First post here - need help deciding best guitar mic sound

BrendanCooper

Hi all,

First post here so please be gentle!

I just got a new setup and can't decide which of the various different combinations/arrangements of mics I prefer. Can you help?

If you fancy spending a few seconds to listen, please check out the playlist below (just click the play button and it'll go through them) and just tell me which you like most ie 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.



Or you could tell me they all suck, that's fine.

They're all just six-second snippets of the same phrase, no EQ or effects, just exported direct.

I know it's down to individual preference, whatever suits the arrangement, etc etc. But it would just help to get an idea of what other people think. I've tried asking the cats but they just look back at me blankly.

Cheers
Brendan

BrendanCooper

Ah, didn't expect the SoundCloud link to embed like that. Just click the Play icon and it'll play 1 through to 5 automagically (it's a playlist). Thanks.

pintspiller

Of the choices, I would probably pick 3 or 5.

BrendanCooper

Thanks!

BrendanCooper

Any more for any more? If not I'll scurry off.

spark240

Blimey dude..its only been on here for 20 mins !.....things aint that fast round here unless you giving something away...

IMC1980

1 and 4 sound good to me, they would need a high pass or low shelf or maybe even a gentle multiband to tame the lowest frequencies, but as you say, there is nothing on the tracks.

Is it one mic per clip? 1 and 4 were my favourites, but a blend of the takes may sound even nicer.

BrendanCooper

Thanks for the feedback and yes, you're right about the EQ but I'm going through a phase whereby I want to EQ as little as possible. They're actually all blends, which I like to do because I tend to like one aspect of one source, and another of another, so just by altering their levels you kind of apply EQ without EQ if you see what I mean. I don't actually have the list in front of me right now of which is which (and I'd prefer not to say which is which because that might influence people's preferences!) but they're combinations of an AKG C1000S, an SM58 (not usually good for recording guitar but thought it was worth checking out, you never know what will actually work), the guitar's own inbuilt piezo pickup, and my most recent addition, a Woody XL pickup. So, lots of combinations! I wish I could just make my own mind up but I can't. I'm also expecting to get completely different sets of answers from people here, which would justify my initial suspicion that it really is totally subjective.

Cirrus

Ok, disclaimer - out of context, I have no idea which one would sound best... ie, if the acoustic needs to fit around other stuff, the other stuff will determine what works.

But in isolation, 2 or 4. The others have too much midrange honkiness which leaves the acoustic sounding cheap/ flat. (but, again, in the context of a mix a particular bunch of midrange harmonics might be really important so...)

BrendanCooper

Nice one, ta.

IMC1980

BrendanCooper said:

Thanks for the feedback and yes, you're right about the EQ but I'm going through a phase whereby I want to EQ as little as possible. They're actually all blends, which I like to do because I tend to like one aspect of one source, and another of another, so just by altering their levels you kind of apply EQ without EQ if you see what I mean. I don't actually have the list in front of me right now of which is which (and I'd prefer not to say which is which because that might influence people's preferences!) but they're combinations of an AKG C1000S, an SM58 (not usually good for recording guitar but thought it was worth checking out, you never know what will actually work), the guitar's own inbuilt piezo pickup, and my most recent addition, a Woody XL pickup. So, lots of combinations! I wish I could just make my own mind up but I can't. I'm also expecting to get completely different sets of answers from people here, which would justify my initial suspicion that it really is totally subjective.

Definitely going to be subjective! What will the full mix have in it? I have recorded guitar parts that sound like crap in isolation, but sit nice in the mix and the other way around. Acoustic guitars are something I don't have too much experience on, I am more of an amp recorder. A friend and I recorded an acoustic cover the other week and it is hard to get that "sparkle", but that may be down to us using cheap guitars! 

BrendanCooper

Totally agree - depends on the full mix, and yes, that 'sparkle' is hard to capture! But I needed a starting point, and being wildly indecisive, couldn't really decide what that was. Anyway, given that most of my stuff is based around the guitar, I figured if I could go somewhere in the right direction with that, it would form the 'heart' of what I do. I've just played around a bit more and as a pure acoustic guitar tone, with EQ added to boost the lower range, and reduce some of the midrange honkiness described, number 5 is my favourite. The full list is:
1=AKG & Woody
2=AKG & piezo
3=SM58 & Woody
4=SM58 & piezo
5=piezo & Woody

So, it does come as a surprise to find that people liked 3 and 4, because really the SM58 has no right to sound good with an acoustic! But I can see that, on its own, it has quite a thick sound which the piezo adds some sparkle to. The Woody also has quite pronounced mid-range but it's more clean-sounding, so the piezo works well with that, again for the hi-end sparkle. But I've decided that I do, in the end, need to add EQ to get the sound I want. Sorry, I've just finished reading 'Are We Still Rolling' by Phill Brown and decided to go back to the basics, concentrate on getting absolutely the best sound I could before even thinking about adding any effects. Great book btw, thorougly recommended, with the exception that it then spurs idiots like me to plague people like you on forums like this.

Anyway, thanks for all the responses. If it helps, I started out on the Computer Music forum in its very first incarnation around 17 years ago, had a few demos published in CM mag, got back into the swing of things over the past year or so. I basically just enjoy piddling around with stuff, I'm no pro.

Cheers
Brendan

IMC1980

58s have their place, I used one on this demo with a 57 and got full guitar sound (albeit a distorted one):

I have been messing around with mics for years, the 57/58 combo still stands up against 57/LDC combos so I don't know.... I still stand by 1 & 4 though. 

BrendanCooper

That's so interesting - your two choices are completely different sources ie AKG & Woody and then SM58 & piezo. Thanks so much for the feedback though, and the reassurance that I can just match whatever I like with, well, whatever I like. Btw, hope you don't mind me mentioning, but the hyperlink in your signature doesn't work. Hope this helps!

IMC1980

BrendanCooper said:

That's so interesting - your two choices are completely different sources ie AKG & Woody and then SM58 & piezo. Thanks so much for the feedback though, and the reassurance that I can just match whatever I like with, well, whatever I like. Btw, hope you don't mind me mentioning, but the hyperlink in your signature doesn't work. Hope this helps!

No worries mate, it is easy to get "choice paralysis" when you have so many options! I try all sorts of mic combos on guitars and vocals, until I strike gold, I'll keep going. You have a couple of nice acoustic there though, I'll be interested to hear the final mix. Signature should be fixed now

gitapik

I like 4. It hangs back and will allow for more eq work, later on.

Rode NT-3 is a very nice recording mic, too.