example how how far you could get in an untreated space
Click to expand...

hey that sounds great very professional. Do you have just a normal box room with no treatment? what preamp's do you use?
 
Do you have a bigger room to record in?? Your living room or kitchen?? The bigger the better. Hard floors (not carpeted) are good.

My foyer has a tiled floor with a vaulted ceiling. I would use a close mic on the guitar with a room mic if I were to record there. I bet it would sound nice. However, I am too lazy to move everything there to record. :facepalm:

Instead, I record in my tiny cube studio and close mic the guitar. It's a compromise, but it works. I try to keep the room out of the recording as much as possible, hence only the close mic. The room is treated with OC703 in the corners and in strategic spots on the walls to minimize reflections.
 
I have thick carpets down ion my studios wooden floorboards. Would anyone advise removing these to get a better sound. Maybe put them on the walls?
 
RAMI said:
You do get a great acoustic guitar sound. You prick.

:D
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Ach, there's a sound I never get though. Sometimes you hear a modern commercial record and the guitar just sounds really REALLY close and full. Compressions probably a bit part of it. Maybe I should move away from my day to day plugs.
Foulphil pretty much got it recently. (Think it was him)
I'll meet you half way though; I am a prick. ;)

leegodden said:
hey that sounds great very professional. Do you have just a normal box room with no treatment? what preamp's do you use?
Click to expand...
Thanks. Yeah, It's a just-off-square bedroom. Pretty live. NO soft furnishings cos I'm a ruddy ruddy bloke. :)
Preamps are Ward Beck m490.
They're nice 'n' all, but I'd happily work away with presonus built-ins for most things.

PS: I'm sure it's been said but the guitar is 90% of the thing.
My Yamaha sounds balls beside Pete's Taylor.
 
To the OP: what mic(s) are you using, and have you experimented with positioning?
 
leegodden said:
I have thick carpets down ion my studios wooden floorboards. Would anyone advise removing these to get a better sound. Maybe put them on the walls?
Click to expand...

Possibly. May not be better tho. That is why there are no perfect answers. It just depends on what works for you. With a reflective floor, you will likely need treatment on the ceiling. I have carpet on my control room floor (35X15'). Only a couple of hanging Roxul panels above the mix position (corner traps floor to ceiling and 8 4" panels staggered down the walls). When I removed the carpet from the drum room (separate), the flutter echo was crazy bad. I filled the whole ceiling with Roxul 80. The walls are concrete also, so I added a bunch of hanging 4" thick panels as well. No corner traps, but the room is 25X15' or so. It doesn't seem to have issues, with bass build up. Again, recording environment is treated differently, than a mixing one. You are using the same space for both, so the best option IMO, is to treat is as a listening room. Especially with the size, you 'NEED" bass traps in the corners. Yes, ceiling to wall corners are a good location to place bass traps, though it is much tougher to install.

I highly recommend building and installing bass traps first. Then form your opinion from there.

Steeno, you are a freak exception. You have years of finding a way to make things work, in an untreated room. You have found a way to mix in the room, by your learned skills of how your mix sounds in your room. Granted, you would likely find it even easier, if you treated that room. :)

You are not really a 'prick' tho. lol
 
Jimmy nailed it. A one-room studio is a work in coompromise. Common wisdom suggests it is better to treat a room for mixing than for recording. You can record completely dry and add room ambience in later with plugs, reverbs, whatevers.

I suggest leaving the carpet on the floor in your studio and treating the walls properly with corner traps and absorbers. Go through the Studio Build forum on this site and read up on what others have done. You might have to dig and search, but there are loads of good info on how to treat your room.
 
Chili said:
Jimmy nailed it. A one-room studio is a work in coompromise. Common wisdom suggests it is better to treat a room for mixing than for recording. You can record completely dry and add room ambience in later with plugs, reverbs, whatevers.
Click to expand...

LOL. I wasn't counting on people lining up to say my recordings were good. :facepalm:

Fair enough lads.
I do throw up baffles for doing vocals too - My room = no good for vox.
 
I think my microphones are probably not helping. I have a matched pair of SE Electronics SE1a's. They are not too bad, but I think I might really notice the difference if i got a pair of rode's as a step up. Trouble is buying matched pairs is twice as expensive. I'm guessing also that good mics are slightly more important than good preamps?
 
In all honesty, I feel from my experience, that unless you are dealing with the crappiest of all mics/interface/room, you will only gain a little tiny bit, from $1000+gear.

It really comes down to the actual performance, the instrument itself, and the room it is recorded in. You can use a $100 mic, through a $60 interface/preamp, and get good tone.

It is the combination of experience through trial and error, that will get you where you want to be. You could have $100,000 in gear, but it won't matter, if the source isn't perfect.
 
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