Suitable MIC to record acoustic guitar in NOISY room

  • Thread starter Thread starter carsie252
  • Start date Start date
C

carsie252

New member
Hi, need help selecting a mic. I live on a very busy road, in a small flat, with little potential for soundproofing. I want to record guitar and vocal at the same time, but the problem is background traffic noise. i have been using an sm58 on vocal, which has worked very well, not picked up much noise at all. But on guitar, I was using my Rode NT1, which picks up way too much noise.

I was thinking would a Small diaphram condensor mic be more directional, or would i need a dynamic?

If condensor, would a Rode NT5 be better? ( I was needing a pair for overheads anyway). I think it is still a cardiod though. Are there any suitable directional condensors?

If dynamic, I was thinking SM57, anything better for under £250?

Any input and education is most appreciated!


Thanks
Richard.
 
I use SDC in noisy environments and close mic and I haven't found the noise to be distracting. You can hear it, but the overall track sounds better than an sm57 to me. Others may have some nice dynamic mis to recommend but I just haven't used them.
 
carsie252 said:
Hi, need help selecting a mic. I live on a very busy road, in a small flat, with little potential for soundproofing. I want to record guitar and vocal at the same time, but the problem is background traffic noise. i have been using an sm58 on vocal, which has worked very well, not picked up much noise at all. But on guitar, I was using my Rode NT1, which picks up way too much noise.

I was thinking would a Small diaphram condensor mic be more directional, or would i need a dynamic?

If condensor, would a Rode NT5 be better? ( I was needing a pair for overheads anyway). I think it is still a cardiod though. Are there any suitable directional condensors?

If dynamic, I was thinking SM57, anything better for under £250?

Any input and education is most appreciated!


Thanks
Richard.
Click to expand...

Hi Richard. A SM57 is basicly a SM58, so that won't help much.

Both the SM58 and Rode NT1 you've been using are Cardioid microphones.

Read up on the terms Hyper- and Super Cardioid. Also on Omni-directional, which is the absolute reverse of what you need.

Using dynamic- or condensers mics has nothing to do with picking up back ground noises.

For $250 you should be able to buy something useful. Moresound will log in sometime today with some good tips for sure.
 
I've done acoustic guitar in untreated, noisy rooms using small diaphragm condensers and had good results. The trick is to a) position the player so the null side of the mic is towards the source of the noise and, b) keep the mic placement nice and close.

My present favourite SDC in the budget end of the market is the SE Electronics SE1A which also does a dandy job on overheads since you mention that. However, I suspect any SDC could do the job for you.

Bob
 
Not heard of SE Electronics mic, but I looked it up and the SE2a comes with 3 changeable capsules - omni, cardioid, hyper-c. That could be a good option to try instead, then it gives more options at least.
 
Bobbsy said:
I've done acoustic guitar in untreated, noisy rooms using small diaphragm condensers and had good results. The trick is to a) position the player so the null side of the mic is towards the source of the noise and, b) keep the mic placement nice and close.

My present favourite SDC in the budget end of the market is the SE Electronics SE1A which also does a dandy job on overheads since you mention that. However, I suspect any SDC could do the job for you.

Bob
Click to expand...

I'll second this. I use NT5s, which are a little dark, but work nicely on bright acoustics. even up to 12" away, noise isn't much of a problem with them. Just another option to think about.

Oh and when moresound does chime in he's going to say EV RE20 dynamic mic :) I'll save him the post!
 
Have just looked at the polar patterns of the SE2a, on the SE website and there doesn't seem to be much difference between the narrowness of cardioid and h-cardioid range, plus the hyper seems to pick up more from the back anyway, so I may as well stick with an SE1 or NT5, i guess?

Are these suitable types of mics to use for guitar/vocal at the same time, because I got a lot of bleed through with a NT1 on the guitar, even pointed down, away from the voice. The sm58 did well at only picking up the vocal, would an Small-DM be noticably better than Large-DM for the second mic?
 
I agree with placing the null side toward the sound source, if you can identify one. If not, null side toward the nearest window. The trick for noisy rooms is not how sensitive the mic is, but how close to the source it is. When placed very close, directional mics tend to pick up low frequency "boom" from acoustics, especially if the mic is too close to the soundhole. This is worse if the guitar has really good bass output, like a vintage Martin. Omni mics are immune to proximity effect, so boom is not a problem, but they also have *no* null side to point toward a sound source.. Also, if you place any mic too close to the soundhole, it will increase (usually undesireable, but not always) pick and finger noise. I've had my best luck with directional mics moved down the neck, away from the soundhole, usually at the 10th-12th fret, and pretty damn close. Whether you use that, or a close-mic'd omni, depends on the kind of noise you have, and where it's coming from. Getting rid of the noise is always the right solution. Everything else is an often ineffective compromise. Good luck.-Richie
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top