Problems When Micing Acoustic Guitar

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samich17

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I have a Martin DX-1 acoustic, boy this this guitar sounds sweet, but when I mic it, all I really end up with is a boomy mess..I read a ton on mic placement and the way i set up is by placing the mic about 3 inches from the top of the sound hole, right in front of my fingers...and i've tried a bunch of other placements, but it always comes out rough, sounds nothing like the guitar. I have to drop the low end on my mixer to a shade above nothing to balance out the signal. I am trying to achieve a realistic sound, i want it to sound how it does when I am playing it.

I use an Audix Om6 microphone.. if you don't know anything about it, you might want to check it out here.

http://www.macmidimusic.com/audom6mic.html

I also go through a Fostex XR-5 (circa 1995)...i know this could be one of the problems...I have a Joe Meek MQ3 coming to me soon, will this make a difference in sound quality? I know it will, it has to be better than the pre-amp in the Fostex.

How can i get a good sound when micing/tracking my acoustic...this is my main instrument, so i need it to sound as true to sound as possible...any advice greatly appreciated. thanks a lot.
 
Martins are boomy guitars, try cutting the bass on your preamp other than that you may need to go guitar shopping.
 
with one single mic...this is hard, especially with an OM6. Back in the day when I had a four track I had an OM3. that was the only mic I had and I had two techniques of miking acoustic guitar with it.

One was to point the OM3 pretty close (3 inches away) at the 12th fret.

Another technique i used was to point my om3 right at my strumming hand about 3 inches away.

both of these techniques involved cranking up the highs, but they didn't involve messing with the low end cuz I wasn't point the thing at the sound hole.

hope this helps.
 
darrin - go guitar shopping? this is the best acoustic guitar I've ever played and my dad owns a guitar store with over 2,000 different acoustics. I just have poor mic placement and my Fostex is from the Middle ages. I hear people constantly saying that micing an acoustic is the most effective way to get the best sound..I disagree..I've been plugging straight into my 4 track and using Cool Edit 2000 to record and I can get this baby to sound super sweet...I'm spending more time equalizing, after I track the guitar exactly how i want it, of course, but I want to be the one person to take a stand to say that a good, clear, clean sound can be achieved going line in with an acoustic. Though I've never used a condenser mic, so you might see me back here after i get one kicking myself in the ass. My motto is "master the gear you have to work with while continuing to learn about new methods."
 
samich17,

I always had the same problem with my acoustics,till I read Harvey's over the shoulder tip.

I just modified it a little.

Instead of over the shoulder,I put the mic at neck level in front of me facing down,and slightly in front of the guitar.
Best sound I ever got on acoustic.
Even works with a dobro.

I usually mix 2 or 3 acoustic tracks together,and everything stays pretty clean.

Good luck,
Pete
 
I'm not sure if I read your post right but I'd suggest getting the mic away from the soundhole. If it's pointing straight into the soundhole from 3" away it's gonna sound boomy no matter what(if you're using a cardiod mic). Since you've got a dynamic, I'd say move it over to around the 12th-15th fret angled toward the soundhole. Not pointed straight at the hole but with like a 45" angle. This should give you more treble and a lot less bass.

Since you say you want a realistic sound, try backing up the mic. You don't hear an acoustic guitar from 3" away. This might be a problem if the fostex won't get the levels up high enough (but the meek should help you cure that).
 
Hi Samich,

Boy am I jealous, you own a Martin AND have a dad with a 2000 acoustic guitar store. I will marry you immediately and want your babies:D (only kidding) Who suggested you go guitar shopping!!!!! ??????

Anyway, here is my opinion fwiw.

3" is too close, especially for a quality guitar like a Martin. And pointing it at the sound hole is a no no, especially from that range. Best position for a single mic is the over the shoulder position as Pete suggested. I am laying tracks now with some acoustic guitar sessions and thats how I am doing it. Mic just below neck height, roughly level with left shoulder, pointing down and in towards the soundhole. But to get the exact position right, I get the guitarists to play whilst I move the mic position around with my headphones on. Its really the only way to do it, move the position just a little and the sound changes completely. If you are on your lonesome, put your headset on, arm to record the track and then move the guitar around as you play, listening for the sweet spots all the time.

But I do suggest you go buy another mic. A dynamic mic isn't responsive/sensitive enough for acoustic guitars. A good mic for the money is the Audio-technica mb4000c condenser type mic. Others swear by the more upmarket AKG c1000s. Of course, like everything, you get what you pay for and some recording studio's use $4000 condenser mics! But if you do use a condenser, be very aware that you will need a completely silent room, a condenser mic, even a cheap one, will pick up the sound of bugs crawling up a wall at 20 feet. So computer PSU noise will be recorded faithfully!

I have recorded an acoustic guitar this week that has a sound hole pick-up. I used the pick-up as one input together with a condenser mic "over the shoulder style" as input 2 plus a dynamic mic at about four feet distant for input 3. Put them into a mixer and played about with the levels to get a nice balanced sound.

The pick-up gets the notes and gives a power sound, the condenser gives a nice bright tone with all the detail you would expect being so close (but not too close), including the finger picking noise, with the dynamic giving an overall impression including the room detail/acoustics.

Somewhere I have a picture of John Martyn being recorded with three condenser mics at various angles around the guitar plus a soundhole pick-up, a piezo pick-up at the bridge and 2 dynamics as a few feet distance, to the left and right of John. The latter were being used to provide "width" in the recording (for panning purposes).

