Armistice
Son of Yoda
I have been struggling for a year or so now attempting to record fingerstyle acoustic guitar with my home studio setup. I’m after a level of quality that will allow me to multi-track acoustic guitars (only) and have them sounding very good. My equipment and extensive experimenting to date have not yielded the sound I’m searching for.
I am able to get a recorded acoustic sound that works well with louder, rockier mixes featuring drums, bass, electric guitar etc. I’m not able to get a good enough sound that will stand up on its own, so my thought is that maybe the gear I’m using in the signal path just ain’t good enough to do this.
Here’s what I have:
Yamaha AW4416 recorder (not the problem, I presume)
Mics:
Rode NT2
Rode NT5s
MXL603s
Shure SM57 (not used on acoustic, just electric amped guitar, included for complete picture)
Pres:
Presonus MP20 (dual channel pre)
Mindprint Envoice (single ‘channel strip’ type pre - find the “channel” section too noisy to engage with acoustic guitar, so just use the pre. V. good with SM57 and electric guitars though)
Cables:
Standard 30’ mic cables from music shop & smaller patch cables
Guitar:
Maton Messiah - solid wood, top of the line Australian made acoustic dreadnought with cutaway. Can’t reference it with similar Taylor / Martin / Gibson for you but it cost $4000 and it’s a beautiful sounding instrument.
I have experimented with and read widely on mic positioning both on this BBS and elsewhere on the web (every thread here on the topic for the last 2 years). My experiments are based on the polar patterns of the mics I own, so haven’t done things involving figure 8s etc. I’m also aware that dreadnought guitars are often not the favoured recording instruments because of the volume. I don’t believe that further experimentation with positioning is going to help - trust me, I’ve tried lots of stuff.
Everything I record, with every position, every mic, every combination sounds (in solo acoustic mode) like there’s a “honky, metallic, nasty” resonance to it that I can’t EQ out and renders the sound not quite good enough.
If I Travis pick quickly, play the same things twice, hard left and right, I can almost get away with it. I presume this is because of the short duration of the notes not allowing the resonance to develop - however slower pieces have no chance.
I record in my house, which has carpets and plaster walls and 8’ plaster ceiling and garage (lately) which has three brick walls, concrete floor, and 1 plaster wall and 8’ plaster ceiling but is a much more “live” setting.
I live in Australia and can access most of the major brands of microphone (Neumann, Audio Technica, Oktava, Shure etc.) but not all of them, however pres are generally more limited to the more widely distributed brands - ie. I doubt I’d find a Great River, for instance, over here, but I can get Avalons, Focusrites, TC Electronics etc etc.
What should I do?
While not rich, I’m now at the point of having spent so much time and so much money anyway that I really don’t care anymore what the cost is to fix the problem, I’ll work it out somehow. This is my last throw of the dice with gear, though. I will sell anything that gets superseded or has no end use.
I’d appreciate any and all input on any or all aspects of my set up from those of you with experience recording solo acoustic guitar (that stays solo), or solid experience with mics / pres etc. My personal theory at this stage is that it’s my microphone collection that is the weak link, but I’m also aware of the rep that 603s have here as an acoustic guitar mic, so I wonder. I can’t change the guitar or the house, but everything else is up for discussion.
Sorry for the lengthy post but I wanted to give you all the maximum amount of information. I know nothing about recording except what I’ve learnt here and on the net over the last 4 years, but have recorded 2 full albums before I discovered the joys of microphones…. ie. I’m not a newbie, but I have no formal training either. Please also tell me if you think I’m wasting money upgrading things, that what I want to do is not possible in my environment. I just want my guitar to sound like my guitar - big, lush & beautiful.
Thanks for reading.
I am able to get a recorded acoustic sound that works well with louder, rockier mixes featuring drums, bass, electric guitar etc. I’m not able to get a good enough sound that will stand up on its own, so my thought is that maybe the gear I’m using in the signal path just ain’t good enough to do this.
Here’s what I have:
Yamaha AW4416 recorder (not the problem, I presume)
Mics:
Rode NT2
Rode NT5s
MXL603s
Shure SM57 (not used on acoustic, just electric amped guitar, included for complete picture)
Pres:
Presonus MP20 (dual channel pre)
Mindprint Envoice (single ‘channel strip’ type pre - find the “channel” section too noisy to engage with acoustic guitar, so just use the pre. V. good with SM57 and electric guitars though)
Cables:
Standard 30’ mic cables from music shop & smaller patch cables
Guitar:
Maton Messiah - solid wood, top of the line Australian made acoustic dreadnought with cutaway. Can’t reference it with similar Taylor / Martin / Gibson for you but it cost $4000 and it’s a beautiful sounding instrument.
I have experimented with and read widely on mic positioning both on this BBS and elsewhere on the web (every thread here on the topic for the last 2 years). My experiments are based on the polar patterns of the mics I own, so haven’t done things involving figure 8s etc. I’m also aware that dreadnought guitars are often not the favoured recording instruments because of the volume. I don’t believe that further experimentation with positioning is going to help - trust me, I’ve tried lots of stuff.
Everything I record, with every position, every mic, every combination sounds (in solo acoustic mode) like there’s a “honky, metallic, nasty” resonance to it that I can’t EQ out and renders the sound not quite good enough.
If I Travis pick quickly, play the same things twice, hard left and right, I can almost get away with it. I presume this is because of the short duration of the notes not allowing the resonance to develop - however slower pieces have no chance.
I record in my house, which has carpets and plaster walls and 8’ plaster ceiling and garage (lately) which has three brick walls, concrete floor, and 1 plaster wall and 8’ plaster ceiling but is a much more “live” setting.
I live in Australia and can access most of the major brands of microphone (Neumann, Audio Technica, Oktava, Shure etc.) but not all of them, however pres are generally more limited to the more widely distributed brands - ie. I doubt I’d find a Great River, for instance, over here, but I can get Avalons, Focusrites, TC Electronics etc etc.
What should I do?
While not rich, I’m now at the point of having spent so much time and so much money anyway that I really don’t care anymore what the cost is to fix the problem, I’ll work it out somehow. This is my last throw of the dice with gear, though. I will sell anything that gets superseded or has no end use.
I’d appreciate any and all input on any or all aspects of my set up from those of you with experience recording solo acoustic guitar (that stays solo), or solid experience with mics / pres etc. My personal theory at this stage is that it’s my microphone collection that is the weak link, but I’m also aware of the rep that 603s have here as an acoustic guitar mic, so I wonder. I can’t change the guitar or the house, but everything else is up for discussion.
Sorry for the lengthy post but I wanted to give you all the maximum amount of information. I know nothing about recording except what I’ve learnt here and on the net over the last 4 years, but have recorded 2 full albums before I discovered the joys of microphones…. ie. I’m not a newbie, but I have no formal training either. Please also tell me if you think I’m wasting money upgrading things, that what I want to do is not possible in my environment. I just want my guitar to sound like my guitar - big, lush & beautiful.
Thanks for reading.
