home stereo mic-ing

[Bruce Lash]

with all the cool talk about stereo mic-ing techniques, i thought i'd try some at home. i was especially interested in blumlein stereo. tried it with a pair of cheap multi-pattern condensers (samson c03) on a banjo-like instrument i have--with pleasant results. i was thinking of next recording against a brick wall to pick up some sort of natural bounce. should be fun.

 

also, i came up with a thought concerning blumlein on an acoustic guitar (this may not be a new idea, so i apologize in advance). if you turn the mic pair on its side, you would end up getting more of the bass strings in one of the channels and more of the treble in the other channel. i tried it with the mics four inches or so from the guitar, centered where the neck meets the body, and got a nice picture with a little more bass on the left and treble on the right. it might be a nice way to balance out a mix tonally, left to right.

 

so many ways to use two channels!

 

bruce.

[not Cereal]

after years of stereo miking guitars, i stumbled onto the concept of single miking them. to me it sounds more natural and authentic.

 

after talking to a few locals around here, they admitted the same thing.

 

stereo miking still has a place and should not be diminished in importance at all. if thats a sound you want, do it.

 

to make an even more authentic guitar sound, single close mic and mic the room in stereo. amazing. or just the room in stereo.

 

the weird unnatural stereo techniques are starting to get on my nerves, like hard panned toms in a rock band, or hard panned close miked stereo piano/guitar etc.

 

we dont hear it that way in nature

[where02190]

Typically my go to setup for acoustic guitar is a pair of AKG 414's. One is placed just below the bridge angled in approx 15 degrees and about 18" from the instrument, the other is placed about the same distance, at the 12th fret and just below the neck, angled in about the same 15 degrees. The key to the angle is to NOT point the mic toward the soundhole. Both mics are set to cardiod, with hp filters set at 150. Pan hard left/right, and you'll have a very natural sounding acoustic guitar. This method is a very common studio method for acoustic guitar.

[KenElevenShadows]

If the acoustic guitar is the primary instrument, I like micing in x-y from about 2-3 feet. I like it, and it sounds quite natural.

 

If it's a supporting instrument in a track, I tend to use one microphone aiming perpendicular to where the neck meets the body of the guitar at also about 2-3' (the distance depends on the sound of the guitar, who is playing it, the song, etc., so sometimes I may get closer than 2-3 feet).

 

Like anything else, it just depends on the song so I don't hold fast to any one method.

[not Cereal]

yes, it definately depends on the song/style.

 

there is one guy in particular i am working with - for his style of music/playing a single mic is working best. it gives us a very natural sound.

 

for other styles i have no issue with where's recomendation. aside from the 414's, i have used that technique a lot. it is pretty standard.

[miroslav]

My typical approach with acoustic guitar is to put up a couple of mics...

...record a couple of tracks

...listen to 'em...

...then I go and grab one of my electrics, and do the tracks over!!!

 

All kidding aside...

 

Most of the stuff I've been doing lately is quite R&R...so if and when I use an acoustic...it's mostly as "filler" if I want to fatten up the overal guitar sound.

I'll double track one or two of the rhythm guitar parts...but I might grab an acoustic to do it.

Combined with the electric guitar parts...it gives the total sound a neat texture, rather than using just electrics.

 

As far as my mic technique...

...heck...depending on which acoustic I use...it will vary from one mic to two mics...and sometimes I'll even use an acoustic that has a pickup inside, instead of mics.

I have no set technique for acoustic guitarsyet.