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Recording Acoustic Guitar

  • 5 replies
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Topic Recording Acoustic Guitar
Hi,
So after receiving some good advice, I am planning on buying a couple Studio Projects B1 microphones to mic my acoustic guitar. Where would you suggest I position the mics to get the best sound? I think I'll end up using one of these mics to record vocals as well, as I don't think my Shure Sm58 is giving me the best sound. Also, I've been trying to figure out a way to record both vocals and guitar at the same time...is this possible?

Thanks for the help
2
heheheh yes, one mic by your mouth, and one by the soundhole in your guitar, or where ever on your guitar

:)

its definetly possible
3
I too use the SP b1 mic and love it. However it is not my favorite for acoustic guitar. I love this mic for vocals! And because of its high SPL (sound pressure level) I get very good results with miking electric guitar amps and saxaphone. It has provided me with the best sax sound I've ever gotten.

For acoustic guitar I love the AKG cb2000 mic (inexpensive at around 200).

Both my mics are omni-directional which I don't believe are the best for recording voice and guitar at the same time but it is all I have at the present time. I do get bleed between the two, but I'm ok with it because I'm expecting to keep both guitar and vocals together anyway.

As far as mic placement for acoustic guitar ... It depends on the guitar, the player and playing style (finger picking vs strumming). Here's what I do.
Have the guitarist get into position.
Put the mics away for a min.
Get on my knees in front of the play (ouch doesn't sound good!)
And put my ear close to the guitar in different spots and listen for the sweet spot.
Then place the mic in the spot I found
Start asjusting input levels.

Some acoustics are much more bassy than others so I may choose the bass roll off if necessarry.

Recommendation: Invest in an inexpensive digital camera. Take pictures of mic placements, store the pics in a folder with a document of the same name (as the picture) and take a few notes. I find this invaluable, specially while working on multiple projects where I'm moving mics around a lot.

Joe C
4
My usual start-up is a mic over the shoulder of the player.... facing down towards the floor. Try 12-18" above to start.

Another mic 4-10" from the 12th fret.

Your mileage will vary... as other factors come into play-- your room, instruments, player, signal chain.

Be careful with placing the player/instrument near reflective surfaces as this can cause some cancellations in certain frequencies and effect the overtones of the instrument. Try an area rug also.

Also be careful about placing mics near the soundhole. This will result in a lot of "boominess" and pick noise... something that you may not want to be dominant on your track.

Spend time to get the mics setup properly... then you won't spend too much time later trying to tweak or "repair" something tracked poorly.
5
I start with one condensor about 1 foot in front of the 12th fret. 9 times out of 10 I use only one mic for acoustic guitar.

If I want a focused sound I use the mic in cardioid mode. If I want a more ballanced open sound I swithc to Omni.
6
I also only use one mic for acoustics, sometimes a second, but not often. I also record a second track directly out of the pickup (if the guitar has one.) I think it helps to clear up the fundamental frequencies.