Help recording acoutic guitar

[riccol]

I originally posted this in the newbie formum but thought I might get better advice from the extremely wise ones here!

Here is my question:

What Advice can anyone give me on recording acoutic guitar.

I have been using the only condenser mic I have ---
an Alesis AM51 --

I have been micing and then Sometimes I also plug into the pickup on the guitar and send it to another channel to play with the mix. (have two Taylors one with a fishman and the other with there new ES system)

But obviously the mic sounds so much better.
Should I look into buying another condenser? Seems that most recommended recording setups invole two condensers with different placements. Will the two mic's give me considerable improvement? The two mic don't necessarily have to be matching do they? ---
If I buy another mic it's gotta be pretty cheap since I have blown my alloted allowance from my wife for some time to come on guitars!

any help or recomendations appreciated!

 

[Richard Monroe]

There are several schools of thought here. Some people like 2 small diaphragm condensers, some people like 1 large diaphragm condenser, and some people like one of each. I'd start with a Studio Projects B-1 ($80) and 2 Oktava MC012's (on sale for $99 the pair at Guitar Center). That gives you all three options for $180, and all of them are generally useful mics for a variety of applications.-Richie

 

[crazydoc]

There are hundreds of threads here on this subject. Use the search function.

I'm not familiar with your mic. What are you plugging it in to? The pre can make a difference.

Position is critical - a few inches can make a big difference. Two mics are fine - don't have to be matched or even the same type. Experiment.

More info here
http://www.dpamicrophones.com/eng_pub/
Go to Microphone University->Application Guide->Acoustic Guitar. There's also a section on stereo techniques.

and here
http://www.hr-faq.org/

I've got a pair of Oktava 012's that will work well on acoustic - I'll be glad to send them to you in trade for one of your Taylors.

 

[riccol]

crazyDoc
Uhg!! let me think this trade over for a while!

Yea I know the pre's could help --- just get confused which way to go--- I'm using an audio buddy and also have the Art tube studio V3
Been trying figure what the next step up would be but it gets overwhelming.

I know there has to be ka-jillion treads on this but what would be some pre's that are the next step or two up from the the audio buddy or the Art tube v3 (It does add some noise!)

Thanks for the threads, just gotta keep educating myself.

 

[tdukex]

Richie's mic suggestions are good ones. If you can still get two MC012s for $99 at Guitar Center that's what I'd do. They sound great on acoustic guitar. If not...

You can get one MC012 ($75)...or...
One Studio Projects B1 ($80)...or...
One Marshall MXL603s ($75)

Any of these will sound good, and you can pair them with your existing Alesis mic (which I think is a predecessor to the GT mic line).

 

[crazydoc]

I agree either the mk012 or the 603 will give you a small diaphragm condenser to pair with the Alesis, a cardioid LDC.

The audiobuddy should be fine to run them through - it's a pretty quiet pre, though somewhat lacking in the phantom power department.

Another even cheaper alternative would be to get a Behringer ECM8000, an omni electret condenser. Although some feel it has self noise issues, this shouldn't be a problem if close mic'd, and the lack of proximity effect will cut down on boominess.

 

[DJL]

I originally posted this in the newbie formum but thought I might get better advice from the extremely wise ones here!

Here is my question:

What Advice can anyone give me on recording acoutic guitar.

I have been using the only condenser mic I have ---
an Alesis AM51 --

I have been micing and then Sometimes I also plug into the pickup on the guitar and send it to another channel to play with the mix. (have two Taylors one with a fishman and the other with there new ES system)

But obviously the mic sounds so much better.
Should I look into buying another condenser? Seems that most recommended recording setups invole two condensers with different placements. Will the two mic's give me considerable improvement? The two mic don't necessarily have to be matching do they? ---
If I buy another mic it's gotta be pretty cheap since I have blown my alloted allowance from my wife for some time to come on guitars!

any help or recomendations appreciated!

You don't really want to buy a cheap B1 mic for your Taylors do you?

 

[tdukex]

Re: Re: Help recording acoutic guitar

You don't really want to buy a cheap B1 mic for your Taylors do you?

By almost every (if not all) accounts (including Ozraves) I've heard the B1 sounds excellent on acoustic guitar. So why wouldn't he? The MXL603s and MC012 are cheaps mics as well, but they also sound very good on acoustic.

If you don't like the B1 on acoustic then say so. Your opinion is valid. But IMO it is inappropriate to comment on a thread by dissing a mic because of its price (just because you don't like the company owner)--especially when you make no attempt to help the original poster by addressing the thread's topic.

 

[acorec]

I originally posted this in the newbie formum but thought I might get better advice from the extremely wise ones here!

Here is my question:

What Advice can anyone give me on recording acoutic guitar.

I have been using the only condenser mic I have ---
an Alesis AM51 --

I have been micing and then Sometimes I also plug into the pickup on the guitar and send it to another channel to play with the mix. (have two Taylors one with a fishman and the other with there new ES system)

But obviously the mic sounds so much better.
Should I look into buying another condenser? Seems that most recommended recording setups invole two condensers with different placements. Will the two mic's give me considerable improvement? The two mic don't necessarily have to be matching do they? ---
If I buy another mic it's gotta be pretty cheap since I have blown my alloted allowance from my wife for some time to come on guitars!

any help or recomendations appreciated!

Forget the pre-amps. These will not help at all UNTIL you get close to the sound you want. Get the Oktava MK-012 pair for $99 and find the sound/placement that works for you. Get used to the mics (they are very good). Consider pre-amps when you know what you are doing.

 

[DJL]

Ok tdukex , I use to own two B1's and I sold them because I didn't like them... IMO, the B1 is a jack of all trades and master of none... meaning, the B1 can work ok on most (not all) sound sources, but it's not the greatest mic either, and I have better mic's that do a much better job, so I sold my B1's. I don't think riccol should waste money on cheap mic's... however, the Marshall MXL603S is an exception IMO and does sound good on acoustic instruments.

 

[kid klash]

Re: Re: Re: Help recording acoutic guitar

By almost every (if not all) accounts (including Ozraves) I've heard the B1 sounds excellent on acoustic guitar. So why wouldn't he? The MXL603s and MC012 are cheaps mics as well, but they also sound very good on acoustic.

If you don't like the B1 on acoustic then say so. Your opinion is valid. But IMO it is inappropriate to comment on a thread by dissing a mic because of its price (just because you don't like the company owner)--especially when you make no attempt to help the original poster by addressing the thread's topic.

I couldn't agree more!!!

Besides owning a pair of SP B1's, I own many other mics (most of which cost considerably more than the B1's). I chose the B1's based on the way they sound, not because of their price (or who owns the company that sells them).

 

[tdukex]

Ok tdukex , I use to own two B1's and I sold them because I didn't like them... IMO, the B1 is a jack of all trades and master of none... meaning, the B1 can work ok on most (not all) sound sources, but it's not the greatest mic either, and I have better mic's that do a much better job, so I sold my B1's. I don't think riccol should waste money on cheap mic's... however, the Marshall MXL603S is an exception IMO and does sound good on acoustic instruments.

That's more like it DJL.

 

[Sonixx]

here's several acoustic tunes from a band that I've recorded lately... check out Never Change and A Myth Retold

I used M+S on all of these and on A Myth Retold it's M+S and the acoustic was double tracked.

On Taking Form the Acoustic guitar starts in Mono and then I bring in the S.

I used a 4050 for S and a NTK for M.

-kp-