When mixing the guitar sound, often each mic will be panned hard left and hard right.Īnother popular technique is X/Y. Adjust each mic so that they sound good on their own. Start by placing one microphone around the 12th/14th fret and the other at the bridge pointing either at the body or towards the sound hole, 6 – 12 inches away. “The distance between each microphone should be at least 3 times the distance the microphone is to the guitar” To make sure phasing doesn’t ruin your mix make sure to use the 3:1 technique: When using a spaced pair technique, phasing will be more of an issue than coincidental pairs. Stereo microphone placement Stereo microphone placement Spaced Pair (A/B) Below we’ve miced an acoustic guitar with a Shure SM57 using the mono neck position technique. Sometimes, a condenser microphone is not the most appropriate choice especially if you’re recording very dynamic and aggressive rhythm parts. This technique can often complement a vocal track where the singer has a higher register voice. Recording the body of the guitar is going to yield a more mid and bass heavy tone than the previous technique. Experiment with pointing the microphone more towards the neck for a thinner sound and more towards the sound hole for the sounds of the pick or fingers. Placing the mic 6 – 12 inches away from the 12th – 14th fret often sounds like the most natural and balanced sound. Mono microphone placement 12th – 14th fret Now that’s out of the way let’s get into technique: A good place to start is by micing the guitar from around 6 inches away, then adjusting it from there. Placing the mic too close the guitar can lead to a variety of issues including the proximity effect,too much fret noise and not capturing any of the guitars natural interaction with the room. Placing the microphone as close to the guitar as possible. This is where the sound comes from, right? Whilst it might make sense to place the mic here, the sounds hole is usually where the lower frequencies build up, meaning you’ll most likely get a ‘boomy’ sounding guitar which won’t sound great and will be difficult to mix.
Placing the microphone in front of the sound hole.
Microphone Placementīefore we take a look at some common microphone techniques let’s have a look at some of the more common mistakes you want to avoid made when recording an acoustic guitar:
Let’s take a look at some common techniques for both mono and stereo. Important in sparse arrangements where the acoustic guitar is a key feature of the song.Start to build up a fuller picture of the instrument.Great for adding extra depth and width to your already great sounding mono recordings.Great for recording guitar parts to thicken up an arrangement.You might not know why you would do either so here are some reasons to consider when deciding which microphone techniques to use. Recording in mono means recording with only one mic and recording with stereo means recording with two. Recording in mono vs recording in stereo 3. We chose to combine a large diaphragm microphone (great for capturing the body of the sound) and a small diaphragm microphone (great for capturing the detail and brightness of the sound) to help us get an accurate and balanced recording. In this article we’ll be using a pair of Audio Techinca 4021s as well as a pair of AT4050s for the stereo configurations and an AT2020, Shure SM57, AT4021 & AT4050 for the mono mic positions. However there are no rules to which microphones you use and experimenting is all part of being an engineer. As acoustic guitars are delicate instruments and often contain a lot of high frequency information, the most common choice is a combination of condenser microphones. If you’re not sure on the differences between these type of microphones make sure you check out our blog post on it here. Knowing your microphones – Condenser Vs Dynamicīefore you set up you need to select which microphones you are going to use. The most valuable tool you have here is your ears so a good place to start is by simply listening to the guitarist play in your chosen room, finding the best sounding spot and setting up your guitarist and mics there.Ģ. However, recording in a room with lots of furniture (a bedroom) will give you a tighter sounding recording due to the furniture absorbing the sound created from the guitar. Acoustics is a science of its own but a good rule of thumb to note is often a room with a lot of hard surfaces (a bathroom or church) will have a lot of reflections and will give you a more roomy and characterful sound that can be great but can also be difficult to control. Before you start placing microphones, it’s important to note that your recording will be affected by the shape and sound of the room so choosing the right spot is really important.
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