andy, recording acoustic guitars?

[azzxaa]

hey!

What type of mic do you use to record acoustic guitars for like parts in KsE stuff, I really love the sound of blending it in with heavy guitars.

And would you suggest to record 2 with 100% L R ?

Please share anyone else

 

[discordless]

i am about to record some acoustics too, and altho im gonna experiment, i need some starting points, like stereo microphones or sparate panned takes , distances , types of mics , just some ideas for me to get started

 

[LSD-Studio]

for me it really depends on ehat I wanna achieve...

for nylonstring-stuff I like putting a 414 and m160 in M/S configuration, for steelstrings I mostly use spaced pair km184s, sometimes blumlein....

how widely panned? also....depends....give them the "pocket" they need/you wanna have them in.

 

[greyskull]

m/s!!?!?!?
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghgggh.
the headache of setting it up.
lol
i use blumlein, coz its easy.
or a ldc and a 57 blended

 

[Grave Desire]

I usually only do one acoustic mic and double the performance. I might record with two mics for options...but I'll usually only keep one. Although I do like the 414 set up that LSD mentioned too. Can't go wrong with that.

If the room is treated well with no strange reflections..I'd recommend experimenting with pulling the mic back away from the acoustic. I used to mic acoustics close and always seemed to have trouble getting the mids to sound right. Finally one day I just moved my ear around while the guy was playing to find where it sounded best to me in the room and put the mic about a 18 inches from the source and it solved alot of problems I had with the tone of the guitar. The overall tone was just more natural. That being said....there are alot of other variables..but try it if you find yoruself having troubles with the tone.

 

[BassTard]

A position that I quite like (as a starting point) is found by circling the distance between the fingerboard and the bridge (the green cross).

I'll go for large diaphragm (sometimes M/S).
In addition I do like a small diaphragm condenser over the player's shoulder (on the side of the neck).

But as said before, it'll need some experimentation. Especially for blending with electrics. Perhaps you should even try the Boss AC-2 Acoustic Simulator?!

 

[LSD-Studio]

A position that I quite like (as a starting point) is found by circling the distance between the fingerboard and the bridge (the green cross).

I'll go for large diaphragm (sometimes M/S).
In addition I do like a small diaphragm condenser over the player's shoulder (on the side of the neck).

But as said before, it'll need some experimentation. Especially for blending with electrics. Perhaps you should even try the Boss AC-2 Acoustic Simulator?!

I second the "near the bridge"-position for spaced pair (gives a nice wooden body) but prefer the other mic in the more common position aiming at the 12th fret (where the overtones are)....that's for me as well the position for M/S and blumlein...

I don't get why M/S should be difficult to set up though

 

[Polpotkin]

In addition I do like a small diaphragm condenser over the player's shoulder

+1
I use my Oktava's, one pointing to the 12th fret or something like that, and one over the shoulder.. or next to the players ear.

 

[brandy]

+1
I use my Oktava's, one pointing to the 12th fret or something like that, and one over the shoulder.. or next to the players ear.

Oh, thanks for that inspiration! I never tried that...


For me there are basicaly two ways of recording an accoustic guitar (talking about accoustics in a rock/metal context - for a classical approach we have to do different)

a) if it is a quick any dirty session... hardrock.. "oh we just need to record an accousic guitar for this intro and that chorus"

i most likely just put up a LDC (for example an U89) in the "standard-rock-n-roll-position" one foot away

b) if it is a more important situation.. for example if i need ballpark sounding accoustix and we have some time for setup

i most likely use that U89 from a) and add a stereo system based on pair of small diaphragm condensers (for example KM184) 1 or 2 meters away. You can use ORTF or small A/B.



I will try a Blumlein setup ASAP, because stuff like that can realy sound interesting

brandy

 

[everybody's x]

I use my Oktava's, one pointing to the 12th fret or something like that, and one over the shoulder.. or next to the players ear.

+1

 

[axeman720]

When i recorded the acoustic guitars on Chimaira's Resurrection record that andy mixed i used my taylor 314 koa micd with a Royer 121 pointed between bridge and soundhole and a u87 in figure 8 pattern pointed toward the 12 fret and where the neck meets the body. I remember andy liking the sound quite a bit, as he told me. Hope this helps.

Oh and Api and vintech preamps.