Recording Acoustic Guitar

I'm going to be doing some acustic guitar recordings using and wanted to find out from some of you other acoustic musicians what type of EQ settings, Logic plug-ins, etc., that you use. I'm kind of new at this and am looking for suggestions of methods to try.
Thanks.

Be aware that when using two mics in this fashion they must be in phase with one another. Normally by positioning them the same distance from the guitar will achieve this. Sometimes it's a little more tricky.
Normally if I'm gonna use two mics on an acoustic, I would use a coincident pair. Preferably two of the same kinds of mics (matched stereo pair when possible) and cross them over one another at 90 degrees. Making sure the actual capsules of the mics are directly next to one another meaning the sound will arrive at both mics at the same time. This should stop any phase problems. by pointing one towards the body and the other towards the neck you should be able to get a fairly good picture of the full tone of the guitar.
See this site:
http://www.dpamicrophones.com/
For some GREAT info on stereo micing techniques. The technique I badly tried to describe is known as the X-Y Technique, it is shown there recording acoustic guitar.
If you do not take notice of the phase differences between the mics you will likely end up LOSING low end frequencies when adding a second mic in, rather than gaining them. Also by using two different microphones you will get a skewed stereo image of the guitar if you try to pan them apart, L-R.

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Hi David,
When you say "you're getting poor sound" when it's turned down, is it really poor sound? Or are your ears favoring the other because it's louder? This is a common mistake with beginners. Louder isn't better, it's just louder.
You may need to experiment, but the first thing I would do is move the mic back a bit. Give your guitar some room to develop its sound, before it hits the mic. This will not only make the guitar sound more natural, but will buy you a little room with dynamics.
Normally, compressors are used to help tame the dynamics of a thing like this, but if you do not have decent quality hardware compressors, I would be patient, and find the best "middle ground" you can.
Keep in mind, when mixing, you can use automation and compression to even out the sections somewhat. Don't expect it to "go to tape" dynamically perfect. It doesn't always work that way.
But you could certainly record this is 2 sections, just make sure the ONLY difference is in the level of the pre-amps going to Logic. Make sure the guitar/microphone distance stays the same.
Then when mixing, you have control over the levels of the different sections, and for all intensive purposes, they should sound the same... meaning the same guitar in the same room... just played louder/softer, which by itself is two totally different sounds. Don't expect the softer parts to sound like the louder parts. they simply can't.. and more importantly, they shouldn't. That's the beauty of any acoustic instrument.

Which M-Audio Interface to record acoustic guitar?

Hi, I've been using Garageband for over 2 years and am currently switching to LE8. I used the USB Samson mic primarily for my recordings and am thinking of upgrading to better equipments. I record mostly my acoustic guitar which has a plug-in.
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If I were you I'd get a FireWire Solo interface. First, FireWire is a more stable and reliable connection than USB (believe me, I have used both for recording and USB has regular glitches compared to FW, which has none). Secondly, FW Solo has inputs on the front panel which is more comfortable for recording, while FastTrack doesn't. Third, have a look at the first input on the Solo's front panel. It's designed for the Mic plug.
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Recording acoustic guitar with microphone

My sound levels are very low when I try to record a guitar - Real Instrument/Acoustic Guitar/Natural settings. I am using a Shure SM58 via an M-Audio Fast Track Ultra. My line levels seem very low. Any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong?

You probably need to set the gain on the Fast Track quite high and get the mic fairly close, like less than a foot.
I usually like to use two mics for acoustic; one dynamic, like the SM58, and one condenser. Or a condenser and a line-in (I like the Dean Markley ProMag Grand soundhole pickup.)

Microphone for recording acoustic guitar -- any recommendations?

My budget is under $400, Thanks!

Christian Henson wrote:
For what it's worth ( I don't know what these fetch on eBay) I use a Coles 4038 in conjuntion with a Neumann KM184, make sure they're very close to each other avoid phase problems and they've got air between the player and the mic's.
Very nice. I use a KM184 and a Royer R122, although I tend to use them farther apart as a general rule. But yes, ribbon mics... that's the way records are supposed to sound!
Most small and large diaphragm mics under the 700 price point tend to have WAY too much "zing" on their frequency curve. You think they sound great upon first using it, but once you start stacking up tracks with it, it starts to sound like a pack of bees swarming around your studio
Regarding the question, has anyone used the blue mics...
I played a session 2 weeks ago, and the engineer mic'd my acoustic guitar with two of the blues... the Kiwi model, perhaps. It sounded excellent, and based on that one experience, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend those mics.

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I don't have a lot of money to spend after buying the MBP so just let me know what the essentials are for this one.
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Assuming you have the mic already, we can easily stay under $100.
This Behringer Mixer is about $30.
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Help with this acoustic guitar sound.

Hi guys,
Having a break from recording vox for a bit. So now on to recording acoustic guitars
I need some help with this acoustic guitar i recored today, it sound ok? but needs help. I'v messed about with EQ but still not happy .
I'v put the recording up as a quicktime movie so you can see mic positions. Processing so far is a bit of compression and a dab of EQ cutting 500 Hz and reverb. Mic is a SE-Z5600.
The performance is far from perfect as this was a once through take for sound tests. Also the sync goes out between the audio and video no idea why
Any help would be great.
John
http://www.gradeaguitartuition.co.uk/hidden.htm
Message was edited by: john boswell1

