Lately it seems as through acoustic guitarists are everywhere – take a look around, there’s probably one blithely twanging away somewhere in your vicinity right now. Not only are acoustic guitarists virtually omni-present these days, the arrogant so-and-so’s actually seem to think that the music they perform deserves to be recorded! How dare they?!?
Since it’s a foregone conclusion that you are going to find yourself compelled to record one of these errant wire-and-wood wranglers at some point in your career or life (assuming there’s a difference between the two), it makes sense to ease the pain of the undertaking as much as possible. The best aspirin-free way to achieve said pain relief is to learn from the mistakes and experiences of others – after all, why should you subject yourself to any unpleasantness or distress when there are countless others out there willing and eager to do it for you, then give you the results for free?
With this in mind (and largely because he’s too lazy, er, make that BUSY, to do all this work himself) Mitch Gallagher, the often esteemed and occasionally abhorred editor of inSync, put out the call to his faithful readers:
“Send us your acoustic guitar miking tips, and do it now!”
Being of a consistently helpful, generous and kind nature, and recognizing an imperative directive when they receive one, knowledeable hordes of loyal inSync’ers put pen to paper (in a purely metaphoric cyber sense) and provided the following array of tips, tricks and all-around advice for choosing and placing mics, processing, and recording stellar acoustic guitar tracks.
Whether you’re immortalizing an out-of-tune dexterity-challenged open chord strummer, the hyper-produced arpeggio picking of a hair band power ballad, the elixir-like musical panacea of the next Segovia, or even if you find your mics sitting in front a heavy-wood two-hand tapping prestidigital six string acrobat, you’ll discover firmly ensconced herein a plethora of appropriately useful acoustic guitar recording techniques.
Enjoy, and watch out for low-flying finger squeaks!
Thanks to all who took the time to send in their tips and techniques for this Summit! Have something to add? Know of a revolutionary new technique for capturing the ultimate acoustic guitar tone? Drop us a note, and we’ll add your suggestions to those listed above.
So, without further ado, here are the suggestions sent in by inSync readers, listed in the order we received them.
Daniel Hogan
This is a recording technique that we used for recording the “I Saw Red (Acoustic)” single for the group WARRANT (mainly Janie Lane).
Using two Martin guitars we separated a set of twelve strings and strung both guitars. One normal and the other with the octaves. The microphones we used were (2) AKG C414 Vintages and a Neumann U87. We placed one of the C414s between the bridge and the soundhole angled at the hole. The other was placed up on the fretboard at a similar angle. We placed the U87 six feet in front of Janie.
Pan the 414s hard left/right and flip the phase on the U87 and bring it up the middle (with a little tweaking to hit the sweet spot). It creates a very spatial and chorused effect. We recorded each guitar separately. The effect is a distinct and much fatter tone.
Rob McGaughey
I get a very nice sound out of my Guild jumbo dreadnought six string using an Audio Technica AT4041 and an Event NTC through an Oram MWS preamp. I take the AT4041 and place it parallel with the body of the guitar and a few inches behind the bridge. I usually have the element of the mic directly pointed at the B string (assuming EADGBE tuning which isn’t always the case) but aim it up at an angle such that it would cross the low E string at the 12th fret. The exact position of the AT4041 depends on the song, tuning, and the character you’re looking for. By moving the mic closer to the bridge the timbre becomes more like picking the guitar closer to the bridge, brighter and with more attack. By moving the mic away from the bridge you get a rounder sound like picking the guitar up the neck. The top to bottom balance of the guitar is determined by where this mic sits behind the bridge and at what angle. Another timbral adjustment is done by angling the mic away from the guitar which makes it brighter or towards the guitar which can be bassier but without changing the attack transient. The position of the AT4041 is the most important element in this technique and I often find that I get the best sound by adding a 2 dB high shelf starting at 8 kHz using the Oram MWS EQ.
I place the NTC in cardioid mode near the 12th fret but about 16 inches from the neck. I aim it at or below the neck towards the body in such a way to pick up string and finger noise without picking up breathing or other unwanted noises. I blend this back in with the AT4041 at a 60/40 ratio favoring the AT4041. There are two things about this that should be noted: One is that this technique requires the player to not move the guitar at all. This can be accomplished by playing sitting down and holding the guitar on the left leg (for a right handed player) and using a guitar foot stand and a strap to prevent the guitar from moving around (sort of like a classical guitar player, but with a strap to add extra stability).
