Micing an acoustic techniques

meltedbuzzbox

Hello all,

I was wondering what you guys do when it comes to micing an acoustic?
I've been toying with the idea of getting a matched pair of small condenser mics for stereo recording or possibly going ribbon.
Previously I have used my vocal condenser off axis whith reasonable results but it feels a bit clumsy.
Any advice greatly received

Cheers

CMW335

Not able to help regards technique tbh but can say you can’t go wrong with a couple of Shure sm81’s to start

Cirrus

I like to mic acoustics in mono. If I use a second mic, it'll be because the room sounds nice so I'll put it further away to capture some of that.

As for where to put the mic, there's not really any substitute for moving the mic around with headphones on and seeing where it sounds best. I usually listen for a good balance of body, punch, brightness from the strings, and watch out for boomy bass or nasty midrange resonances.

Branshen

depends on the mix of the song. If it's an already dense mix with lots of instruments, I'd mic it mono facing either the mic to the fretboard around the 15th fret or the bridge, if it's a very sparse mix, I'd get a stereo image by micing both. I'm not particular/bothered enough to set up an X-Y stereo micing setup, but then again, I'm no sound engineer..

octatonic

I'm a big fan of M/S micing on acoustic guitars, or Blumlein pair.
Or just an SDC pointing at the 12th fret- I like the Josephson C42.

It really depends on the room, the guitar,  the player, the song etc.

Winny_Pooh

Stereo works fine if you want a solo performance or if the mix is sparse. Mono for most everything else. 

Ribbons are nice if you have an instrumemt with a hard attack you'd like to take the edge off, say strumming a steel string guitar with a stiff pick. Small diaphragm condensors are the opposite of this and will sound quite "unforgiving" unless you play fingerstyle or use them further back in a really nice room. 

spark240

Im using 2 methods lately..

1 - A pair of Rode NT5
2 - Direct signal panned a little Right and a Mic signal left

Stuckfast

Why are you using your vocal mic off axis?

There are millions of options but you should be able to get a good sound with a typical large-diaphragm capacitor mic, assuming that's what yours is. My current favourite is to have it in between the player's legs, below the lower bout of the guitar, looking up at the strings. Behind the bridge can also work really well.

meltedbuzzbox

Stuckfast said:

Why are you using your vocal mic off axis?

There are millions of options but you should be able to get a good sound with a typical large-diaphragm capacitor mic, assuming that's what yours is. My current favourite is to have it in between the player's legs, below the lower bout of the guitar, looking up at the strings. Behind the bridge can also work really well.

I had my large diaphragm condenser mic between my legs below the sound hole angled up. That's off axis isn't it?

Winny_Pooh

Off axis usually refers to the capsule direction. Eg the mic is in line of sight of the sound source but turned to the side. The purpose being to dull the highs. 

Its often used to imply something else when micing cabs as "on axis" is the centre of the cone (I perfer to say "off centre")

I don't like LDCs anywhere near the soundhole, too woofy. My favourite is 3-6inches away from the fretboard around the 12/14th fret & facing the capsule towards the soundhole..... on axis

meltedbuzzbox

I found my acoustic was OK using the previous technique, it wasn't boomy as I was playing arpeggios. 
I will experiment more as I have grabbed a ribbon and 2 small condensers.
I've read a lot of engineers articles recommending that you aim for the point where the fretboard joins the body. 
I will see how I go. 

Cheers all 

Teetonetal

Large diaphragm condensor, about a foot away from the guitar, pointing at the 12th fret as if a perpendicular line connected them. Then move around a little to find a good balance.

meltedbuzzbox

Teetonetal said:

Large diaphragm condensor, about a foot away from the guitar, pointing at the 12th fret as if a perpendicular line connected them. Then move around a little to find a good balance.

Cheers Patrick. I will see how it pans out, I think I will end up doing something close-ish and then possibly something further away to pickup the sound in the room and see how that works. 
All good fun and games... and cables... 

sticker

A lot of my favourite Youtube guitarists use a blend of a single SDC (Rode NT5 or similar)  pointing at the 12th fret and a LDC (Rode NT2a or similar) about a 1-2 feet away .

Seems to give clarity with some air and a good balance even with YT's crappy compression .

Stuckfast

I find pointing it at the 12th fret can work sometimes, but often sounds a bit thin and plinky for my tastes. Generally I prefer to have a bit more body in the sound. I once got a really nice sound with a ribbon mic backed off to the player's right hand side and looking back at the bridge, so experiment is definitely the order of the day.

Just be careful to check the sound in mono if you use more than one mic.

stuartryanmusic

The right ribbon in a good room can be fantastic and sound very true to the instrument. The caveat is that you may get a low end build up that you have to cut but they also take boosts like nothing else - a healthy dose of 12k can be incredible! I’ve used all manner of mics and combinations over the years but am loving a single Royer 122 through some good preamps and eqs - so much so that I’ll sell some condensers and buy a second 122 soon!

ToneControl

I use a pair of Sontronics STC-1s
Point one at the 12th Fret, the other at the soundboard, half way between the bridge and the tail of the guitar

ToneControl

Also, when recording I usually play it with the headphones on, to match my playing to what the mics are picking up

Funkfingers

I simplified the procedure by installing an L.R. Baggs Lyric inside my acoustic guitars. 

meltedbuzzbox

Funkfingers said:

I simplified the procedure by installing an L.R. Baggs Lyric inside my acoustic guitars. 

I dont think internal micing sounds quite right. 
I use my Yamaha classical for recording that has an internal mic and it can be a bit thumpy and a pain to balance using the onboard eq and mic settings. 

YMMV and all that