Portable Audio & Video

About Recording the Acoustic Guitar

The acoustic guitar is one of the most popular instruments within a band as the instrument is typically capable of providing the accompanying chords for the lead singer and is in fact also capable of performing some intricate solos. However, many amateur musicians are usually unaware of how to properly mike up the Acoustic Guitar for the purposes of recording a song since the technique required for this differs drastically from the miking procedure required when one starts to play in a huge concert hall at a live concert. As such, the remainder of this article will be about miking the acoustic guitar for recording and how one may utilize these tips to ensure the best and cleanest sound possible.

There’s no right way to mic an acoustic guitar because most engineers agree that relies on what the musician prefers, the individual character and dynamic style of the guitarist. The tonal quality of the guitar is of course the most important thing in producing a true sound. That being said, it depends on where and how you might want it to sound in the final mix down. Despite all these varients however, there is still one factor that undoubtedly determines the overall quality of the recording, and that is plain and simple, the nature of the stereo miking itself.

There are some guitarists who are particularly after the quality of spaciousness and this would require a recording in mono format with some stereo processing being folded in. However, the large majority of guitarists would be going after both depth and accuracy and the best way to achieve this would be by stereo recording with two microphones.

There are three main techniques by which one will be able to do this.The first and most used is to place 2 mics fairly far from one another at the same level with 1 aimed at the instrument’s twelfth fret and the other pointing toward the bridge. When doing this, you should try the three to one rule where the measurement between the mics is at the least 3 times the distance between each mic and the sound-source. This will render a much clearer sound because phase-cancellations are considerably minimized.

The 2nd mic placement method is much like the first. The only difference would be is that a second mic at the bridge would be hung from a mic stand at the normal hearing level of the performer, pointing at either the bridge or the strings behind the sound hole.

The last technique discussed here is the X-Y mic-pairing approach to stereo miking. Altogether this method helps with the problem of wave-cancellatio-phasing. In any case, it’s not that difficult since it’s basically a trial and error procedure to find the spot where the guitar sounds the best. Even then, both mics should be located as close together as can be so that their capsules are almost in contact. The other ends though should be spread further apart at a ninety or one hundred twenty degree angle from the axis. A wide V-shape is the common result.

Something that you’ll want to refrain from is placing the microphone(s) near the sound-hole. This may seem a bit counter-intuitive, but it usually results in too much boom and not enough of the guitar’s other brilliant qualities.

Of course there many more aspects to the process. This article only covers the fundamentals. By understanding these fundamentals about miking the acoustic guitar, you’ll be on the path to producing a superior quality guitar recording. Anyway, the fundamental rule is that your ears are the final judge about the technique you use in recording the acoustic guitar.

About the Author

Bruce is a renowned recordist, film composer and producer. Through his experience Bruce is and expert on
microphones
for home recording,
studio recording
and stage performance. Check out his site where you’ll find information and great deals on microphones. You can also visit the site for his projects at Excello Recording in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

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