The best and most natural guitar sounds I have recorded have been using this technique but it does require a lot of patience to get the mics in just the right place and then to dial in the EQ (if needed) to get the sound. You won’t just throw up two mics and get this to sound great without experimentation. Good Luck!
Jim Bordner
Gravity Music
I get better-than-great, nearly awesome and huge stereo acoustic guitar like this:
I use a Washburn Cumberland, which has a Fishman bridge pickup (too brittle sounding by itself, that’s for sure) and TWO outputs…a 1/4″ unbalanced and an XLR balanced out, both of which work at the same time.
I run the 1/4″ out to my Digitech GSP2101, using a bright, compressed setting with a touch of delay (“Studio Strat” is a good starting point) and no reverb. Then I run the XLR out to channel 2 of a tube mic pre (in this case, an Aphex 107) and saturate that tube but good. Finally, a large diaphragm condenser mic (again, in this case, an AT 4030) is hung between the standard 12th fret position and the sound hole and run through Channel 1 of the mic pre, left clean and unsaturated, then direct into the multitrack.
When mixing the three channels together, think of the output from the GSP as the peghead, the output from the saturated tube as the low body, and the output from the clean tube as the mid body and pan your giant guitar accordingly. A little big room stereo reverb, and you’ve got an acoustic that never fails to make people say, “Wow! Was that recorded here?!?”
Bob Jahn
My preference is to put one mic above the right shoulder at the top of the ear (for right hand players and opposite this for lefty’s), and one either one foot away from the strumming hand, or 10 feet away pointing at a “live” wall, waist high and 6 inches from the wall. Depends on the type of music.
Jonathan Reynolds
Rubber Biscuit Studio, Salisbury NC
For those who have access to a tiled bathroom within reach of their studio, I heartily recommend giving it a try. I have gotten some very satisfying acoustic guitar sounds this way — the natural reverb of the hard tile and small space often gives a real warmth and presence to a guitar. Every (bath)room is different, so try lots of different mike placements; pointing into the corner of the shower, under the sink, or maybe just a couple of feet back from the guitar. Even with cheap equipment, you might be surprised by the final result.
Scott Fraser
Lately the best sound in my studio has been a TLM193 into an AMEK/NEVE 9098 pre/EQ. I put the mic about 16″ out from the bridge aiming at the bridge. It’s also sounding good located about 12″ to 14″ away from the joint of the neck & the body aimed back toward the body. This mic gives me the greatest sense of depth & three dimensionality & works well with a solo performer. For guitar parts in a thick multitrack mix I need presence more than depth, and for this I’ll use an AKG C414B-ULS. The boosted high end on this mic gives an approximation of the presence obtained from an Aphex Exciter. Also in a thick track the dynamics of the guitar need to be limited. For this I substitute a Focusrite Red 7 mic pre/ compressor for the 9098. The Focusrite compression thickens & increases the presence without dulling or killing the live-ness of the acoustic guitar. Also good on acoustics are Neumann KM140s & KM84s.
David Holloway
I think the best way to record acoustic guitars is by using multiple Roland DR-20 mics – the more the better!
Chad Godfrey
Engineer/Sound Designer, EDJ Productions
My favorite technique in miking an acoustic guitar is with a Sanken CU-41 (a cardioid pattern) placed just slightly (3 or 4 inches) beyond the sound hole on the neck of the instrument (and approximately 6 inches from the player). Although a lot of engineers prefer miking the sound hole itself (and many times is necessary…especially in live situations), to my ear it gives off too much bass and proximity effect and less guitar. In my opinion, my technique is a more perfect balance of strings and case resonance and tends to sound REALLY good even without EQ. For ambience, sometimes I’ll tape a stereo pair of Crown PZMs to the Control Room window and tweak that signal in only about 30% or 40% of the Sanken. And, by the way, if you don’t have a Sanken, an AKG C414 works rather nicely as well.
