How to record a nylon string classical guitar

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octoruss

octoruss

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Hello, can someone please help?

I want to record a classical nylon-string guitar for a jazz/Latin-ish piece I'm recording, but it's the first time engineering such style of song. As a recording "model", I want to achieve a sound not unlike what Dominick Miller gets on any of Sting's newer albums.

Of course I don't have Dominick Miller's classical acoustic/electric guitar, nor do I have his talent, but can anyone suggest mics from the following, placement, FX settings and the like?

I have one Neumann TLM 103
A stereo pair of Elation KM201
SM58
SM57
AKG C3000

Thank for your help!
 
The Elations would sound nice with one on the finger board about 12" out angled in towards the 10th or 12th fret and either the 103 or the other Elation back on the body. That one you'd have to move around and listen to make sure it's not too boomy (when you get in the vacinity of the sound hole ity's easy for a mic to woof out). Personally, the best luck I've had with nylon string guitar is an AT4033 near the neck/body joint and a GT AM-52 in figure 8 doing an M/S set up. YMMV.
 
First make sure you have the right roomacoustics. The nylon strings give a warm sounding tone, so don't record in a harsh sounding environment. I always do my classical recordings (my girlfriend is classical guitarist) in a carpeted room with two groovetubes MD1a. This mike colors the sound in a rather nice warm way. Since you're mike collection doesn't contain a GT you'll not be using this one.

I don't know the elation mikes.
I hate the C3000. It has a kind of metallic sound when recording guitars.
SM57/58 why use them if you have the Neumann?

So I guess you'll be using the Neumann. Try to move it around the room ,but don't get to close to the guitar. About 40 cm will be a good starting place. Try to get some additional room/studio acoustics from a rather good (TC or Lexicon) reverb. And listen to John Williams record 'the guitarist' if you're looking for the wrong sound. Man does this recording sound lame.
 
I'd try what everybody's suggested already. I'd also try the two elations in an XY, in a nice not verybig room with wood and carpet and books and not too much glass, and further out from the body to get past the guitar's nearfield. If I had the tracks available, I'd run the Neumann somewhere else in the room for a different sound to add in to the mix possibly.

I'm not saying this would work, but I'd try it as well as the other suggestions. :)
 
I think these are all good suggestions. As far as effects go, I would try a bit of delay. Especially if you are using digital effects, you will get a fuller sound with delay than with reverb (you can also try a little reverb but with, say 30 ms pre-delay)
 
Here's what I can offer...

I recently recorded a song that is based on nylon string guitar that sounds so much like a Sting song I can hardly stand it. Here's how I did it:
I have a Yamaha APX10 with onboard pickup. I recorded direct on one track using the onboard preamp. On a second track I used my AKG C3000B about 6-8" over the 12th fret, angled towards the sound hole. So... I ended up with two tracks with the exact same performance, but one is mic'ed and the other is direct.
Then I panned them slightly apart, maybe 10 and 2 o'clock. Then...I used Cakewalk's "slide" command to slide the direct clip back about 8 ticks.
The recording came out great! A really cool, chorused effect.

The only bad thing is that it sounds too much like Sting! To make matters worse, it starts out in 7/8 time, and then in the choruses alternates between 8/8 and 7/8 every other bar, making it even more Sting-like.
If you would like to hear the song, I can save it as mp3 and upload it somewhere. Just let me know.

Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
Right On!

Hello Recording Maniacs!
TrackRat told you the best options -IMHO- to record your Classical Guitar, but be sure you have special care with the mic pointed at the 10th /12th fret.
Why?
Because you may catch a lot of finger-fret noise and unless you want it right there it can be really annoying. If you DO want it, play with the mic so you get the cutest sound (the guitar player should be careful and avoid moving or "dancing" while playing)

Hope this helps

Peace

PC
 
I forgot...

Whatever you do, try not to place the mic that will point towards the body of the guitar directly at the hole, this will probably make the sound muddy.
Another cool sounding technique is the one called semi-coincident pair (stereo technique) in wich you place two similar mics a couple of feet away from the guitar, one over the other in a "X" figure, pointing one at the bottom of the body (Left channel) and the other at the other end of the instrument (Right Channel). Be sure to cover the whole instrument with the angle you give to those mics.

Is that OK or am I explaining it wrong?
It's hard for me to translate my poor knowledge from Spanish to English. Sorry.

Peace

PC
 
or

use a mic (sm57 or audio tec. blues) put it on a stand, place it about a foot away, and mess with the trim control on your mixer to get the best results...you can eq it digitally on your computer, or analog on your mixer for best sound. but nomatter what, you can use any tech. but your guitar wont sound the same recorded as it does when your playing it yourself


e-mail me for more


blacktop_rec@hotmail.com
 
this one is a pickle,

last two albums I made, I used nylon strings (la patrie), and the (different) studios used neumanns ( 87 & 149).


Sounded a bit different in the two studios, but both are great reference for what can be achieved in a good recording.

My most used set up includes the following:

La Patrie guitar > akd as51 mic > presonus fireStudio > cuBase

I also have Shure sm 57, and matched pair of Behringer c1, nady sp-1.

Again, most of my experiments were with the akd;

I did so many variations, aiming at getting a good raw sound, and I can't say I am satisfied yet.

I recently bought the presonus tubePre, and I will add it to the chain, looking to try more preamps, and more mics.

I also noticed the eq, especially boosting the hi ends, and mid-hi ends, help a lot.

what was frustrating, is that the guitar sounded great on the headphones (sony mdr 7506), but muddy on the speakers, so, watch out those headphones...

anybody - input or question?
 
So, another first poster resurrecting a long dead thread.

Feel free to ask the question yourself fixingahole2... are you related to nortone in the Newbies forum? Cousins perhaps?
 
Armistice said:
So, another first poster resurrecting a long dead thread.

Feel free to ask the question yourself fixingahole2... are you related to nortone in the Newbies forum? Cousins perhaps?
Click to expand...

Yes exactly .... first you have to start the day off with 5 espressos.......






:cool:
 
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