Recording acoustic guitar

Hi Jack:

There have been threads about this. Try these two for a start:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1637173
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2395828&#2395828

Some of these posts have links to other articles too.

Hope this helps.

one of the best ways i found to be is to get down on your hands and knees starting at about 6" away from the guitar and listen to where the sound is the best. then move to 12", 18" and 24" away and do the same. note the placements of the best sound then record a pass of each and listen. if using more than one mic use the 2 best spots; preferrably one near and one far.

rick

Hi,

There are two important considerations,when recording acoustic instruments:

1.Is the instrument in question going to be the FOCAL instrument (i.e. Bob Dylan Acoustic song?)

2.Is the instrument in question going to be a background instrument,or part of a larger ensemble (i.e. rhythm guitar on a rock tune.)

IF 1, THEN you will benefit from recording the instrument in a STEREO configuration,and make sure you get some of the room ambiance as well,on a third track,if possible.There are many ways to record this way,I suggest you research the BLUMLEIN configurations.There are several to choose from,depending on what microphones you have available.The goal here is to make the instrument as large sounding as possible,like a concert piano.

IF 2, THEN you want to record the instrument in a MONO configuration,and make sure NOT to get too much of the room ambiance,as this will be counter to the further processing you will do later on to marry the instrument with the rest of the ensemble.In this caase,you want to choose a microphone that will accentuate the frequencies you will want to hear in the mix,and reject or minimise the ones you do not want in the mix,to make it easier to blend the instrument with your ensemble.Pick a smaller pencil condenser lie a Neumann KM84, or similar,and roll off as much as 120Hz.

Cheers