John Oram
Oram Professional Audio
It depends on what you are recording and what you want to achieve, but generally, use your ear (one is better than two for this job!…finger in the other, please !) and get down on the floor by where the mic is going to be placed and use your ear like a mic. It’s surprising how different sounds REALLY are, when you listen directly to them without numerous reflections from the walls and furniture in the room. Close up on the sound-hole gives the warmth and full range energy, back towards the bridge gives a “more metallic and higher harmonic without the fundamental” sound. Closer to the neck is warm, but finger noise starts to come into the mix; perfect for certain picking and country styles. Classical improves as the mic distance increases, less proximity effect and a more balanced harmonic structure.
I like condenser for hard rock impact guitar and dynamic for a looser warmer feel, some of each together makes for a nice blend. Use a good EQ (guess whose?) and cut the lows with some boosts at 6 kHz and 12 kHz for that “Eagles” rhythm sound.
When I was designing the Washburn Equis II and the Martin MEQ932 electro-acoustic pre’s, I found that a piezo saddle mounted pickup was basically a small value capacitor and to get the best sound it needed to look into a very high input impedance (typically 30 megohms) and this you don’t find in many studios unless they have a Hi-Z D.I. box. The higher the Z (impedance), the lower the bass response (and the distortion!). I mention this because you can great stereo guitar tracks by: miking the soundhole and sending left channel; with the piezo output going direct to right channel.
When are we going to have the Mongolian Mountain Horn Miking Summit? I can hardly wait!
Kurt Anthony
I’ve tried so many microphones to record my acoustic guitar. Neumann U87’s, Shure SM-81’s, various Groove Tube models, various Audio Technica models, Event Electronics Rode series etc. I have just recently finished the quest for the Ultimate Acoustic Mikes without regard to cost. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that recording my acoustic guitar did not have to be expensive nor very difficult.
I happened to be looking for a mike to record my 12 string Martin. This was for recording direct to digital with Pro Tools/TDM. What surprised me was how diverse sounding different mikes recorded this guitar. What I was trying to find was a neutral sounding mike or mikes. Most all mikes colored the sound in one way or another. Some picked out high end harmonics that were annoying, others sounded dull and muddy, still others could not capture the woody tones of this guitar. I will not elaborate which mikes sounded the worst because this might be misconceived as some sort of slander. I will say though that the most expensive models seem to sound BAD with this guitar. One inexpensive model of mike though did not sound good either. What surprised me was this particular mike was recommended through various magazines as a very good mike to record acoustic guitar. So, of course I tried it.
So here are my findings:
- I could not find one single mike to do this job. Every mike trialed, was too directional even in OMNI mode.
- I sampled various mikes recording the guitar in the position where the neck joins the body at a distance of between 4-6″. Previous experience with this guitar had shown me that this was its “sweet” spot. This is not a soft guitar. Placing any mike close to its soundhole resulted in some unpleasant artifacts and some distortion. This of course eliminated any chance of getting nice woody timbres. The mike of choice ended up being the Event Electronics RODE NT2. This mike had nice bottom, no boominess (even being pushed), the highs were not harsh and were very pleasant sounding. The overall sound was sweet, full and silky. The strings sounded crystal clear. This mike is very transparent and very impressive. I highly recommend this mike. Best of all: less than $700. I have yet to hear any acoustic guitar sound on a CD that was as good as this mike sounded with this guitar. It was almost a religious experience. The mike was used in cardioid mode with no attenuation or shelf.
- Since a good amount of woody timbre was lost, I began searching for a mike with clear full sound with excellent woody characteristics. Again, I was amazed to find out what magazine articles recommended for mikes, did not seem to impress me. After trialing several more mikes without good results I came across the Audio Technica AT4041. This mike sounded almost as good as the RODE mike except that it wasn’t as transparent or clear sounding. This mike seemed to have a high freq. roll-off but sounded fantastic. Not bad for a mike less than $300. I experimented using both mikes simultaneously. One panned hard left the other hard right. Just a little compression to suppress any possible digital distortion. I ended up placing the AT4041 at a 60-70 degree angle 3″ from the surface of the lower rear bout. Very tight bottom end. Excellent woodiness and clear. Mixed with the NT2 was a fantastic combination. Recording so close to the guitar was necessary to eliminate room reflections which colored the sound.
