Acoustic Miking
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Posted on Jul 23, 2004 02:02 am
slightlystoopid
I sleep too much.
Member Since: Jul 08, 2004
As of now i only have 1 mic - An oktava mk319.
I'm trying to get a decent sound out of my acoustic. All i get is a deep bass sound.
I figured it might be the guitar so i tried my other acoustic, and they both record the same. Which is real odd, because one is a seagull and the other is a fender electric acoustic. (To the ear, they are night and day)
Well all im asking is what are some tricks for miking acoustics with only one large diaphragm.. Or is it gonna sound like crap until i get some extra condensers?
Help!
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guitwizzNothing doesnt give me gasMember
Since: May 25, 2004
Jul 23, 2004 02:51 am hi Slightly,
6-12 inches away from the guitar with your 319, aimed right at the 12th fret. Experiment a bit with placement within an inch or so, but stay away from the soundhole, thats whats giving you the bass/ boominess. Also, dont have it too straight on, lower it to capture the treble strings a bit more than the bass strings.
A large diaphragm on acoustics captures more detail than a sm dia condenser, but is more moody about what it will give you. Copy paste the same track on a second one, line-em up and leave one side dry, and a bit of verb to the other. Experiment with other effects as well. Doing different things to the left/right will simulate stereo type texture as good as you can with one mic.
Jul 23, 2004 10:21 am You can also try aiming at the bridge, which gives you a similar sound.
guitwizzNothing doesnt give me gasMember
Since: May 25, 2004
Jul 23, 2004 11:26 pm AIming it at the bridge is only good if you are doing stereo miking, with one on the other side also. There is a ton of bass coming off the top of the guitar as well, where the bridge is, and it needs to be tempered with another source. Couple that with a lg. Dia. mic which picks up more bass than the usual small dia. for miking acoustic guitars, and it can be a mess.
If you really want that boomy bassy sound, that would work good for a track though.
The best balance of both using one mic, is somewhere between the 12th fret, and the neck joint.
Jul 24, 2004 12:13 am Well thank you guys very much, i didn't think to try anywhere but the sound hole hehe.
I'm about to go try some more now.
Thanks again!
Oh but if anyone has any more suggestions, i'd love to hear them too hehe.
guitwizzNothing doesnt give me gasMember
Since: May 25, 2004
Jul 24, 2004 12:55 am Take a shower, you have been recording too long, and you smell.......
oh wait, thats me, nevermind
guitwizzNothing doesnt give me gasMember
Since: May 25, 2004
Jul 24, 2004 12:56 am hehe
Jul 25, 2004 09:04 pm The way I'm recording my acoustic these days is from the back. Aimed directly at the soundhole, I got a horrible boomy sound. At fret twelve, it sounded good, but not what I was looking for. Just behind the acoustic, I got exactly what I was looking for. Mic placement is critical for acoustic in my opinion. Just move that mic around until you hear what you want.
guitwizzNothing doesnt give me gasMember
Since: May 25, 2004
Jul 26, 2004 04:23 am From the back???!!! Thru your back??
I dont get it....Your body is there right?
flame...bringing sexy backMember
Since: Jul 01, 2002
Jul 26, 2004 04:27 am im gonna try recording it with two mics by my ears sometime...
Jul 26, 2004 03:38 pm Ah, it was incredible luck! My mic stand was out on loan to a friend of mine. Another friend of mine wanted to see how all my equipment worked, so in order to give a quick demonstration, I placed my mic in the space between my leg and the body of the guitar (facing the guitar). I played a little tune and was absolutely STUNNED at the sound that I got! It was incredibly full, not too boomy, very little finger scrape (obviously). Everything I wanted in an acoustic sound, really. But it's all because of the way I hold my guitar. Now, I use my mic stand to place my mic juuuuust in that spot, and get the sound I want everytime. Every now and then, I'll use that sound, then record a second track with my mic aimed at the third fret. It gives me a LOT of finger noise. It's all in the ears!
flame...bringing sexy backMember
Since: Jul 01, 2002
Jul 26, 2004 05:56 pm i oughta try that...thought about attaching a mic clip to your belt?
Jul 26, 2004 07:21 pm You mean one of those lil tiny mics that you clip to your tie or something? Cause I couldna imagine hangin my large diaphram offa my belt. :)
Hell, Id try just about anything to get a good sound! That seems to be the big bonus to home recording. All the time you need to get the sound you want.
