With residence recording setups getting increasingly more professional today, a studio-grade acoustic guitar sound is inside attain.
Let’s talk about the way to get you there.
Earlier than Organising Something …
1. Take into account the House.
Most people desire a much less reverberant area to report guitar. This provides us a lifeless, clear sound to work with in post-production. Attempt to discover a room or a nook of an area that doesn’t have loads of pingy, slappy echoes. Oftentimes, enjoying with the soundhole pointing into an open closet will do the trick!
2. Take into account the Guitar.
When you have the selection amongst a number of guitars, you need to choose the guitar that will get closest to the sound you’re searching for on the observe. If the acoustic guitar is the one instrument on the observe, possibly a extra balanced and even low, beefy sound is what you need. If it’s a wealthy observe with a number of devices and all you want is a shiny prime finish sound, keep away from that beefy guitar and choose the guitar that excels within the excessive vary. Typically the costlier shouldn’t be the higher sounding one for the observe you’re engaged on. Hear fastidiously to the guitars you could have available and possibly even do some fast check recordings if in case you have time. Making educated decisions at this stage will repay later within the combine.
3. Take into account the Decide.
Is the guitar half fingerpicked? Is it strummed? How a lot does capturing the sound of the rhythm hand to you? Pay attention to not simply the notes being performed and the guitar’s tone, however how the choosing assault sounds relative to the half. Talking very usually, listed below are some guidelines of thumb… Skinny picks will likely be higher for rhythmic strumming, and so they gained’t sound nice with single-note components. Fingerpicking with no aids is normally a bit quieter, so you might wish to mic the participant a lot nearer or hotter.
4. Take into account the Microphones.
Whereas it’s true that any mic can be utilized to seize acoustic guitar, there are some tried and true decisions that you need to find out about. Utilizing condenser and dynamic microphones is an business staple in terms of acoustic guitar, for positive. Dynamic mics such because the Shure SM57 on the lowest value finish, or a step up in value to the Rode M3, could be the most effective start line for anybody. When deciding on condensers, massive diaphragm fashions will usually seize extra low and center frequencies than a small diaphragm counterpart. The Rode NT1A condenser mic has lengthy been a stand-by for acoustic guitar residence recording, and justifiably so. At a better value level, think about Neumann’s TLM collection of condensers. Ribbon mics are additionally an incredible possibility for capturing element and vibe – they do the most effective when the guitar half is a bit quieter, with the Royer R-121 being a basic go-to in such conditions.
Microphone Setups…
Alright, it’s showtime. You’ve carried out all the mandatory considering and kit acquisition. Let’s mic setup choices.
The principle factor to recollect about any mic positioning is that you do not need to level a microphone immediately perpendicular to the sound gap of the guitar. This will likely appear counterintuitive at first, however if you happen to make a check recording, you’ll instantly hear why: it is going to simply sound boomy, muddy, and overwhelming. Whereas the soundhole is clearly essential to the resonance and projection of an acoustic guitar, the general sound of the guitar comes from extra than simply the soundhole. We are going to talk about this additional as we stroll by all of the approaches.
1. 1 Mic
Your choices are clearly extra restricted with 1 mic, however you may undoubtedly nonetheless get nice sounds. As talked about above, don’t level your mic perpendicular to the soundhole. Virtually every other alternative will sound higher. The preferred and confirmed possibility is to level the mic the place the neck meets the physique, or alternatively on the twelfth fret. (For some guitars that’s the identical place, after all.) Usually you’ll want to place the mic about 8 inches to a foot away from the guitar. This may permit a really balanced quantity of excessive (principally from the neck/strings), mid, and low (from the physique of the guitar) frequencies to be captured. Additional away and you’re going to get extra “room” sound. Nearer, and you might not get such a stability of frequencies.
If you happen to’re not getting a sound you want when the mic is perpendicular to the neck, play with angling the mic both barely towards the soundhole or barely towards the headstock. You’ll be able to most likely guess what the ensuing change in sound will likely be. Nearer to the soundhole brings in additional mids, lows, rhythm hand sounds, and every thing taking place on that aspect. Towards the headstock, it’s extra excessive frequencies, strings, and the fretboard hand. As at all times, use your ears to determine!
Neumann made a beautiful YouTube collection on mic-ing acoustic guitar that you need to take a look at. Right here’s the video the place they discover the 1-Mic method.
2. 2 Mics
The introduction of a second mic opens up some actually enjoyable choices.