- I’M IN ACOUSTIC GUITAR RECORDING HEAVEN
Fred Des Chenes
I used the following this weekend to get a great sound for a guy doing flamenco. I recorded it in his living room on a Roland VS-880.
- First, stick a finger in one ear and get down on the floor and find the sweet spots on the guitar. Crawling around like this may look funny, but it works! In this case, a few inches below and just behind the bridge was one, and the other was about the same height near where the neck meets the body.
- I used a Rode NT-2 thru the Oram MWS mic-pre/EQ on the first sweet spot less than a foot away, angling it up slightly and turning it towards the soundhole a tiny bit to get the right amount of bass. The player wanted more bass, but I knew better and he agreed in the end after hearing the playback.
- I then used a Neumann KM-184 and the MWS on the other sweet spot to get a good stereo image and pick up the various fret noises. I adjusted the angle to get the balance he was looking for.
The player was very pleased with the sound. I used no EQ. A rich sound without any mid-range issues. The percussive golpes (taps) came out very present and the strong rasqueados (4 or 5 fingered strums) were not overpowering. I did run both mics through the EQ portion of the MWS with the EQ flat, just to warm things up a bit before the A/D converters. And I used no compression since the player was experienced enough to adjust his dynamic range as we were experimenting with mic placement.
P.S. Quality mic pre’s are essential. I’d take a Rode NT-2 thru an Oram MWS any day over a U-87 thru something inferior.
Vince Horne
In making the best of what I have, I have learned that I get good sound out of my Shure SM57 and EV-408 microphones by miking the 57 about 6″ from the soundhole, but pointed directly at the bridge to pick up the crystalline highs on my Guild DV-52 guitar. The 57, like most cardiod mikes, has a much tighter polar response at high frequencies than the lows, therefore it still catches the non-directional lows from its side while getting the highs emitted from the bridge it is pointed at. The DV-52 has a lot of bottom to it, and needs the extra highs. I put the EV-408 close to the fretboard at about the 10th fret. I adjust the angle and placement of both mic’s to get the best sound before using EQ to produce the least phase shift distortion possible.
Jason Shuck
I’ve been running the direct signal from the EMG AESQ3-93 piezo transducer in my 1994 Taylor 812-C acoustic to a BOSS AD-5 Acoustic Processor. The stereo outputs from the AD-5 route through a PreSonus ACP-8 and directly into my ADATS. I usually setup a Rode NT-1 about 8″ out from the top of the guitar, aimed at the center directly behind the bridge. This brings out the low end resonence of the guitar. Then, I aim a Shure SM81 or AT 4033, whichever sounds best for the application, at approximately the 16th fret. By hard panning the stereo direct outputs and combining them with the two mic signals, I’ve tracked some very spacious and full sounding solo acoustic guitar.
Subtractive EQ on the mic signals effectively bi-amps the guitar’s sound and allows greater sonic manipulation through effect treatment during mixdown.
I have obtained excellent results recording my Taylor 812-C by tracking a stereo direct signal from the EMG AESQ3-93 piezo pickup through a BOSS AD-5 processor and combining it with a multiple mic setup. I pan the direct signal hard l/r and then place a Rode NT-2 approximately 6-8″ out and aimed directly at the top of the guitar behind the bridge. I then set up an AT 4033 at the same distance located at the 16-18th fret. By subtractivly EQing the two mics (body mic for lows; neck mic for highs) and combining them with both the DI and an omni condensor about 6′ away for natural ambience, I’ve captured an expansive lush sound that works incredibly well for solo acoustic guitar.
In mixdown, I often add a panned stereo delay to the DI tracks and a warm hall or plate reverb to the neck position AT 4033. Remember that this technique definitely depends on the interaction and cohesion of the separate parts. Like a tri-amp PA system, each track will sound poor in isolation, but the sum of the parts is stunning.
John Zeratsky
A quick and dirty way I’ve used often is to put a small- or large-diaphram condenser by the guitarist’s ear…this way you record exactly what (s)he hears. (after all, the guitarist didn’t come up with his part with his ear at the 12th fret facing towards the sound hole!!)
I’ve used this numerous times to “jot down” ideas for my own songs, and ended up using the track because the sound was so good..
Another small-diaphram condenser can be added somewhere close to the fretboard in the 7-12th fret area to create a nice sounding stereo image.