Acoustic guitars are notoriously difficult to record properly, to get a good sound, but use your ears and experiment. To set-up the John Martyn session took about an hour for the engineers. But it was well worth it.

The Joe Meek will improve the sound if used right, but you can't improve whats not there in the first place. You must work on getting a sweet sound before going to the Joey.

Hope this helps.
 
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Its just been tossed arround that martins are too boomy for recording with. Having no real experince with martins I was just going off of many threads Ive allready read on the subject.

My experince has been with my old Ovations and my L5. I havent got any complaints ( the Ovations are full bowl, anything smaller is just half a guitar).
 
Paul881--I was browsing this thread and came upon your post on miking acoustics. I am going to give it a try! Very well written. Thanks for going to the trouble. I'll let you know how it works for me. I may try your dual mic/piezo thing as I have a Baggs ribbon transducer in my Martin as well as the Dual Source preamp. I have done the dual thing before but not with the over the shoulder technique. It worked pretty well, actually. I'm still looking for the ultimate technique with this guitar, so maybe this will be it.
 
Martins too boomy for recording ?

Are you kidding ?

I would guess that a large part of recorded acoustics ARE Martins.

Even my D-35 which emphasizes bass, the 'oversholder-method' gives me what I want to sound it like (using AKG C3000 B)
 
I own a few Martins and it's a correct statement that they are "boomy" to record. That's not to say they don't record well, only that you should be aware of this fact. In my experience with Martin dreadnaughts (35 years worth), stay away from the sound hole with a mic. It'll definately woof out. The best luck I've had (with a single mic) was either at the 12th fret back about a foot for finger picking and back another 9 to 12 inches for strumming or over the shoulder at about ear height pointing down at the neck/body joint.
 
thanks a ton guys for all the great responses..I will certainly try the "over the shoulder" technique as well as taking it up to the 12th fret about 1-2 feet away...yesterday i was completely fed up with trying to get a good mic'd sound, so i went direct line for 4 seperate acosutic tracks on the same song and let me tell you...it sounds so very very nice..i will post the track in a couple days after i lay down bass and vocals...i want you to hear how nice a direct line can sound...not saying it's the only way to go, obviously millions of people swear by miking acoustics for a reason, so i will get great at that too someday...thanks again, great feedback..i have over 30 pages of saved quotes, ideas, suggestions and technical jargon. :)
 
Martins are not too boomy for recording, you just have to take greater care to avoid pointing the mic at the soundhole and when finding the sweet spot. They are a quality guitar and deserve the time taken to find a good recording method. A lot depends upon the player too, and the style they use to play.

Post back how you get on, email me if you like.

And Crawdad, we are all looking for the ultimate recording style/method:D Please let me know how you get on with the multiple inputs. If you take care in the mix and use a room that is not too live, you should be able to play all the options and get a really good sound.
 
Invest in a new mic, sell the Martin

Most everything I would have said has been said here, but I'd like to reinforce the suggestion of a new mic. The AKG C1000s (mentioned earlier) is great for recording acoustics. The R0DE NT3 is also a sweet choice.

I have never played a Martin that I liked. I am a guitar player, and I could veryt well be struck down for saying that. But I don't like them. I like the even less for recording. PITA!!! Ovation, Seagull, Takamine ... Now you're talking. (It's okay, I EXPECT the flames) :D

Clearly you're on a tight budget, as most of us likely were at one time or another. But the biggest improvement you'll hear in your sound will be when you get a decent condenser mic on that acoustic, and almost any other instrument actually. It's the next investment you should make, hands down.

We love you all...
 
there's no way i'll be trading in or selling the martin ..i've played hundreds of different acoustics and nothing touches the martin. thing sounds excellent acoustic and plugged in, it's just the mic i'm using, poor placement and youth of experience...i've only been writing, recording and mixing for 6 years. i like the mic for vocals but it doesn't suit the martin very well..i will be getting a nice condenser in the future, but i've been getting a great sound plugging straight into my 4 track and recording and mixing with cool edit. Someone said that they sound rubbery, i just think it takes the right eq'ing. works for me at the time. thanks for responding.
 
When I go into a music store,I play every expensive guitar they have until the salesman asks me for the 10th time if he can help me.

The sweetest guitar I ever played was a Martin HD25.
If I ever get my hands on 2 grand,I'd by it in a heartbeat.
You can play any style on it and it sounds fantastic.
Must be magic!
 
It sound to me that the mic may be the problem. If your budget doesn't allow it, ignore this reply. I usually use an Audio-Technica AT 3033a about 18 inches off the bridge piece (don't mic the sound hole),and an AKG 568eb shotgun mic about 18 inches off the 22nd fret. If the mics aren't able to be equal distance from the guitar, reverse the phase on one of the mic preamps. The bridge mic handles the bottom, the fretboard mic handles the shimmer. You can run the mics to create a stereo guitar, or blend for a killer mono track.

D B G
 
ADK

I bought an ADK Condenser mic for $200 US new. I have a smaller Martin, dont recall the model.

I tried a 414, Earthworks TC30K, CAD E350 blah blah blah. Everything made this tiny guitar sound boomy.
Then I used my cheap ass ADK and it sang like there was no tomorry! I placed it about 3" from where the neck meets the body in front.

Then I wept like a woman!
 
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