Micing Acoustic, Pleeease help : )

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ZKrane

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Aright, I have an acoustic/electric guitar (Dean) and a Peavey Banditt 112 and a tascam Mk III. ALong with that I have an sm57 mic, with the type of cable that plugs into that, then into like a normal input on say an amp, the same type an electric guitar would (I hope this is the best recording cord)

How do I go about micing the guitar? through the amp? straight into the 4 track? what? I tried experimenting, and the sound came out really soft, and no volume. Just clue me in on all that nice stuff, thanks.

(I will be recording Bongo drums, and other drums like that with the mic two, if you also wanna throw in some tips about that) thanks.
 
Sounds like you could use a pre amp.
beringer has a line of mixers called euro something or other. One model is at Guitar centers for $79. this should boost your signal into the 4 track.
point the mic at the 12th or 14th fret. expiriment. have fun, home recording is for learning.
By the way your cable is an XLR to 1/4 inch. You are going to be better off with XLR to XLR. Also, if you invest in a mixer, save your self money and get something with as many ins and outs as possible,12 minimum. always think of future expansion. it sucks to over haul your set up every time you buy a new peice of gear.
I have a section in my studio for stuff I rarely use but keep just in case I have an odd stroke of genius. Put your peavey there and keep it away from your Acoustic.
 
Just realized what kind of casset deck you have. Any way, same stuff applies
 
Connect your SM57 to your recorder. Place it in a 45% angle towards one of the speakers. Take a jack (1/4)and connect the pre-amp out of your Peavey and connect it directly to your recorder. Mix the two inputs to one track. Avoid using the normal amount of Reverb. Reduce it to half your normal settings. It will stand out better later on when your mixing. Let us know about your results.
 
An XLR to 1/4 inch cord?

Sounds funky to me...You want to get a regular old mic cord (that's XLR to XLR) and then go to radio shack and buy a Lo-Z transformer. This will take one end of your XLR cord and change it to 1/4 inch, while at the same time giving you the proper voltage for inputting to your mixer. By the way, I'm assuming you have only 1/4 inch inputs on your 4 track. Obviously, if you have some XLR inputs on it, you won't need the transformer.

Transformer is the word you need to remember here. Good luck! :)

[This message has been edited by windowman (edited 06-24-2000).]
 
If it's an acoustic, why would you want to destroy it's sound by putting it through the amp anyway. I would mic the guitar and send it to channel 1 and assign it to track 1.
Then I would take the output of your pickup on the guitar and send it to channel 2 assigned to track 1 as well. The amp is designed for electric or electric guitar that has acoustic emulation. Not an acoustic wired
with an acoustic pickup. It will pass off maybe live but not in the studio. It will make it sound electric.....maybe that's what you want.Then look at an electric.
Also Windowman is right about the xformer.
You need to keep the signal at a maintained voltage. The adapter with xlr to xlr will work. Also get a descent mic chord, don't buy it from the shack. I made that mistake once, while trying to serve clients. What kind of
pickup is in the acoustic? If it's a Martin thinline or Barcus Berry unit or any plain piezo you need a pre amp deicated for the signal. It also has to be made specifically for piezo pickups.
 
There is no set way to mic an acoustic guitar. You can aim it at the 12th/14th fret or you can aim it at the bridge. The best thing to do is experiment till you get the sound you want. try different angles, distances, mics etc.
 
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