Recording acoustic guitar - jtees4 - 18:30 30-11-05
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I have managed to make some really nice recordings over the years...I
am very happy with my overall sound EXCEPT recording acoustic guitars.
I have tried all kinds of set ups and different mics.
I would like to hear how you all do it to get some different ideas.
All advice cheerfully accepted.
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Re: Recording acoustic guitar - chasw - 22:31 30-11-05
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J: What kind of microphones have you been using? I just bought my son John
Daniel Winters an AKG C3000B mic for his 25th birthday. He's been recording
all his acoustic guitar pieces straight from his onboard-the-guitar pickup
into his M-Audio interface to the Dell laptop and Ableton v5. His previous
cheapo microphone just wasn't doing the job and I'm hoping this higher
quality equipment will enable him to get that clean tone he seeks.
Personally, I can quite tell the difference.
Please post here under this same subject whatever conclusions you reach
after trying out the new ideas you get. I'll pass them on to John as
lessons learned. thx - CW
x"jtees4" <jtees4@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ibdso11av0jmhj9qnhgja0smc0rallrbo2@4ax.com...
>I have managed to make some really nice recordings over the years...I
> am very happy with my overall sound EXCEPT recording acoustic guitars.
> I have tried all kinds of set ups and different mics.
> I would like to hear how you all do it to get some different ideas.
> All advice cheerfully accepted.x
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Re: Recording acoustic guitar - Patrick Keenan - 23:27 30-11-05
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"jtees4" <jtees4@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ibdso11av0jmhj9qnhgja0smc0rallrbo2@4ax.com...
>I have managed to make some really nice recordings over the years...I
> am very happy with my overall sound EXCEPT recording acoustic guitars.
> I have tried all kinds of set ups and different mics.
> I would like to hear how you all do it to get some different ideas.
> All advice cheerfully accepted.
I've been pretty happy with my current setup. It's simply one or two (I
have two) Apex condenser mics plugged into an M-Audio FireWire 410, and from
there to Cubase SE. From there, I may play with various plugins for reverb
or other effects, but I am most concerned with getting a decent basic
recording.
The mics are placed a few feet from the guitar pointing more or less at the
top or the fingerboard tag. Sometimes I run them through a Mackie 1202
mixer if there's enough gear present. When using both mics, yes, phase
effects have to be considered. They are not a matched pair.
The mics are Apex 420 and 430; when I bought them I had about a half-dozen
mics to try, and kept the ones I liked, and it happened they were the two
Apex models.
There was a great difference between the mics I tried. Some were, frankly,
terrible and distorted very quickly. Others were more expensive and not
really any better for my purposes (or perhaps for my guitars and rooms).
I would suggest, if it's possible, for you to audition a number of mics
before paying for the ones that work for you. It's pretty easy to set up a
test scenario with multitrack software.
I also had an SM-57 and the results were *nowhere* near as good as with the
condenser mics for acoustic guitar.
The M-Audio box also works well. I don't have any problems with latency or
drivers; I run it on XP Pro, and now on a P4, 3gHz machine with 2 gig of
ram, with SATA drives and an LCD display (which helps keep down hum).
Previously, I used it on P3-500's and some care had to be taken. The
machines themselves were physically loud and introduced quite a bit of
noise. This time I bought a quiet case, an Antec Sonata II, and it is in
fact quiet. Also, one of the P3 machines I used was a Dell Dimension and I
could not locate or suppress some low-level system action that kept inducing
pops.
HTH
-pk
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Re: Recording acoustic guitar - exotic-scales - 08:47 01-12-05
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I've been using an AKG C-900 condensor mike to capture my LoPrinzi LR-15
acoustic, and the results have been quite good.
Joe
http://www.exotic-scales.com
"jtees4" <jtees4@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ibdso11av0jmhj9qnhgja0smc0rallrbo2@4ax.com...
>I have managed to make some really nice recordings over the years...I
> am very happy with my overall sound EXCEPT recording acoustic guitars.
> I have tried all kinds of set ups and different mics.
> I would like to hear how you all do it to get some different ideas.
> All advice cheerfully accepted.
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Re: Recording acoustic guitar - bobovski - 09:56 01-12-05
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"jtees4" <jtees4@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ibdso11av0jmhj9qnhgja0smc0rallrbo2@4ax.com...
>I have managed to make some really nice recordings over the years...I
> am very happy with my overall sound EXCEPT recording acoustic guitars.
> I have tried all kinds of set ups and different mics.
> I would like to hear how you all do it to get some different ideas.
> All advice cheerfully accepted.
I've actually been getting some good recordings out of the following setup.
First, the hardware. I use an Audio-Technica AT2020 consenser (it's on the
cheaper side of condenser mics, but it works pretty well) and a Shure SM57.
Both mics are plugged into a mixer which is connected via tape out to an
M-Audio Audiophile 2496 soundcard.
The Audio-Technica is placed as follows: Just above the soundhole
heightwise, about 2-4 feet away (depending on the acoustics of the room) and
pointed just aft of the soundhole. The SM57 is placed very close (less than
2 inches) to the fretboard, at around the 12th fret.
