Discussion on micing Acoustic Guitar

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a.k.a. Porp & Mr. Muffins
Member Since: Oct 09, 2002

Acoustic guitar seems like a really tough instrument to mic because there are so many meathods and techniques-- all of which can soud good all depending on the style of the song and the other instruments. Sometimes it's good to double track, sometimes compression is good, sometimes it's good to just mic up close to the hole, and other times stereo techniques are called for. Sometimes it's cool to record one close-miked track and copy it to opposite speakers with a bit of delay. How do you mic acoustic guitar? What are some good stereo techniques?

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sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003


Feb 13, 2004 01:00 pm

Well, I usually use the piezo pickup and an sm57. The sm57 is usually about 7 inches away, pointed right at the soundhole. I then run those inputs into my board, sidechain that through my alesis nanocompressor, then run that into Cool Edit Pro. Typically I give the high end a boost, after recording.
However, since I got the Oktava MK012, I may experiment with using that instead... Maybe I can capture more of that high end instead of pumping it up after it's recorded. It seems to capture the highs better than the sm57.
I'd be very interested to hear suggestions or input about this! I'm getting ready to do an acoustic track this weekend, and all tips are appreciated.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


Feb 13, 2004 01:24 pm

I've only mic'd my acoustic 1 way so far, and that is with an SM57 about 6" from the 15th fret, perpendicular to the fretboard. I try to use a medium pick with a sharp tip for a bright, uniform (and not too percussive) attack.

Personally I don't like the under-the-saddle peizo pickup sound, even when its mixed in with a mic'd signal...it's just so conspicuous and I can usually pick it out when I hear it. I just prefer the natural sound of an acoustic instead of the more frail sound of the sound being picked up right at the bridge.

I keep reading that condensors are superior to dynamics when it comes to acoustic guitars, but I wouldn't know since I've never used one.

a.k.a. Porp & Mr. Muffins
Member
Since: Oct 09, 2002


Feb 13, 2004 02:52 pm

Yeah, the biggest difference I noticed after buying my first condenser mic was in the quality of my acoustic guitar recordings, so, TCB- I would definately suggest using the MK012 on the acoustic. If you want a big, close-up sound than put it right in front of the sound hole as close as you can without hitting it. This will give you a natural low and high-end boost in my experience, but doesn't sound totally natural (which can be good if you have a cheapo acoustic guitar!) Moving the mic back a bit and putting it in front of the bridge will give you a more natural sound from what I've read and the little experimentation I've done. hanging the mic from up above, over the top of the body of the guitar-- pointing down, will give you a similar, natural, room sound. Now that I'm thinking about about stereo configurations, though, I'm kind of stuck-- and I'm not sure how popular it is to mic an acoustic with stereo techniques, but I think I do hear something of the sort in many recordings. For effects I generally use a warm stereo reverb (cut out the highs and lows on the reverb signal) and sometimes some compression and delay.

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003


Feb 13, 2004 03:11 pm

Hey, great responses, guys! Thanks for the tips. It's hard to hear real nuances of my acoustic sound with current setup, unless I actually burn the signal to cd and hear it like that, due to the slapdashed-juryrigged headphone monitor system I've concocted (sound card output blends with headphone out from mixing board, meeting in the four-track I use for a headphone monitor mixer, getting converted to mono through my cheapest patch cords, then back to two mono signals in the cans, which were purchased for $20 at Wal-mart - yeah, I know, lotta noise, bad freq response, etc... I'll fix it one of these days, it's just for headphone monitoring while playing, not mixing). I think I'll play a few bars in each configuration and record them all on different tracks, switch my headphone-signal back to the mixing version, and compare. I want to get a very natural sound, with a close presence. The guitar itself is a Takamine classical, probably mid-range quality, so I'm not too concerned about unnaturally augmenting the sound... I just need to capture it in a way that sounds good. Tadpui, I think you method of miking sounds pretty good... PorpoiseMuffins, your description of how placement corresponds to the various effects is really helpful. It gives me a good idea of what changes to expect in my recorded sound before I go to the trouble of moving stuff around.

Emerson's Transparent Eyeball
Member
Since: Jan 19, 2004


Feb 13, 2004 03:15 pm

For more strummy, folk and country stuff I like to use the SM57, about four or five inches from the guitar, pointed towards the bridge and high E-string "corner" of the soundhole if that makes sense), a little off- axis. My guitar has a pretty pronounced low end and pointing it closer to the bridge helps alleviate that some and keeps it from sounding too boomy without resorting to a lot of eq. Just a little compression, not too much--- rough edges are good for folk and country.
For more slappy, percussive work I like to use the MK 012, pointed more towards the middle of the sound hole. It picks up articulation and high end a little better, so it's good for that stuff- think Ani diFranco, something like that- and more compression. Once in a while I'll blend in the Fishman soundhole pickup on another track and pan that opposite the mic, but I much prefer the "natural" acoustic sound. Maybe I've just listened to too much old Dylan and Hank Williams, I don't know...
As far as stereo, some people like to put a mic on the fretboard, and another on the soundhole because each end of the guitar sounds different. Or, you could run two small- diaphragm condensors in an XY a couple feet aay, but I don't know how much stereo you'd get out of that.

