Acoustic Guitar Tips

[atmetal]

I am really looking to acquire that CLA sound when recording an acoustic guitar. I have the mics to do it, and the guitar, but its the post processing that I am a little lost on.

I am looking for just a little bit of direction in a sense of, should I slam the guitars with tons of compression, or back off a good bit. Should I throw a HP or LP on them or leave them be. How many tracks would you normally record of acoustic guitar.

I am not asking for anyones secrets here, just a little direction to take and run with.

 

[Forceps]

Are there any other instruments involved in the song? It's a difference of you just have a acc. guitar track in a song with bass, drums, etc. or just a singer-song writer recording.
I recorded a singer-song writer a while ago and I remember I didn't use to much compression to keep the tracks alive and organic. Just some EQ and some reverb, that's it.

Are you using 2 mics to record and pan them L - R? I did that and the sound was huge!

 

[mrbean667]

Forceps, your tip on panning is spot on. You hear it in the new Dream Theater album, and most Ayreon songs.
On processing, it's a matter of what you want to sound like. If you're looking for a polished sound, HP and LP them as much as you want, perhaps compression.
Personally though, I like leaving them as is to get an organic, Opeth kind of sound.

 

[atmetal]

Acoustic and vocals.

Not that I am a fan of the music, but CLA did one hell of a job on Chris Daughtry's acoustic stuff.. that is basically the sound I am wanting. It is a lot more thin than most people prefer, but i love it.

on another spectrum, something along the lines of andy mckee. It has a lot to do with the guitar I know, and the mics and mic placement. I am using 2 Mojave MA-201 mics.

I will just have to mess around and try and find that sound I am looking for.. I mean.. that is all any of us can do really, haha no one will just up and give away their secrets. haha

 

[Forceps]

I used 2 completely different mics (because that was all I had back then): a SM57 and a AKG2000b condenser. I aimed one at the 12th fret and the other one at the spot between the bridge and the sound hole. Panned them hard L - R. It sounded really natural, only did some slight eq-ing to make the guitars a bit more bright and did some compressing as mentioned earlier. The tracks can be listened at here: http://www.myspace.com/rondevousmusic

 

[vespiz]

A good starting point for EQ is to look for mud in the 200 - 220Hz area and cut some away.
This area seems to always boom a little, no matter which guitar/mic/room combo.
(220 is A in standard E 440Hz tuning, lower tunings = lower Hz)

 

[ahjteam]

...a good starting point is to LISTEN how it sounds thru the microphone. If it sounds excellent, don't do any post processing.

 

[GarethSE]

i like to cut some of the mid and add a bit of tasteful compression just to make it pop a little bit. send it to a reverb and be done

 

[LydonB]

I like to compress acoustic guitar just a little bit on the way in just to catch peaks. If you have an outboard compressor that may be something to consider too.

 

[colonel kurtz]

+1 to mic'ing around the 12th fret and between the soundboard and bridge...i usually use an AT4033 on the body, and an SM81 on the neck, and have always been satisfied with the results. hard-pan, high-pass, maybe a touch of EQ where needed, and depending on the song i might compress a teensy bit...not to knock down the peaks or anything, but sometimes i like to soften the pick attack by setting the attack really fast

 

[-Loco-]

Are your mics stereo matched? i picked up a set of Rode NT-5's that were stereo matched, supposed to be for overheads but they went quite well with my Yamaha LL6 i think. This track had a tiny touch of compression and a smidgen of e.q i think just to boost the high's. I did it a while ago so i can't remember that much

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=820962&content=songinfo&songID=6721242


i think hard compression on acoustic guitars is pointless because acoustic guitar imo is supposed to have quite a dynamic to it. It's okay to use a little bit to bring it up but if you want that andy mckee sound he's doing all that shit with his hands.

 

[atmetal]

all of this is super helpful. once i get something done i will post it on the Rate my mix/tone section.

thank you everyone who has posted.

 

[colonel kurtz]

good deal...just remember to never, ever, point the mic straight at the soundhole! all you'll get is a boxy booming out of it...angle that shit towards the body as to pick up some of the resonance of the wood along with the string/pick noise