Recording Acoustic Guitars

[AStacy2]

Hey guys, I'm going to be doing a demo for this band in about a week or so and they play metal ala Opeth (well from what I can tell from their "boombox in the middle of the room" recordings at least) with a lot of heavy parts and some acoustic parts as well. I don't have very much experience recording acoustic guitars and was wondering some mic placement tips and mixing tips that you guys had? The distored guitar tips on the forum helped so much so I figured you guys would know about this too. I think the best mics I have for the job would be 2 SM81's that I usually use for overheads on drums.

Any advice is appriciated! Thanks!

 

[smy1]

Something that works really well for me on acoustic guitar is a mix of a Shure SM57 about six inches away from the 14th fret and my Audio Technica 4040 pointed at a 45° angle over my right shoulder (next to my ear - the spot where a guitar sounds like you hear it). One panned hard left and one panned hard right. Add a bit of 5k to the SM57.

I found that expensive tube mics sound like ass on guitars because they aim at the top and bottom end of the sound and guitars are predominantly midrange same with large diaphragm condensers who try to emulate a large diaphragm tube mic. A combo like the above seems to work well for me, though.

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

Yeah, the general consensus I think is put the mic (an SM57 works fine) about 8-10 inches from where the neck meets the body, aimed towards the front edge of the soundhole, and adjust to taste - more distance will add more room sound and treble, and vice versa. If you change the angle of the close mic towards to soundhole you get more bass too, though it can get boomy on some notes so you have to be careful. The mic-over-the-shoulder thing gives you a lot of the room sound, so you can keep the close mic closer and blend the two for a really thick sound.

If you've got an electro-acoustic, blend in the DI to the mic to get more attack, but the DI will sound rank on it's own. If you don't have that option, you might try putting a mic by the bridge too (again pointing towards the edge of the soundhole) - it'll get lots of plectrum noise and 'sharper' sounding notes, so you can blend it in as you want to make the whole more crisp.

And personally, I like acoustic guitar to not need any bass guitar under it - most of the stuff I hear doesn't have enough low-end for my tastes.

Steve

 

[Pman]

ah this is perfect
i intend to record an acoustic in a couple days
how convenient

 

[Ermz]

The way I've always done it is place the mic roughly in front of the sound hole but aimed at the 12th fret. The 12th fret is just where it 'happens' for all acoustic guitars. Pulled some great single-mic sounds this way.

 

[Razorjack]

12th fret, over the shoulder, towards the soundhole and about 2-3" from the bridge are the places I usually mic up and then I pic and choose the combinations that work best.

 

[AStacy2]

Cool, thanks for the tips guys. Do you usually double track acoustics or anything like that?

 

[Ermz]

I meant to ask. How exactly is the 'over the shoulder' thing done? Can anyone roughly create a mental picture for me?

 

[Kenneth R.]

this is great info for me as well, previously i'd only done the angle over the soundhole method...

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

As I understand it, you set up the mic like an overhead for drums, pointing forwards and down at the floor, floating just over your strumming shoulder - in theory the mic will sound very similar to how you hear the guitar when you're playing it. It'll give you lots of air because of the distance, and cuts the bass because of the position. I've never used it though - it seems kinda weird to me to point the mic in the same direction as sound you're recording is travelling, though I think a lot of people do it facing into a corner.

I think over the soundhole/fretboard pointed at the fretboard/soundhole is the most common, though that's probably just because it's easy to get a good sound.

Steve

 

[Pman]

As I understand it, you set up the mic like an overhead for drums, pointing forwards and down at the floor, floating just over your strumming shoulder - in theory the mic will sound very similar to how you hear the guitar when you're playing it. It'll give you lots of air because of the distance, and cuts the bass because of the position. I've never used it though - it seems kinda weird to me to point the mic in the same direction as sound you're recording is travelling, though I think a lot of people do it facing into a corner.

I think over the soundhole/fretboard pointed at the fretboard/soundhole is the most common, though that's probably just because it's easy to get a good sound.

Steve

but what about us Heavy Breathers??

 

[cobhc]

but what about us Heavy Breathers??

keep to stalking people on the phone instead of playing guitar

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

but what about us Heavy Breathers??

I think the obvious advice would be to play the guitar behind your head, thus eliminating the problem entirely

Steve

 

[Pman]

keep to stalking people on the phone instead of playing guitar

but i need to pay the bills??