Mic'ing Acoustic guitar Q&A

[ReasonFreak]

Hey everyone, a huge part of my music is on acoustic instruments, and i am principally a classical guitarist though I do write and record electric guitar of all styles. I also record violinists and a few wind players.

I have a studio condensor microphone, the AT4033/CL and the FP10 presonus firewire interface through sonar 7, though I dabble in Cubase 4 LE. I know that to get a really "phat" and juicy guitar sound is to use two mics in various micing positions, I've read and am still reading the articles about this.

So I'm looking to buy a second mic, or maybe a set of paired mics to complement my condensor mic. I won't ever be micing steel string acoustic guitar, only nylon/classical guitar, though i dont think that will make much of a difference i just thought you should know.

So if you have any light to shed on preferred acoustic guitar mics/techniques, I would be very appreciative!

[TapeDeck]

There are a MILLION schools of thought on this subject. Almost every one of them is "right" ... it's just a matter of getting the results you want.

1). SDC (Small Diaphragm Condensers) in matched pairs.
Some people will tell you that this is the only way to go. There are inexpensive SDCs that work great for this application. The industry standard for many years was the SM 81 for many applications. There are cheaper ways to go (the Oktava MC012s are inexpensive, though fragile and not necessarily ideally made... they sound GREAT for acoustic guitars) and WAAAAY more expensive routes. The SM81 has sort of fallen out of favor for many people. There are probably better options for the money, but like the SM57, sometimes it's best to go with "tried and true."

2). SDC and LDC (your 4033 will do well, though there are probably better mics for the job. I have one and it's cool, but I've gotten better results with other mics... I would CERTAINLY start out by using it, and see if it just simply does "the right things" for you.) Pretty obvious.

3). 2 LDCs.

The single biggest factor here is mic placement. It's 99.999% of the game. Good mic placement with crap mics will sound better than poor mic placement and good mics. No high end converters are going to make a wispy thin pathetic acoustic guitar recording sound lush and clear. Again, a million schools of thought on this. Things that are pretty universal:

A). A mic pointed toward the neck will get more sibilance and pick up the "mice" (string squeaks and fret noises) which can be a VERY GOOD THING if done well.

B). A mic pointed toward the bridge, but on the neck-side of the bridge itself will get a reasonably balanced, slightly bass heavy sound, and will pick up the pick (or in your case) finger and nail sounds. Again, can be crucial in a good recording.

C). A mic pointed to the other side of the bridge will pick up more boomy, bassy sounds.

D). USUALLY micing the sound hole has little advantage. The sound is obviously not emanating from the hole... the whole instrument is resonating.

E). Most acoustic guitar recordings (steel or nylon) have a mic pointed near where the neck and body meet, as this is considered a "starting point" for where to get a good, accurate sound. You might want to start with ONE mic, and work on exactly where, and at what angle you best capture that sound, and then add another mic and work on that. Blending gives you some huge tonal options.

You have to remember what you're going for in the recording process. You can make an IDEALIZED acoustic guitar tone, but is that always what you're after? You are probably first and foremost trying to get the sound of YOUR GUITAR in YOUR ROOM... capturing that performance in a way that sounds real. It's easy to get carried away with compression and reverb and EQ and mic placement... in a perfect world you'd get the sound right first, with no EQ or effects, and THEN you'd experiment with that stuff in post, if you want to change the sound at all.

Remember that you CAN get a good recording with one mic. You should work on being ABLE to. Once you can do that, you'll have an easier time working with two mics... placing one to get that last bit that the other isn't getting. Then you can learn to radically change the positions such that neither mic alone sounds great, but together they give a great image. Be careful with your panning, and watch for phase issues.

Later you might decide that 2 mics and a room mic give you your best results, when recording in an acoustically viable room. I think it's pretty fun to work on finding good acoustic tone with a mic or two. Not nearly as stressful as miking a piano or drums.

[ReasonFreak]

Thanks for the in depth reply, i hope this thread continues to contribute to the forum

very good advice sir, very good indeed. I mean, like you said the SM57's are tried and true, so maybe ill get a paired set of those. That way, ill be able to try 2 SDCs, SDC LDC and so on...

I like the idea about the two mics and a room mic, seems like you would get a lot more out of a recording...

So its true then, SM57's are tried and true? Or is it going to be the Oktava MC012? Is there anything you can tell me about the tonal qualities of either mic?

Yea, I loooove my AT4033, its soo ****. I've done very very convincing radio broadcast style recordings, an operatic tenor (by the way, this is a perfect mic for close-mic'ing classical singers) some electric guitar, the list goes on but it just ****-ifies everything which is great for the type of stuff I do

Thanks mate!

[TapeDeck]

SM57s are tried and true for ELECTRIC guitars. You probably could get some interesting results with them, but you will most likely prefer SDCs like the SM81s I mentioned. The Oktavas... I got two of them for dirt and I haven't needed other pencil mics for acoustic since. There are mics I would prefer, but nothing close to that price range.

Acoustic Guitar Magazine or Premier Guitar Magazine recently did a mic shootout that covered a lot of options for recording acoustics. Might do a web search... if I come across the issue again, I will let you know.

[gehauser]

For nylon classical I would definitely give the Peluso CEMC6 stereo pair a look. They are more detailed than the SM81s throughout the frequency range. I definitely prefer the SM81s for flatpicked steel-string guitar, however, because of their in-your-face punch and because the CEMC6s have some bright sounds that I don't care for when the high steel strings are picked hard or droned. But for classical guitar, or steel-string guitar strummed or fingerpicked, I prefer the CEMC6s over the SM81s (and I am an SM81 lover).

As for placement of a single mic, I really prefer straight down over the left shoulder for a boomy guitar that projects, like a Taylor or Martin steel. For a classical nylon guitar, I would go out front at the neck-body joint (experiment with distances), and if adding a second mic, somewhere out front of the bridge in a 3-to-1 spaced pair.