mic'ing acoustic guitar for recording

[mikegee]

i need advice for mic-ing my acoustic guitar... i am in the midst of recording tracks, and i am just not too pleased with the mic i am using. the overall tone is too thin. i am using a Marshall MXL 603S. Any opinions? do you think it is the (lack of) quality of the mic? or maybe the fact that its a small condenser mic? or a combination of both? Is a large condenser mic better suited for recording acoustic guitar?

thnx

[dagosto]

When using a small condenser I found a great technique is to position the mic over the right shoulder of a player (reverse if lefty) pointing straight down at the body of the guitar, a foot or two above the player's shoulder. Also, you may want to add another mic to this setup. I somtimes like an SM57 pointed at or around the neck joint.

Personally, if I am using only one mic on an acoustic I will probably reach for a dynamic or a large diaphram condenser depending on what sound I am looking for. I would say change the mic position first, then change the mic.

You may also want to record the guitar in a different part of the room. A thin sound can be the result of standing waves. Standing waves can cause the opposite too, what I generally refer to as a tubby sound. Does the guitar sound good to your ears when you play it in your space?

[mikegee]

Originally Posted by dagosto

When using a small condenser I found a great technique is to position the mic over the right shoulder of a player (reverse if lefty) pointing straight down at the body of the guitar, a foot or two above the player's shoulder. Also, you may want to add another mic to this setup. I somtimes like an SM57 pointed at or around the neck joint.

Personally, if I am using only one mic on an acoustic I will probably reach for a dynamic or a large diaphram condenser depending on what sound I am looking for. I would say change the mic position first, then change the mic.

You may also want to record the guitar in a different part of the room. A thin sound can be the result of standing waves. Standing waves can cause the opposite too, what I generally refer to as a tubby sound. Does the guitar sound good to your ears when you play it in your space?

thats really good advice, thanks. i'm gonna try that "over the shoulder" method, and see how it sounds.

Yea, the guitar sounds ok in the room, but now that i think about it, it seems the sound is rather dissipated...the walls and ceiling are pine wood, which i thought might be suitable for recording, but maybe the pine just makes a too deadening of tone? and i have a carpeted floor too. there is not much of any type of reverberation of any kind in the room. even strumming my dreadnaughts, it seems, i dunno, that they dont project as loudly as in other rooms with plaster walls. i always thought that a "non bouncy sounding" room was ideal for recording, but perhaps the pine wood walls are absorbing TOO much of the sound, dissipating the tone? is that possible? hmmm

What is a standing waves? can i ask?

[dagosto]

Standing waves are when a wave or multiple of waves are the same size as on of the dimensions of your room. They really only happen between parrallel surfaces (like a flat ceiling and floor). The fact that the surfaces are not highly reflective (aka bouncy) doesn't mean they are free from the effects of standing waves. The way you describe the problem in the last post makes me more confident this is a room problem.

From what I can remember about acoustic materials, wood has certain properties not man materials have. They will actually absorb certain lower frequencies while reflecting some higher ones. This could be adding to the problem too.

I would say the best thing to do is use a directional mic (for me I like dynamics for this) very close up to the the guitar. This will make use of the mics proximity effect, meaning the closer you get it to the guitar, the more bass response you would get. I usually mic the 12th fret or the neck joint. Then also try the over the shoulder technique with your small condenser and record to two tracks. The bass from the close mic might make up for the lack of bass in the over the shoulder mic.

[mikegee]

Originally Posted by dagosto

Standing waves are when a wave or multiple of waves are the same size as on of the dimensions of your room. They really only happen between parrallel surfaces (like a flat ceiling and floor). The fact that the surfaces are not highly reflective (aka bouncy) doesn't mean they are free from the effects of standing waves. The way you describe the problem in the last post makes me more confident this is a room problem.

From what I can remember about acoustic materials, wood has certain properties not man materials have. They will actually absorb certain lower frequencies while reflecting some higher ones. This could be adding to the problem too.

I would say the best thing to do is use a directional mic (for me I like dynamics for this) very close up to the the guitar. This will make use of the mics proximity effect, meaning the closer you get it to the guitar, the more bass response you would get. I usually mic the 12th fret or the neck joint. Then also try the over the shoulder technique with your small condenser and record to two tracks. The bass from the close mic might make up for the lack of bass in the over the shoulder mic.

excellent! thnx

[abarnett]

I don't know if you're still working on this MikeGee, but in general when micing from the front with a pretty directional mic, there is a noticable spectrum that you can sweep.

Start with the mic pointed at the twelfth fret from about two feet out and up a bit. As you sweep toward the sound hole, you'll get more body and lows. As you sweep up the neck, you'll get more high and fret noise. If you get a sound you like with two much fret noise, try pointing at the same spot on the guitar from a placement a little more off axis.

If you are a guitarist that moves around a ton, Dagosto's technique is going to work better.

hope this helps!

[smopo24]

I have used something that was kind of weird, but mixed in, made the track sound a little more robust. I took this old cassette recorder with a built-in mic (some old Sony), and sat with it pressed against the back of the guitar. It is pretty cool, and not great for every application; but just a bit will give it an interesting texture.

[Jared Kubokawa]

Definitely try the over the should technique. It works great. But then also add a mic about 6 inches out from the 12th fret (parallel to the neck) and another closer to the bridge, find the sweet spots on the guitar by experimenting with placement (the bridge position mic will vary greatly from guitar to guitar), finally hard pan them right and left for some stereo imaging and mix in the over the shoulder. The combination works really well.

Lastly, if you're worried about the room, a great place is the bathroom, especially tiled floors/walls. For vocals and acoustic guitar the isolation and natural reverb is great. Then you get to tell the engineer, "More can in my cans," and there's already a chair in there.

[SorenP]

ahh the teeth-mic. a little used tactic in acoustic recording...

[Jared Kubokawa]

Man, what's with all the junk posts now of advertisements. I know its a software program that is doing it but how did they get into the message board? That's totally not cool.