Recording acoustic guitars

[TrevCircleStudios]

And I finally got to adding some mic position diagrams/pics

[sphelan]

Great thread, Trev. Keep it coming.

Would you always close mic an acoustic? Is there any place for using room mics as with drums to get a taste of the room? Or is this a bad idea?

[TrevCircleStudios]

Originally Posted by sphelan

Great thread, Trev. Keep it coming.

Would you always close mic an acoustic? Is there any place for using room mics as with drums to get a taste of the room? Or is this a bad idea?

If you've got an awesome sounding room a bit of distance won't hurt if that's what the song needs. In my experience though, that's gonna cost you about an extra £250k!

[sphelan]

Originally Posted by TrevCircleStudios

If you've got an awesome sounding room a bit of distance won't hurt if that's what the song needs. In my experience though, that's gonna cost you about an extra £250k!

Well, you just shot that one in the foot for me! Thanks.

I've looked up the Martin guitars you suggested Trev. Very nice. And pricey. You get what you pay for, I know.

But, is there really a noticeable difference between a cheaper guitar with plugin processing and an expensive guitar in the hands of the same guitarist with the same mics, pres, converters etc etc? Depends on what you're looking for, I know. But do you think it's possible to get close to the "expensive" sound with something cheaper? Or does that require a lot of experience and practice?

[TrevCircleStudios]

Originally Posted by sphelan

Well, you just shot that one in the foot for me! Thanks.

I've looked up the Martin guitars you suggested Trev. Very nice. And pricey. You get what you pay for, I know.

But, is there really a noticeable difference between a cheaper guitar with plugin processing and an expensive guitar in the hands of the same guitarist with the same mics, pres, converters etc etc? Depends on what you're looking for, I know. But do you think it's possible to get close to the "expensive" sound with something cheaper? Or does that require a lot of experience and practice?

I'm not a believer in plugin processing. You can't polish a turd and all that. The key to good recording and mixing IMO is do as little processing as possible. Catch the sound you want with the minimal signal path and let quality speak for itself.

Best bang for buck acoustic is the Black range. You can get a nice one for less than a hundred quid and they sound awesome. You gotta hand pick one though as the QC can be a little iffy (or budget for a setup on top). If you wanna hear one that's what I used in the SDC shootout thread.

[EdRyan]

Ah, see Trev updated the o.p to mention the classic XY approach.

I will explain this (as Trev forgot) because it is really useful for one big reason. It works incredibly well when you have to resort to mono (ie checking radio compatibility etc).

In a nutshell, it basically involves using two cardioid or hyper-cardioid microphones. Ideally, you want them as close together as possible, but at an angle of between 90- 135 degrees. Reason being the shape of the polar pattern. Setting the mics up this way will still give you a stereo image when you pan the inputs apart, because they are effectively picking up in opposite dierections. The stereo image is created by the decay of volume, rather then in the more conventional A/B mic method that generates a stereo image by recording the delay of the signal source between the two mics.

There are a couple of things you should know about the Blum/XY method. Ideally, for X/Y you should have a matching pair of mics (in terms of their frequency and polar response). If the mismatch is significant, then at best you will get unavoidable skewing of your stereo image. At worst, the technique won't work at all because the imbalance will be overly noticeable.

The Blum technique is often confused with X/Y, but works using a figure of 8 response and a cardioid, and basically sets up for M/S recording, rather then L/R. The fo8 mic is used to record the side information, whilst the cardioid focuses on the front/middle gap left by the fo8.

[TrevCircleStudios]

Originally Posted by EdRyan

I see Trev forgot to mention the classic XY approach.

I will explain this (as Trev forgot) because it is really useful for one big reason. It works incredibly well when you have to resort to mono (ie checking radio compatibility etc).

Ummm... forgot? The search function is your friend:

X-Y and Blumlein Stereo Recording

It's also linked from the OP.

[ecc83]

Hi,
News from the whale ***t dept. We use a pair of crossed AKG P150's. Not a matched pair but close enough methinks response wise. They have about a 2dB gain difference but that is of course easily trimmed out.

I won't tell you what they are plugged into because it puts Trev' off his lunch!

In the tiny crap room we have we think this gives the best result, set about a foot from the guitar.

Dave.

[EdRyan]

Originally Posted by TrevCircleStudios

Ummm... forgot? The search function is your friend:

X-Y and Blumlein Stereo Recording

It's also linked from the OP.

Whoops.