Recording with 1 or 2 mics

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antispatula

antispatula

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Ok so heres the thing. I just recorded a whole album using two Hamburgs and the pres on my cr1604. That's it as far as far as hardware goes (which is the most important part) After that I just ran it into a soundcard into free software, REAPER (which is GREAT by the way!)

Since I'm done with recording, I don't know what to do with myself, so I've decided to save up a few thousand and buy better equipment, seeing 2 hamburgs and a mackies pres, while kinda decent, can be a little hard to work with sometimes as far a quality goes.

So my question is this: Can you get great-sounding accoustic guitar and grand piano using one mic? Piano is more important in this question, seeing most of the songs with be piano based.

If piano and accoustic can sound great with one mic, I'm pretty much set for the plan: I buy 1 AKG 414 and a 1 channel great river preamp. If I absolutely NEED to record with two, that makes it harder because more equipment means lesser quality since I have a limited income. I'd rather get one really great mic and one great-sounding pre channel that have to get 2 so-so mics and 2 channels of ok preamplification.

Thanks!
 
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In my limited experience and IMHO I would say that it probably depends a lot on the room you're in, the instruments, and the sound you're going for. If you want a pop/rock piano sound, for example, that's going to cut through a mix, I think a lot of people would recommend using two mics. If the piano or acoustic is going to sit in a less crowded mix, it might be easier to get by with a single mic. I would imagine that it's kind of like the difference in recording jazz drums and rock drums. That said I've read a bunch of times that you can get a great drum sound with a U47 in front of a kick with the right drums, room and drummer.
Sorry for the cop out answer. :o
 
hey thanks for the help!

I record in quite a wonderful room. Very large and tall. The ceilings are tilted, and go up to about 20 feet! Its a living room. Then again, I spot mic EVERYTHING, so I doubt it matters too much.


Maybe I should just buy one really nice mic and one really nice preamp channel, then buy a less expensive mic and a less expensive preamp chanel, so I could stereo record. I know I'm going to be shot for that idea, but I don't think there's anything wrong with recording with unmatched equipment, I'm most likely going to mix the two down to mono anyways.
 
My opinion is this : for a great acoustic piano sound, you'll need to record it with a minimum of a stereo pair. For acoustic guitar, you can go either way... if it's a sparse recording without a lot of other instruments other than the acoustic guitar, I'd go for a stereo mic'ing technique to give you width and depth, but if you've got more elements going on (guitar, bass, piano, vocals, a second guitar, drum kit), I might record the acoustic guitar in mono so that it's easier to "place" in the mix, and to make sure that it's easy to hear.

Just an aside : to me, a stereo pair is two mics and two pre channels, not neccessarily the same mics or pres.
 
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antispatula said:
hey thanks for the help!

I record in quite a wonderful room. Very large and tall. The ceilings are tilted, and go up to about 20 feet! Its a living room. Then again, I spot mic EVERYTHING, so I doubt it matters too much.


Maybe I should just buy one really nice mic and one really nice preamp channel, then buy a less expensive mic and a less expensive preamp chanel, so I could stereo record. I know I'm going to be shot for that idea, but I don't think there's anything wrong with recording with unmatched equipment, I'm most likely going to mix the two down to mono anyways.
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I've gotten decent acoustic piano sounds with mismatched microphones and have read interviews with established RE's who do this purposefully despite the option to use a stereo pair. Again, it's got to sound good in the room first, and then it's a matter of finding the best means of translating it. Many roads lead to good sound.

edit: adding obligatory and cautionary IMHO and YMMV to above post :)
 
if you got a nice sound with what you have, theres no reason to throw it in the corner and let it collect dust!

keep your stuff. get one nice pre and one nice mic and continue using what you have as well. theres nothing wrong with it.

btw, lets hear the songs dude!
 
never mind, visited your website.

very nice! sounds pretty good, even on my laptop speakers.

i would definitley get one real nice mic and pre, and use it for vox, becuase the acoustic guitar sounds good as it is. the vocals are good though, pretty clear. it may just be the stupid myspace mp3 compression, but sometimes the vocals sounded a little rough.

i know myspace quality blows. ive experienced it first hand, it mutilated my tom sawyer cover.
 
hey thanks! Haha, too late, I've sold my hamburgs to finance cd replication costs..it was the only way! (*tear*)

Thanks for the advice. And yes, the difference between the hacked-up 96 kbps mp3 on myspace an the original played in my car stereo is absolutely mind-boggling. And the songs on my site haven't been mastered yet.
 
antispatula said:
...I'd rather get one really great mic and one great-sounding pre channel that have to get 2 so-so mics and 2 channels of ok preamplification.
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Me too.

...........
 
apl said:
Consider a matched pair of MSH-1O SDCs (that's O as in Omni).
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Or even just one.

Great mic'd sound on ac gtr isn't always related to price. Especially if you have a good room - as the OP does.
 
MSH-1O SDCs........22 bucks? Man and I was planning on buying an AKG 414 for 800.......wow I'm confused now.
 
Wow. I am completely blown away.

So I'm getting the impression that exluding the room recorded in and engineering skill, the Preamp is the most important high-cost piece of gear you can get to make a great sounding recording. Because obviously one can get GREAT results from a 20 dollar mic. But one cannot get GREAT results with a 20 dollar preamp, and only pretty-good results from one that costs 10 times as much.

So my idea is to buy a 2 channel great river pre, and two of the 22 dollar mics.

Thanks apl for the insight, they sound wonderful.

EDIT: Wait a sec. I'd still need a vocal mic. Does anyone know how these sound with vox?
 
antispatula said:
Wait a sec. I'd still need a vocal mic. Does anyone know how these sound with vox?
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While not intended for vox, they give a very accurate picture of whatever you're recording.

Here's me dinking around with MSH prototype mics. The setup, in this case, is a Yamaha MG10/2 going into my laptop's built in soundcard.
 
Aren't you all into the white stripes? I heard Jack recorded get behind me with 8 coles 4038s.

but what I think you should do is get that AKG and also a dynamic, like a 57 or something.

And I think you should go for a two channel preamp.
 
Not that the Great River wouldn't be a good choice, but there are other great preamps suited for acoustic music out there that don't cost as much--some not nearly as much.

John Hardy
Speck
Davisound
DAV
Hamptone JFET

The recordings of acou guit I have heard from the John Hardy, Speck, and Davisound have been very, very impressive. I assume they would perform equally well on piano. The DAV is gaining in popularity, and the Hamptones have really acquired an outstanding reputation.

Two channels of Great River will cost around $2200.

Two John Hardys about $1600.
Two Specks about $1500.

The Davisound, DAV, and Hamptone will all be around $1000 or less.
 
I think good mics, or at least the most appropriate type of mic, are more important than good pres. There's only so much you can do with an SM57, regardless of the preamp.

A good room is critical, but even a bad room can be mitigated by the right mic selection and placement.

If I had to start all over with my mic collection, I would begin with two mutli-pattern mics.
 
for vocals, you could do a whole lot worse than an Oktavamodded MK-219 PE. Great value for the $
 
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