What is the most basic setup that CLEARLY records vocals and acoustic guitar?

[Fairmont]

I just want to sit and play and sing.

What is the best simple setup to record this and play it back CLEARLY and lifelike?

One recorder.

One mic.

That's it.

What do you suggest?

I'm thinking of the Fostex MR-8 for the wax.

 

[Rokket]

Problem that we MR-8 owners are running into is that the pre amps in it suck. You'll want to get a mixer or a good pre amp if you go that route. I'd look at Korg or even Tascam first and see what they offer in decent digital. The Fostex economical digital recorders aren't that great.

But then again, I love mine....(because I bought the Yamaha MG10/2 mixer too)...

 

[gordone]

I think you have two competing goals - "Simple" vs. "Clear and Lifelike"
As Rokket mentions, just plugging a mic into an MR-8 won't get you a good sound. Of course it will be simple though...

My setup focuses on the "Clear and Lifelike", but still uses the "One mic to rule them all" paradigm. If you have good quality equipment, you can get great tones using just one mic for both guitar/vocals. Check out my tunes at http://www.evangordon.com/sounds.php for an idea of what you can do with one mic. "Che Guevara T-Shirt" is a good example of this. I used a Larrivee OM03R, mic'd with a Soundelux U97 into a Great River MP2 preamp, which went into a Delta 44 audio interface. Not exactly cheap, but it is fairly "Clear and lifelike"

 

[grn]

I'd use at least two mics... one on vocals and one pointed at the 12th fret of the acoustic if you want to keep it simple. Beyond that it will be difficult to get anything clear and lifelike. I suppose if you have a good condenser, you can put it at mouth level and angle down towards the guitar at about a 45 degree angle... so you still sing directly into it, but it's pointed at roughly the 12th fret.

Or if you have a sweet sounding room... you can just set up a mic somewhere in front of you, but I doubt you have a sweet sounding room.

 

[AGCurry]

I just want to sit and play and sing.

What is the best simple setup to record this and play it back CLEARLY and lifelike?

One recorder.

One mic.

That's it.

What do you suggest?

I'm thinking of the Fostex MR-8 for the wax.

Well, it looks like you answered your own question. One mic, one recorder. It's not magic - it's been done thousands of times by many many people - and any decent mic and recording machine will do.

A good space has ever so much to do with it, as grn wrote.

 

[XLR]

I just posted a clip to the "Rumble" thread that I did with one mic. Nylon string guitar with a keyboard backing track (the hokey keyboard part was the joke requirement of the Rumble thread that you have to play over).

http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?p=1448134#post1448134

As far as one mic though, I think it came out pretty clear and clean.

Tim

 

[Rokket]

I just posted a clip to the "Rumble" thread that I did with one mic. Nylon string guitar with a keyboard backing track (the hokey keyboard part was the joke requirement of the Rumble thread that you have to play over).

http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?p=1448134#post1448134

As far as one mic though, I think it came out pretty clear and clean.

Tim

It just takes practice setting up to get a good sound out of your acoustic. A lot of us have struggled with getting a good recording, and a lot of us succeeded. When I first started out, I didn't worry about mic placement. I didn't have a clue about where to place a mic to record guitar, so I just copied what I'd seen on tv and in videos. Trial and error.

 

[BentRabbit]

I just recorded a friend's boyfriend who had about 6 or 7 songs he had been tinkering with through the years...

Nothing elaborate, just sat him down and put an SM58 on his vox and an SM57 between the 12th fret and soundhole on the guitar... (Old Martin that his dad had left him... sweet sound...)

Like Rokket tho, I have the Yamaha MG10/2 to use with my MR8... mainly because of the pre's and the phantom power, but also because the metallic blue accents the red MR8 so nicely...

Anyway, within a couple hours (and one string change) I sent him home with a quick little CD that sounded pretty clean...