Recording Acoustic Guitar

[fretplay]

Recording I have discovered is a path of constant learning, just when you think you have it all you learn you haven't!

 

I play both acoustic and electric using my fingers but if I need a rhythm track on acoustic I use a flat plectrum. I use various weights including a try with wooden plectrums but I don't seem to be able to get away from that 'plectrum sound' over the top of the strings. Currently I am using a lightweight martin plectrum with a Gibson CJ165.

 

I have discovered that a microphone produces a more natural sound than the guitar plugged into the interface this gives me the most natural sound but it is not perfect. I know it is possible for only the performer to hear it but I'm sure I am doing something wrong or, not doing something to get a better sound.

 

I watched Nashville last week and listened intently to a song sung only with a gently strummed acoustic guitar very similar to the one I use and there was no plectrum sound there. Could it me the type of mic I use or the position of the mic to the guitar or is there more than one mic?

 

Can any members advise me please.

[MR GIBS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhuURBsFrHs

[livemusic]

I can tell you that you are possibly holding the pick too lightly and also, it could be your choice of a pick. A light pick is going to have more pick noise. I have bought $40 Bluechip picks for this very problem and they are good, but I lost two in a row within 24 hours of purchase. I can keep a cheap pick forever and lose an expensive one in a day. Especially one chocolate brown color. I have found the celluloid picks to be just about as good, or one made from ultem/ultex. I used a thin pick for decades but converted to a much thicker pick for the pick noise problem. I found a large, triangular Gibson medium pick that I really liked a few weeks ago. I've already lost it, lol.

 

Here is one I like that's cheap...

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-351-Classic-Celluloid-Guitar-Picks-Confetti-Medium-144-1-Gross-/131171275642?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1e8a6ad37a

 

P.S. It has a LOT to do with technique. And, an engineer can do some magic to reduce pick noise.

[L5Larry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhuURBsFrHs

 

Good tips in the video above. Of course they want you to go out and buy $1000 worth of AT mics, but the theories are the same for any mic(s).

 

Most likely what you have happening is a three-tier snowball effect of thin plectrum, mic "field", and mic placement.

 

Many people like to use thin picks, and there are ways to minimize the clickety-clack of that type plectrum, most importantly mic placement. As (not) shown in the vid (but not specifically stated), DO NOT aim the mic at the soundhole. The vid talks about aiming the mic at "the 14th fret". This placement will help minimize pick-click, but may also make the guitar sound tinty and jangly. For single mic recording I prefer aiming the mic at the bridge. This is the spot where all sound from an acoustic guitar is initiated and transferred, and sounds most natural to me. Also the distance from the mic to the guitar will affect the overall recorded sound, and is explained pretty well in the vid (close=boomy, far=thinner). This is called "Proximity Effect".

 

You'll notice in the vid they keep talking about "cardioid" mics. This is a technical description of the pickup pattern of the mic. Cardioid is a type of "unidirectional" mic that rejects "off-axis" sound. In other words it is focused straight ahead, and sounds from the side to the rear are picked up much less than from the front.

 

The pickup pattern, and proximity effect of microphones is kind of a fun thing to study, as this information is published in the tech sheets of all professional mics.

 

This vid also shows only "condenser" mics being used (it IS a sales pitch video). Not all of us can afford the more expensive battery powered, or phantom powered, condenser mics. A properly placed "dynamic" cardioid type mic (such as the common SM-57), will work just fine.

 

Anyway, experimentation is the key to see what's best for you and your equipment. Some research on technical terms and information is very interesting also. Have fun with it.

 

By the way.... my acoustic recording setup is Shure SM-81 (condenser/cardioid) aimed at the bridge from 8-10" away.

[Jayyj]

First thing I look at when recording anything that isn't going to be DId is whether I like the sound of the instrument in the room? If so, then it should be reasonably easy to recreate with microphones; if not, I'd far rather spend time addressing any issues with the sound at source than try to 'fix' it further down the line. Obviously, sometimes a compromise is needed between sound and performance, but if the guitar sounds good to you before you plug the mic in, the goal is far simpler than chasing a sound that isn't there to begin with.

 

The other key advice I can think of is, trust your ears! Once you've read up on the popular mic positions, set yourself up on a stool, set up the mic in each of the positions in turn, and record the same short piece with each. Record them on consecutive tracks on your recording platform so you can easily flip between them, and listen back carefully to the differences between them. Once you have an idea what sound differences there are between the positions, pick one you like, grap a pair of decent headphones and try moving the mic around within the rough area you've chosen and listen to the way the sound changes, and ditto moving closer and further away from the guitar.

 

Critical listening is pretty much the key to making good recordings, and the great thing is, it doesn't cost anything! Expensive microphones are a great thing to have if you can afford it, but in my experience an expensive mic in the wrong place is rarely going to sound as good as a cheap one in the sweet spot.

[rustystrings]

 

I watched Nashville last week and listened intently to a song sung only with a gently strummed acoustic guitar very similar to the one I use and there was no plectrum sound there. Could it me the type of mic I use or the position of the mic to the guitar or is there more than one mic?

 

 

Interesting you should mention Nashville - I'm assuming you're referring to the ABC television show? I have been fascinated by how very few plectrums I see used on that show. If the actors are both singing AND playing the songs used, and it was my understanding that they are, I've noticed that the recurring and main characters are overwhelmingly playing with bare hands, at least when playing acoustic. Gibson-note - the recurring characters who play acoustic on this show play Gibsons. There have been a few Martins (one super-expensive '38 00-42, one small brown 0-15, a couple of stray dreads), but the guitars of the recurring and main characters include an AJ, a Hummingbird, a CF-100E, an LG-2 and a J-200. Despite the wear marks on the LG-2 and the CF-100E, close watching will catch the orange labels that neither of those models would had have back when.

 

Anyway - you might not hear pick noise on some of those songs because, well, they're not using a pick, they're using the backs of a fingernail ...

[BluesKing777]

I posted this track in another thread, but here is a fingerpicking test recording of my LG3:

 

 

https://soundcloud.com/bluesking777/test44

 

 

This is done on the KISS principle - One Shure SM57 mic pointed at the 12th fret running into my Allen & Heath mixer which has reverb and echo PLUS nice preamps, for the money, and then via the mixer's USB Stereo OUT facility to my Imac and recorded in Garageband and the noisy bits at the beginning and end of the track are edited and then sent to Soundcloud 'As Is', where the link is posted here>

 

 

To capture more of the acoustic guitar's sound properly needs a whole lot more recording knowledge than I have, and an unending row of equipment and mics.

 

 

I am very happy with my little setup and I try not to move anything too much, so I can turn everything on and hit "record' when the moment comes!

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[fretplay]

Thanks Guys for your very informative and helpful reply's. It is quite possible I do hold the pick too loosely and the mic could be over the sound hole.

 

On the mic position question there seems to be two schools of thought,mic positioned over the 12th fret and mic positioned over the bridge. I need to experiment.

[Jayyj]

Remember that different players and instruments suit different positions, so experimenting is the key whatever opinions you get. The bridge position (or often pointed at the belly below the bridge) tends to be my starting point but I've use the 12th fret technique successfully as well, as well as over the player's shoulder and even occasionally right up near the soundhole. If you have more than one mic you can blend signals as well. Personally I prefer to use two mics, one right up close and the other 1-2 meters back. The mic and placement I use at least for the close mic depends very much on the guitar though.