Anyone Recording Acoustic Guitar with Omni Mics??

[3Dfan]

I have two Audio Technica AT3032's which are small diaphram omni condensor mics. I will be using them for recording acoustic guitars.

I'm planning on using them in sort of a spaced pair set-up. One on the neck and one near the bridge. I am planning of putting them about 6 inches away from the guitar and will primarily be recording acoustic guitar rythm tracks.

For the most part omni mics don't have proximity effect when placed close to the source and I've heard that if they're close to the source it also minimizes the sound of the room.

[Trucks]

I use Shure SM58's... Its not perfect but fleh... I didnt pay for them. I put one in front of the sound hole and one on a slight angle at the bridge (so it is angled slightly in the direction of the headstock). Works for me, but its jsut what sounds best with the particular guitar. Experimentation with a good set of headphones on is the best way.

 

The problem I find is that because I like to have them a bit closer than a directional Mic... If I go for it in part of a song I can hit them sometimes...

 

I would like to be able to afford a Sunrise magnetic pickup and an internal mic. But recently I started playing around with a Seymour Duncan Woody single coil and the Mics all blended together... mmm mmm blended lovliness

[Dak Lander]

Originally posted by 3Dfan:

I've heard that if they're close to the source it also minimizes the sound of the room.

With an omni it won't matter where you place the mic. It is still going to pick up the room because it picks up from all directions though the nearer to the desired source the more it, the desired source, will take precedence. If you want to minimize room noise you'll need a cardioid pattern, or even a super cardioid pattern, with the most focused pattern I know of being a shotgun but those are generally used to record a source from a distance.

That said, there is nothing wrong with using an omni or two. I just don't know how much of a stereo field you're going to get.

[miroslav]

For me, it's always been a trial and error setup for acoustic guitars...as I usually need to get the acoustics to fit in with a lot of other instruments, and with electric guitars.

 

So often I'll try 2-3 of my acoustics, and different mics and positions before I find the sound I want.

To make things easier in getting them to "fit in"...I'll record the acoustic after I do the other instruments...that way I can really hear if I have the right tone.

 

As far as Omni mics...yeah, they'll work...just pay attention to the room.

What you are hearing at various positions in the room...will all be going into the mics.

[jimash]

As an alternate pattern try :

one hanging about chin level 18 inches away, and the other one 3 feet out at guitar body level off axis of the soundhole.

[UnderTheGroove_dup2]

I don't have great sounding rooms, so I avoid using omnis to minimize the room sound. One of thhe benefits of omnis is not having the proximity effect, so if your room sounds decent I'd say give it a try.

[A String]

Yeah, Omnis are a nightmare in a bad sounding room. You pick up the instrument and all of the hissing, humming and odd frequencies of the room. Like UnderTheGroove said, if you have a great sounding room, an Omni will aid your sound. If your room sounds like crap, so will your recording.

[3Dfan]

Well, I just built a bunch of DIY bass traps thanks to the help of Ethan Winers Acoustic Forum, so now my small (11x11x8) room sounds pretty good so I'm hoping I'll get a good sound for recording. I spent a lot of time building the traps but the difference in the room is great.

Before that I had bought a bunch of acoustic foam from Foam By Mail and I overtreated the room and my acoustic guitar tracks were terrible.

IF ANYONE TELLS YOU THAT YOU CAN USE A DEAD ROOM FOR RECORDING ACOUSTIC GUITARS AND THEN JUST ADD REVERB THEY ARE WRONG. AN OVERLY DEAD ROOM WILL ABSORB TOO MUCH MIDS AND HIGH END FREQUENCIES AND GIVE YOU A TOTALLY UNBALANCED SOUND THAT YOU CAN'T FIX WITH EQ. I was told by people that should know better, many times, that a dead room was good to record acoustic guitars in but they were wrong and it cost me a lot of time recording tracks that were unusable and then trying to fix them.

I took down all the foam by mail and started from scratch going by advice from the Ethan Winer forum.

I'm actually pretty happy with the way my guitars sound in that room now. I also have a AT3035 large diaphram mic that I could use if necessary but I was planning on using it more for vocals.

[A String]

I'm really interested in the Bass traps...Could you cut and paste the post in here so we can read it?

[Dak Lander]

Originally posted by A String:

I'm really interested in the Bass traps...Could you cut and paste the post in here so we can read it?

It's part of the MP forum family.

 

Ethan Winer\'s forum

[3Dfan]

Ethan Winer's Acoustic Forum is an awesome place to get information on how to improve your studio.

[3Dfan]

Well, I added one more mid/high absorber to my studio and I made this one 4" thick and my room now sounds awesome. I think the omni mics will work great in this room.

I play CA GUITARS, which are carbon graphite acoustic guitars and I can't believe how incredible they sound in my studio with my new DIY bass traps!!