A/B Spaced Pair
The basic! That is mainly the aforementioned 1-mic method, plus a mic down by the physique of the guitar. Place one on the twelfth fret, after which one down close to the top of the guitar physique, angled barely towards the soundhole. The second mic will now be capturing a lot of the low finish for you, so combine accordingly. You should use any two mics, however consult with the sooner dialogue of mics for concepts on choice with this method. Use your ears to seek out the most effective place for the second mic, being cautious to keep away from any boomy spots. Try this video for an incredible in-depth research of the method. Within the video, many various choices for the place of the second mic are explored – not simply down close to the rhythm hand – however right here at Supreme Tracks we do advocate utilizing the second mic down on the physique of the guitar. Judging by this UAD video on acoustic guitar mic-ing with legendary mixer Jacquire King, we’re in good firm. One different factor to notice about this method is that generally you may come throughout part points between the mics, which isn’t fascinating. Try the 2 linked movies for extra dialogue of that. If you happen to discover that you just wrestle regularly with part points when recording acoustic guitar, the subsequent method is certainly one that can curiosity you.
Stereo Pair
When you have an identical pair of microphones, you may discover what’s referred to as X/Y stereo mic-ing. That is the place the 2 mics are positioned from the identical level, as shut to one another as doable, however pointing in several angles. (The “X/Y” is referring to their axes of orientation on this case.) The ensuing tracks, when panned left and proper, produce a comparatively clear stereo picture that’s devoid of part problems. Because it’s the identical mannequin, manufactured on the identical time, pointing from the identical place, you’re getting a reliably related recording on each tracks. Getting a full, stunning stereo picture of the acoustic guitar will be beautiful whenever you wish to function the instrument in your observe. The 2 issues to mess around with are the space of the microphone capsules from each other, and the angle of unfold between their instructions. This video gives an excellent exploration of each these parameters.
Mid-Facet
It is a lesser recognized method that may result in stellar outcomes: a large stereo picture while not having matching mics. When you have a microphone that has a figure-8 polar sample out there (such because the Royer R-121 talked about earlier), you may make use of the Mid-Facet method. As soon as once more, we begin with the twelfth fret, 1-mic method. Then, equally to the X/Y Stereo method, we take the figure-8 mic and place it as near the primary mic as doable with out touching, in order that they’re mainly in the identical bodily place. However right here’s the place it will get fascinating: for the figure-8 mic, you need the mic pointing parallel to the guitar, in order that each ends of the guitar are being captured by the polar sample. This can be onerous to grasp with out photos and demonstrations, so undoubtedly lookup a number of movies on this system. Right here’s one we advocate that’s extraordinarily clear. Just a few pointers… With this system, you’re going to need the primary mic to be really perpendicular to the fretboard of the guitar, and the figure-8 mic really parallel. That is essential to your general picture through the mixing stage. Take your time organising. The opposite consideration is that within the case of some determine 8 mics there’s a “entrance” and a “again”, so if in case you have such a mic (as soon as once more the Royer R-121 is an instance of this) you’ll simply wish to discover a bit as to which aspect of the guitar to place in “entrance”. Lastly, the Mid-Facet method additionally requires a sure method within the mixing stage. It’s not difficult, however it’s particular. Ensure that to take a look at our Mixing Acoustic Guitar article for all the data.
1-Mic plus Direct Enter
Some acoustic guitars have a pickup possibility, during which case you might wish to benefit from that. If you happen to’re not assured within the sound you’re getting from the mic, otherwise you solely have 1-Mic out there, and even if you happen to simply need a consistent-sounding further guitar observe whenever you’re mixing later, making a Direct Enter observe might be the best way to go. Whereas a DI observe not often sounds pretty much as good as an acoustic mic, it actually will get the job carried out. And if it’s ok for John Mayer, it’s ok for you!
Past 2 Mics
When you have greater than 2 inputs out there in your house recording setup, think about using one of many customary 2-mic setups mentioned above, and enjoying round with the extra mics. A “room” mic, positioned a lot additional away from the participant to seize the ambiance of the general area, might be an incredible start line. Another choice (that’s additionally common with drum equipment mic-ing) is placing a mic above the pinnacle of the participant, making an attempt to listen to the guitar the best way they hear it whereas enjoying.
The Participant
When you’re able to hit report, keep in mind one very last thing: the participant shouldn’t shift round an excessive amount of! In the event that they swivel and switch and lean with the guitar, your recording goes to be affected. A bit motion is inevitable, however be certain the guitar’s place relative to your mic setup isn’t shifting a ton, each throughout particular person takes and throughout a recording session. If you happen to determine to let the participant find out about not shifting an excessive amount of relative to the mics, simply be certain to talk to them in a means that impacts their efficiency as little as doable. The mics are there for the participant, not the opposite means round. If you happen to do have a really fidgety participant, think about including that DI observe as an insurance coverage coverage.
You is likely to be : take a look at our article on Mixing Acoustic Guitar to complete the job.