John,
Hearing it back from a compressed file obviously is going to "skew" things a bit, but I actually fail to see what you don't like about it.
Here's the thing...
When the guitar is good (sounds like yours is), and the player is good (which you are), THAT"S the sound of the guitar.
Yes, mic choice, mic placement, mic pre-amps, size of the room, etc, all play a part, but here's the best kept secret in the biz...
All those things I just mentioned play the smallest part. Don't believe me?
Record that guitar with you playing, with 5 different mic, 5 different mic pres, in 5 different rooms, and you'll be stunned at how similar they all sound. Sure there will be various sonic differences, but those differences would be pale in comparison to a different player playing a different guitar.
Hmm, why not move the mic a bit more to the center hole of the guitar and >get a bit closer.
I would suggest NOT doing this, because of the proximity effect of placing a mic to close to the sound source, unless the mic was set in an omni pattern, and even then, I suggest against it, because a guitar is made to project tone, and when you stick a mic within an inch or two of it, you "choke" all that tone, and it's a very microscopic view of a intended bigger picture.
The "safest" place to place a single mic on an acoustic guitar, is out about 7 or 8 inches, from the 12th or 14th fret. You'll find a very balanced tone here. It's certainly not the only place to out a single mic, but it's the "tried and true" method, that will produce predictable and useable results everytime.
Other than that, a small diaphragm condenser mic will generally sound better on an acoustic guitar than a large diaphragm mic, like the one you're using. Again, that's a safe generalization... not to be written in stone, but will always produce good results.
I think you're recording sounds good. It sounds like you, playing your guitar. Isn't that the goal?

How do I make the internal mic on my macbook air sustain better when recording on garage band? I have been recording an acoustic guitar and listening back, the mic seems to pick it up well naturally for 1 or 2 seconds then dramatically drop out.

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When recording how do you make an acoustic guitar sound good??

With the microphone on my mac, im recording my guitar and i mostly hear the strumming and no sound is there an editing thing i can use to get rid of ugliness??

Oh, in terms of creating music, it's actually pretty bad, even for voice.
The built in mic is good for "text only", like chats, dictaphone like usage, quick&dirty recordings... But if you want to record music (not just noise), a decent microphone is the first thing you'll need. You'll also need an audio interface with a XLR input (preferabely with phantom power in case you got a condenser mic).
Recommendations for beginners: Shure SM-57 or -58 (good-for-all dynamic mic, but needs good preamps). Or AKG C1000S as a universal condenser mic.
Now the choice depends on which kind of music you like to record. For acoustic guitar, i said it should be a condenser. It's more crisp and clear as most of the dynamic microphones. I like the AKG C1000S because it is not as small and fragile as many of these intrument mics. You can use it for vocals, change the cardioid characteristics, record ambient sound and speeches, whatever.
The Shure SM-57/58 is the main workhorse in many environments. Whenever there's no better mic, no special mic for this or that, the engineer will look over his shoulder and tell ol' John Doe to "Gimmea57". Or 58 for vocals, because it has an integrated pop filter. You'll see many vocalists using the '58.
And to give you something to read: http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
Fox

I have version 4.1.2 and recorded a lead guitar track (live classical guitar) using the acoustic guitar echoes (flange enabled). Now, when I burn a CD, the guitar track is very weak. Any clues?

I have version 4.1.2 and have been doing great rercording for several years. I use only real instruments. This week I added "acoustic guitar echoes" to my classical guitar, and that enabled the "flanger" setting which is what I wanted. Mysteriously, every time I burn a test CD, that lead guitar track is very weak, even though the recording level is quite high. Nothing I have done has helped the mix. Does anyone know why this is happening and what I can do to circumvent it? I've tried burning straight from GB to a CD and also via Itunes; it doesn't make any difference. Thanks.

P.S. I usually record my classical guitar on the "vocal" and "live performance" settings, using my Blue YETI mic, set on stereo. I get great recordings which always transfer perfectly to my CDs. I'm puzzled why adding the acoustic guitar echoes would be failing in the burn process. Hope this clarifies.

I'm trying to multi-track using an m-audio device, I can record my guitar fine. However, I want to create a new track so I can record an acoustic tambourine over the top. Instead it records the original guitar as well as tambourine? its really annoying

I'm trying to multi-track using an m-audio device, I can record my guitar fine. However, I want to create a new track so I can record an acoustic tambourine over the top. Instead it records the original guitar as well as the tambourine coming out with a really distorted sound. I've managed to record over the top of a guitar before and add diferent riffs and sounds but I've tried all of the settings but its still not working. Basically I want to record different tracks without it recording my previous guitar riffs as well. Help would really be appreciated.

Ah that was it, thanks a lot common sense really but thanks for the help

Any way to record vocals and acoustic guitar at once?

I have been trying to get garage band to record me playing acoustic guitar while singing. Whenever I do it, I can't hear me singing. I use the firebox and connect into an MXL vocal mic.
Any suggestions?

59Sound wrote:
I can't hear me singing.
http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/GBFAQ.html#monitoron
(Let the page FULLY load. The link to your answer is at the top of your screen)

Compare ipad2 with ipad3, garageband for acoustic guitar and voice recording, backing tracks.

I am interested in purchasing an ipad for recording music using garageband, acoustic guitar & vocals, and using to add rhythm/bass, to create tracks to use in performing solo gigs.
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walkman1187

Assuming it does not have a pickup, any instrument that the microphone picks up can be recorded.
(If it does have a pickup, you can probably just plug it in.)
GarageBand is simply a fancy tape recorder. Anything that can be converted to an audio frequency electrical signal can be recorded.
Unless this is like the joke where the man with the broken hand asks his doctor whether he will be able to play the violin when his hand heals. "Sure." the doctor replies. "That's great!" says the man, "I couldn't play it before!"

Recording Acoustic Guitar

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