Hi folks, following on from the first in a three part guest post from Rick Alexander (here’s the LINK in case you missed it) on how to approach a recording set-up, I have a fabulous post for you from Rick on microphone positioning for optimum sound capture during the recording process.
Microphone positioning is one area where recording becomes more of an art than a science. You do need to experiment in order to get the best results.
Figure 1 above shows a typical setup for stereo recording (see more on stereo vs mono below). Pointing one mic at the bridge, one mic at the 12th fret works well. As noted in part 1, you won’t want the mics too close to the guitar or you’ll get too much bass. I usually have around 25 to 35cm from the mic tip to the guitar. If you have the mics further away you’ll be picking up more and more of the sound reflections from your room’s walls and floor. Unless your room is acoustically optimised you probably don’t want this. Also, an advantage of having the microphones fairly close to the guitar is that this will help the guitar’s sound to outweigh any sound from traffic etc. from outside.
The Top 10 Microphones For Acoustic Guitars
The microphones I used are Neumann KM184s and the audio interface a MOTU 828 mk3. The guitar is a 1995 Carson Crickmore with a traditionally braced spruce top. The strings are Hannabach high tension Silver Special basses and Carbon trebles (which are fairly bright). The music is the introduction of my piece “Bellbrae” from my CD “Fine Light”. I’ve put the right mic signal, from the listener’s point of view, on the right channel and the left mic on the left channel. (Putting each mic’s signal totally on one channel gives the widest stereo image.) Note that this is a raw recording – I’ve done no adjustment except to adjust the levels of the left and right signals to about the same level and to fade the ending.
I sometimes put the mics perpendicular to the sound board of the guitar as in Figure 1. Alternatively, I angle the mics as in Figure 2, with the mics about 25cm from the guitar. Audio Example 2 is a recording I’ve made with the mics setup as in Figure 2. I prefer the sound of example 2 but the difference isn’t large.
Strings. You don’t need to be too precise but, for example, I think you’d start noticing too much bass if you aimed as far off centre as the 6
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If you have a hard wooden floor I’d recommend putting a rug under yourself and the mic stands in order to reduce the guitar sound reflecting from the floor to the mics.
Finally, if you’re recording using a computer I’d suggest setting up so that you can point the back of the mics in the direction of the computer so as to reduce the level of computer noise recorded.
You might well ask: why stereo? We only want to record one guitar after all. Also, you’ll often see concert performers only using one mic on their guitar.
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But you’ll find that if you record a single guitar in stereo you’ll get a much more realistic sounding result. Especially when listening on headphones. Audio Example 3 here illustrates the difference. The example has a short section of audio in mono then a short section in stereo followed by longer mono and stereo sections. I’ve used the setup in Figure 2 for the stereo section and the mono section is just the right channel from the stereo recording.
K & M make good quality mic stands. They have a small stand, K&M 25950, which is particularly useful for classical guitar recording. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KM25950 Using this stand lets you avoid having the large boom of a typical mic stand cluttering up your room.Acoustic guitar pickups have the all-but-impossible task of replicating the unplugged sound of the guitar itself. To do this, they need to sound as neutral as possible while not producing feedback during live performances. For years, many acoustic guitarists have avoided electronics all together due to the problems of unnatural sound, feedback, and other issues related to plugging in. But recent advancements in pickup technology have made the sound of a plugged-in acoustic guitar downright desirable.
In addition to better pickups, microphones specifically designed for acoustic guitars have started to show up more and more in the past few years. It used to be that for live performance, there often wasn’t much choice aside from the ubiquitous Shure SM57 to mic up an acoustic guitar—much to the chagrin of nylon-string and other electronics-free guitarists. But there are now a variety of clip-on mic solutions and stand-held mics that can highlight your guitar’s full sonic spectrum and dynamics without having to install a pickup.
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This roundup of acoustic guitar pickups and microphones includes three pickups and two microphones that are specifically tailored to the needs of acoustic guitar players. Click the links in the descriptions to read a full review of each pickup or mic in this roundup.
Curtis Novak’s Magnetic Soundhole pickups deliver a wide range of vintage-style tones for acoustic guitars. These pickups are available in three models—the single-coil G-coil and D-coil, as well as a humbucker—with a variety of mounting options for either temporary or permanent use. The D-coil offers a warm, compressed tone that can easily push an amp into tasty overdrive, with controllable feedback at a low volume perfect for bluesy riffs. The G-coil emits a similar sound, retaining some electric warmth but with a more subtle and dimensional tone that feels more obviously acoustic.
Fishman’s PowerTap series of pickups, which includes the PowerTap Rare Earth and PowerTap Infinity pickups, pairs either a soundhole or undersaddle pickup to its new TAP (which stands for Touch, Ambience, and Percussion) body sensors. The sensors are designed to capture percussive elements, body resonances, and performance dynamics that pickups alone tend to miss. The TAP—mounted on the top under the bridge—complements the pickups, and there is a blend knob to adjust between the two to your liking. Both versions come with battery-powered active onboard electronics and offer either mono or stereo output, the latter of which allows you to send separate channels for TAP sensor and pickup independently. The PowerTap Rare Earth is a soundhole version with a neodymium humbucker, designed to fit soundholes as small as 3-5/8 inches in diameter. It has a very fast response so it’s a good match for fast flatpicking and aggressive fingerstyle snaps and pops, while its warmth works well for mellower fingerpicking and quiet strumming. The PowerTap Infinity uses an undersaddle pickup that’s a bit more elaborate. It’s available in three different sizes to accommodate various guitar dimensions, and offers volume and tone dials in addition to the blend control. The TAP sensors added depth to this pickup to create a more 3D sound. They seem to enhance the tone on the top and on the bottom of the frequency spectrum as well, adding both air and body to balance against that undersaddle midrange.
How To Record Acoustic Guitar
Imagine, if you will, a soundhole pickup with the sound of a condenser microphone and the high feedback resistance of a magnetic pickup. That’s the idea behind Mojotone’s Quiet Coil NC-1 Acoustic Guitar Pickup. It’s a handmade active single-coil pickupthat incorporates noise-reduction technology with an extended frequency response for a more natural, less electric tone. The tone is unique, with a sense of ambience, prominent higher frequencies, and less electric-guitar color than expected. Powered by a pair of common CR2032 batteries, it’s predicted to last for 500 hours of playing time before needing new batteries. It includes a battery test button as well as a small volume control on the body of the pickup. Installation is easy—you won’t even need to loosen the strings on your guitar.
The nuance and detail of expressive acoustic guitar playing, combined with the wide range of overtones that a well-constructed instrument can offer, seem more suited to the sonic capabilities of a condenser microphone than a dynamic mic. But the Beyerdynamic TG i51 Dynamic Microphone offers a fast transient response that lets the detail come through both on big, strummed chords and single-note runs. Being a dynamic mic, it doesn’t need phantom power, and it’s also better suited than condensers for live applications due to its strong feedback rejection. The cardioid pickup pattern means it does have a proximity effect that boosts the bass at close range, but at about 3 feet away the bass boost dissipates. This mic also works well on percussion and guitar amps, making it a versatile workhorse for live and studio applications.
For guitarists who prefer a microphone to plugging in via electronics for live gigs, you’d better have a mic stand (and clip!) and be prepared to remain stationary while playing. Not so fast, says the DPA 4099 CORE Instrument Microphone. This clip-on, small-diaphragm supercardioid condenser mic goes where you go, providing consistent levels and quality all the while. The adjustable clamp and gooseneck design allow for easy, quick adjustments
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