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Feb 13, 2004 03:26 pm

TCB, My favorite sets of cans are cheapies. One set I inherited at my wedding, they are my wife's that she got with her stereo about 10 years ago and the other is a set I got from Radio Shack for about $15, they are both nice. Don't knock cheap cans! :-D

sloppy dice, drinks twice
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2003


Feb 13, 2004 03:48 pm

Yeah, I got my good headphones from RS too... I got that version that's about halfway between being the nice, thick, over the ear types and the thin foam "earplates" walkman-style ones... They actually sound pretty good - or rather, soundED good until my son developed a sudden interest in something dangerous across the room and I leapt to my feet while simultaneously wearing the headphones and standing on the cord. Now I only get sound out of one side... so I use the cheaper-looking-and-sounding ones I got from Wal-mart. No bass response on those... I gotta replace them with the good ones again.
Gotta replace that monitor setup too... get a cheap Shack mixer or something... the HISSSSSSSSSSSS from the 4-track is almost as loud as the music itself and frankly, it gives me a hell of a headache after 2 hours of it.

Emerson's Transparent Eyeball
Member
Since: Jan 19, 2004


Feb 13, 2004 04:22 pm

I got great use out of a pair of Realistic Pro-60 headphones for years until one of the sides started to get real buzzy on the bass notes. More annoying was the fact that the foam was disintegrating all over my ears- kind of a gross feeling.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


Feb 13, 2004 04:30 pm

So its a nylon stringed guitar? Actually I have a classical Takimine and I really love it.

I've heard that nylon string acoustic is one of the most difficult instruments to mic. The high end is pretty attenuated, and there tends to be a boomy low and low-mid, just due to the nature of the strings. I"ve only briefly fooled around with recording it...I managed to leave my nylon string at a friend's house 250 miles away just a couple of days after I started attempting to do some recordings :(

Since it is a nylon stringed guitar, you might actually have some luck with the combined peizo and mic signals. I find that nylon strings don't sound as obnoxious as steel strings do when picked up by a peizo, but I guess it depends on your guitar and your tastes!

Good luck!

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Feb 13, 2004 04:41 pm

Quote:
I got great use out of a pair of Realistic Pro-60 headphones for years until one of the sides started to get real buzzy on the bass notes.


I had a great pair of realistics when I was a teenager. It's the only pair of cans I actually burnt to the point where I could smell them. Totally fried them. Man they were nice cans tho.

a.k.a. Porp & Mr. Muffins
Member
Since: Oct 09, 2002


Feb 13, 2004 04:42 pm

Yeah, I've got 2 pairs of Radio Shack "extreme" headphones ($30- go entirely over the ears) and they are really quite nice! Now I've got a pair of Audio-Technica's (ATH-M40fs), but I still use the RS's as well. Actually, I wear the Audio Technicas and then whoever's playing the instrument or singing uses the Radio Shacks. After all, I need to be able to hear an accurate sound reproduction being the engineer and all... :)

Member
Since: Nov 21, 2002


Feb 13, 2004 04:56 pm

i have a pair of K-55's (forgot the brand name), and some cheaper pair i got at sam goody, and they are severely lacking duct tape. neither are expensive, but they do the job well enough for me.

a.k.a. Porp & Mr. Muffins
Member
Since: Oct 09, 2002


Feb 13, 2004 05:21 pm

I smell a thread hijacking coming on...

Member
Since: Nov 21, 2002


Feb 13, 2004 05:34 pm

alright then, to share how I mic my acoustic, i use my AKG 1500s , pointed upwards towards the end of the fretboard about 7-8 in away; for my dobro, i point the mic straight into the resonator cone, about a foot away, maybe a little more or less. then again... what do i know? hah

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Feb 15, 2004 10:43 pm

Oh, I suppose I have to tell my miccing tech first, then back to the thread hi-hacking.

Anyway, I as well use both Piezo and a condenser mic. My accuastic has a very good pre-amp as well so it sound great as is, but I will throw up my CAD E-100 or my Oktava MK-319 aimed were the neck joins the body and about 8 to 10 inches out or more, depending on the sound I want. The CAD is great at picking up the finger sounds on the strings when doing finger picking. the Oktava is great at adding some huge bottom end to it, although the onboard Pre and EQ do a great job of that as well.

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