I also lucked out in another way. After hooking up my mixer to my recorder, I noticed there was a distinct difference between the sound coming from my mixer and the sound going into my recorder. Prolly from the cheapo RCA cables Im using. At first it really bugged me, but after listening to it, I realized what I was getting was a slight delay-type sound (kinda like a small echo chamber or some such) that really sounded SWEET! It's just enough of an effect to make recordings sound less "dry". I'm curious to find out where the cause lies, but dont wanna screw up the mojo Im getting. I guess I'll wait until I need a really dry recording to probe the problem. Any of you guys ever run into this?
HuePinnipedal Czar (: 3= Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004
Jul 26, 2004 08:13 pm That is strange... never heard of 'latency' from a mixer .
Jul 28, 2004 03:28 am Great thread. This topic can never be discussed too often IMO, coz i've read many similar things to these before and STILL havent tried them all out really. It seems like many things, there are no rules, coz (1) everyones tastes are different and (2) everyones setup and recording environment is different and the best thing to do is to write down all the options people have listed and tried, try them all out, then try a whole bunch of new ones too and see which you're happiest with.
GuitarLord, your method sounds so interesting. Any chance you could link a pic of how that looks exactly? I've got visions of me fumbling with a mic down near my crotch somwhere... i think i may have not grasped your visualization!!!! But it sounds great.... finger noise (and more importantly breath noise maybe) to a mininum is a wonderful aspect of it.
One thing i find hard and annoying and so wanna ask you lot, is that if you have the mic 6 to 12 inches away (from wherever on the fretboard), you have to turn the preamp up to be able to record at a reasonable level, but in doing so, you pick up a lot of room noise or whatever its called. A related problem: picking is obviously quiter than strumming, so do you guys use the same levels and mic positions for all types of playing?
Jul 28, 2004 04:48 am Well, my software for my digital camera is giving me problems at the moment, but I'd be happy to send you one whenever I fix that problem.
But, if I can help your visual some...When I play acoustic guitar, due to the size of the acoustic, and the size of my ever expanding gut, AND the fact that I only play acoustic whilst sitting down, I invariably have a space between my guitar and myself ONLY about to the 17th fret. Really, just enough space to stick my mic.
The mic I'm using is a MXL 990. I face the front of the mic right at the body of the guitar, as close as I can accomodate it without chancing marring the finish on my guitar. If I want more finger noise, I put a sm57 a few inches away from the fretboard at about the third fret and just mix a lil bit of that with the main sound.
As for picking being quieter than strumming, when I set up to record my acoustic, I set my levels so that strumming produces no peaks. I already have a heavy pick attack, but if I didnt I'd prolly increase pick attack on single notes some to compensate if I thought there was a need for it. I've tried compression on acoustic and didnt care for it AT ALL! But that is a personal preference.
I've spent the past two weeks doing nothing but playing with mic positions and I'll tell ya, mic positioning play a larger part than the mic itself! If you dont spent the time to get the mic position right, it dont matter WHAT mic you choose, it stands a good chance of sounding like crap!
Just experiment with what you got. Home recording gives you all the time you need, so take advantage of it!
guitwizzNothing doesnt give me gasMember
Since: May 25, 2004
Jul 28, 2004 01:43 pm yOU are right about the positioning, the sweet spots can also differ greatly in a half an inch. I am still hazy on your specs though, you are still talking about miking in BACK of the guitar? Is that right?
flame...bringing sexy backMember
Since: Jul 01, 2002
Jul 28, 2004 02:32 pm i thought he meant in front...
Jul 28, 2004 03:04 pm To add to the discussion, I was miking my acoustic for a song with drums, bass, and some congas and everything I did around the twelfth fret seems to capture too much bottom end. It was a great sound, but wouldn't work in the mix.
I ended up with the mic at a 45 degree angle up facing the nut. The mic was around the fifth fret. It was real close but I didn’t have to crank the gain on my pre, and I got a real nice sound with a great roll-off just were I needed it to leave room for the other instruments.
You can hear this technique in a song I am about to post up.
Jul 29, 2004 03:11 am All interesting stuff again. Thanks guys. And yeah, i'd still love a pic GL... seems i'm never the best at visualizing these things. Still, if what i try comes off anyway...who gives a damnn eh? :)
BH, i've also found that at the twelfth fret, and often angle the mic a little more towards the headstock. That gets rids of quite a bit of boominess doesnt it.
