With residence recording setups getting an increasing number of professional as of late, a studio-grade acoustic guitar sound is inside attain.

Let’s focus on the best way to get you there.

Earlier than Organising Something …

1. Think about the Area. 

Most folk choose a much less reverberant house to report guitar. This offers 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 quite a lot of pingy, slappy echoes. Oftentimes, taking part in with the soundhole pointing into an open closet will do the trick!

2. Think about the Guitar.

When you’ve got the selection amongst a number of guitars, you need to choose the guitar that will get closest to the sound you’re on the lookout 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 high finish sound, keep away from that beefy guitar and choose the guitar that excels within the excessive vary. Generally the dearer just isn’t the higher sounding one for the observe you’re engaged on. Pay attention fastidiously to the guitars you could have available and possibly even do some fast take a look at recordings when you’ve got time. Making educated selections at this stage will repay later within the combine.

3. Think about the Decide. 

Is the guitar half fingerpicked? Is it strummed? How a lot does capturing the sound of the rhythm hand to you? Concentrate on 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 here are some guidelines of thumb… Skinny picks might be higher for rhythmic strumming, and so they received’t sound nice with single-note components. Fingerpicking with no aids is normally a bit quieter, so you could need to mic the participant a lot nearer or hotter.

4. Think about the Microphones. 

Whereas it’s true that any mic can be utilized to seize acoustic guitar, there are some tried and true selections that you need to find out about. Utilizing condenser and dynamic microphones is an trade staple with regards to acoustic guitar, for positive. Dynamic mics such because the Shure SM57 on the lowest worth finish, or a step up in worth to the Rode M3, could be the very best start line for anybody. When choosing condensers, giant 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 the next worth level, take into account Neumann’s TLM sequence of condensers. Ribbon mics are additionally a terrific possibility for capturing element and vibe – they do the very best when the guitar half is a bit quieter, with the Royer R-121 being a traditional go-to in such conditions.

Microphone Setups…

Alright, it’s showtime. You’ve executed all the mandatory considering and equipment acquisition. Let’s mic setup choices.

The principle factor to recollect about any mic positioning is that you don’t want to level a microphone immediately perpendicular to the sound gap of the guitar. This will appear counterintuitive at first, however in case you make a take a look at recording, you’ll instantly hear why: it’ll 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 focus on this additional as we stroll by means of all of the approaches.

1. 1 Mic

Your choices are clearly extra restricted with 1 mic, however you’ll be able to undoubtedly nonetheless get nice sounds. As talked about above, don’t level your mic perpendicular to the soundhole. Virtually another 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, in fact.) Typically you’ll want to place the mic about 8 inches to a foot away from the guitar. This can enable 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 could not get such a stability of frequencies.

Should you’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 in all probability guess what the ensuing change in sound might be. Nearer to the soundhole brings in additional mids, lows, rhythm hand sounds, and all the things occurring on that facet. Towards the headstock, it’s extra excessive frequencies, strings, and the fretboard hand. As at all times, use your ears to resolve!

Neumann made an exquisite YouTube sequence 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 strategy.

2. 2 Mics

The introduction of a second mic opens up some actually enjoyable choices.

A/B Spaced Pair

The traditional! That is principally the aforementioned 1-mic strategy, plus a mic down by the physique of the guitar. Place one on the twelfth fret, after which one down close to the tip 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 need to use any two mics, however discuss with the sooner dialogue of mics for concepts on choice with this strategy. Use your ears to search out the very best place for the second mic, being cautious to keep away from any boomy spots. Take a look at this video for a terrific in-depth examine of the strategy. Within the video, many alternative 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 suggest 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 strategy is that generally you’ll be able to come throughout part points between the mics, which isn’t fascinating. Take a look at the 2 linked movies for extra dialogue of that. Should you discover that you simply battle often with part points when recording acoustic guitar, the subsequent strategy is certainly one that may curiosity you.

Stereo Pair 

When you’ve got an identical pair of microphones, you’ll be able to 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 potential, 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 issues. Because it’s the identical mannequin, manufactured on the similar time, pointing from the identical place, you realize you’re getting a reliably related recording on each tracks. Getting a full, lovely stereo picture of the acoustic guitar might be beautiful whenever you need 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 affords an excellent exploration of each these parameters.

Mid-Facet

It is a lesser recognized strategy that may result in stellar outcomes: a large stereo picture without having matching mics. When you’ve got a microphone that has a figure-8 polar sample accessible (such because the Royer R-121 talked about earlier), you’ll be able to make use of the Mid-Facet strategy. As soon as once more, we begin with the twelfth fret, 1-mic strategy. Then, equally to the X/Y Stereo strategy, we take the figure-8 mic and place it as near the primary mic as potential with out touching, in order that they’re principally 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 exhausting to know with out pictures and demonstrations, so undoubtedly lookup a number of movies on this method. Right here’s one we suggest that’s extraordinarily clear. Just a few pointers… With this method, you’re going to need the primary mic to be actually perpendicular to the fretboard of the guitar, and the figure-8 mic actually parallel. That is necessary on your total picture through the mixing stage. Take your time establishing. The opposite consideration is that within the case of some determine 8 mics there’s a “entrance” and a “again”, so when you’ve got such a mic (as soon as once more the Royer R-121 is an instance of this) you’ll simply need to discover a bit as to which facet of the guitar to place in “entrance”. Lastly, the Mid-Facet method additionally requires a sure strategy within the mixing stage. It’s not difficult, however it’s particular. Be sure 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, wherein case you could need to benefit from that. Should you’re not assured within the sound you’re getting from the mic, otherwise you solely have 1-Mic accessible, and even in case you simply need a consistent-sounding further guitar observe whenever you’re mixing later, making a Direct Enter observe may very well be the best way to go. Whereas a DI observe not often sounds nearly as good as an acoustic mic, it definitely will get the job executed. And if it’s ok for John Mayer, it’s ok for you!

Past 2 Mics

When you’ve got greater than 2 inputs accessible in your house recording setup, think about using one of many commonplace 2-mic setups mentioned above, and taking part in round with the extra mics. A “room” mic, positioned a lot additional away from the participant to seize the ambiance of the general house, may very well be a terrific start line. Another choice (that’s additionally common with drum package mic-ing) is placing a mic above the top of the participant, attempting to listen to the guitar the best way they hear it whereas taking part in.

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. Somewhat 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. Should you resolve to let the participant find out about not transferring 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 potential. The mics are there for the participant, not the opposite means round. Should you do have a really fidgety participant, take into account including that DI observe as an insurance coverage coverage.

You is perhaps : take a look at our article on Mixing Acoustic Guitar to complete the job.