quiet acoustic guitars

[shackrock]

So I double mic my acoustic.

2 mxl603s into DMP2.

It's really pretty noisy. The acoustic guitar part is really quite, finger picked, slow, etc. So it's hard to get a decent level without all this noise. Any tips people have?

 

[grinder]

May seem obvious, but make sure you don't have a pad switched on. How are you positioning the mics?

 

[c7sus]

The pad might be the problem.

Another problem might be matching gain stages. If you're sending a -10 signal into something expecting +4 that could be the problem.

What soundcard are you using?

Other ideas:

Make your room as quiet as you can. Turn off your reefer and HVAC while tracking. That will lessen line noise when compressors and fans kick in, and ambient noise in your room as well.

You may have to close mic as tight as you can.

Compression might help.............. or might not. Depending on how you use it, and how quiet the guitar is, compression may only raise the level of noise.

The next solution may be higher output mics, and a preamp capable of pumping more CLEAN gain to your medium.

 

[glynb]

You don't say what the noise is? Background noise from the room, in which case the suggestions given should help, or noise from the playing style - eg arm rubbing on the body of the guitar, buzz from frets, squeeks from sliding up the fret board, etc, all of which close micing will pick up even more clearly i guess.

Having said that, a small amount of this type of noise is all part of the 'human' performance IMO.

 

[Bob Keelan]

FWIW I have both the 603s and the Oktava MC012s. In general I prefer the 603s on acoustic guitar but kinda lean towards the MC012s for finger picked stuff.

 

[StevenLindsey]

To do quiet acoustic recording with 603s your amp is going to have to be capable of some nice HOT output with NO noise. I'm just now approaching that with a Sytek and and a RNP but I still ain't quiite satisfied. The Sytek will get you almost dead silent in the background with the 603s. Just a thought.