I fiddle around with placement for awhile with flat eq until I get something
that sounds decent. Then, generally, I back off on the lows on the 57 and
add a bit of mids and some highs...depending on the guitar I'll add some
lows to the condenser mic. Sometimes I use effects while recording
(provided by the mixer), sometimes I'll add them later, provided by the
software.
Your milage may vary, but this setup has been working well for me.
-bobovski
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Re: Recording acoustic guitar - jtees4 - 18:40 01-12-05
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Thanks for all the replies. It seems the way to go is a decent
condenser mike. I have tried many mics, but not condenser. That may
help.
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Re: Recording acoustic guitar - bobovski - 19:19 01-12-05
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"jtees4" <jtees4@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ua2vo1h46ng3o099du2v8oq0b7dhccivbg@4ax.com...
> Thanks for all the replies. It seems the way to go is a decent
> condenser mike. I have tried many mics, but not condenser. That may
> help.
Yeah, I think a condenser mic will help you out immensely. I originally
thought my own acoustic-recording problems were a function of bad mic
preamps...but then someone wise pointed me in the right direction. Enjoy!
-bobovski
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Re: Recording acoustic guitar - Patrick Keenan - 00:39 02-12-05
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"jtees4" <jtees4@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ua2vo1h46ng3o099du2v8oq0b7dhccivbg@4ax.com...
> Thanks for all the replies. It seems the way to go is a decent
> condenser mike. I have tried many mics, but not condenser. That may
> help.
May help, but as noted, they aren't all the same, and you must consider what
you're plugging them into (i.e the mic preamps and the A/D converters).
If you have a decent relationship with a shop that has a decent selection,
you may be able to "borrow" for audition a selection of mics for a couple of
days as I did, on condition that you're ultimately keeping at least one.
I set up a spot in the room so that the mic stand was placed in an
appropriate spot with a cable ready to accept the mics one at a time, and
recorded the same thing on a track for each mic. I repeated the test
with the mics in different positions. While this approach doesn't remove
room effects, it at least makes the room effects the same for all the mics
being tested.
The mics came out of their boxes into the clip, were used, then back into
their boxes; they received as little wear as possible.
It didn't take long at all to get to the point where I could just listen to
the results and it was obvious which mics just wouldn't cut it and which
were worth another test. And ultimately, you'll have a much better idea of
how to use the mics you decide on.
And of course, the question remains of what you're plugging the mic into.
Most condensers require phantom power, provided by a mixer or an audio
interface box - and that's where the preamps often are. Preamps are not
all equal, either.
So.. what will you be plugging it into?
HTH
-pk
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Re: Recording acoustic guitar - Rob Duncan - 23:47 03-12-05
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"jtees4" <jtees4@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ibdso11av0jmhj9qnhgja0smc0rallrbo2@4ax.com...
>I have managed to make some really nice recordings over the years...I
> am very happy with my overall sound EXCEPT recording acoustic guitars.
> I have tried all kinds of set ups and different mics.
> I would like to hear how you all do it to get some different ideas.
> All advice cheerfully accepted.
Two 57's. One aimed at a slight angle at the sound-hole, the other aimed
down the neck at a 45 degree at the twelve-fret. Run through a top-o-the
line chorus pedal into the PA.
Rob
(just the slightest touch of chorus.) Ive made even crappy guitars sound
nice doing this. Learned it from a recording studio.
The mic at the twelve fret comes out sounding real bell-like. It chimes.
You mix it so its not overbearing... Thats my trick anyway. Carefull on
the finger noise.
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Re: Recording acoustic guitar - crow - 02:59 04-12-05
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"Rob Duncan" <robtakethisoutduncan@gobigwest.com> wrote in message
news:Hxukf.3583$tv4.392267@news.sisna.com...
>
> "jtees4" <jtees4@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:ibdso11av0jmhj9qnhgja0smc0rallrbo2@4ax.com...
>>I have managed to make some really nice recordings over the years...I
>> am very happy with my overall sound EXCEPT recording acoustic guitars.
>> I have tried all kinds of set ups and different mics.
>> I would like to hear how you all do it to get some different ideas.
>> All advice cheerfully accepted.
>
> Two 57's. One aimed at a slight angle at the sound-hole, the other aimed
> down the neck at a 45 degree at the twelve-fret. Run through a top-o-the
> line chorus pedal into the PA.
>
>
> Rob
> (just the slightest touch of chorus.) Ive made even crappy guitars sound
> nice doing this. Learned it from a recording studio.
>
> The mic at the twelve fret comes out sounding real bell-like. It chimes.
> You mix it so its not overbearing... Thats my trick anyway. Carefull on
> the finger noise.
>
2 small capsule condensers: one looking down the neck & one behind the
treble side of the bridge looking toward the sound hole. Both should be
between 6 - 12 inches away, The only reason to use a chorus (imo) is to mask
bad tuning problems. If possible record each mic to a seperate track &
compress it in the mix later.
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