I think it’s fair to say that recording an acoustic guitar is no simple feat. Much like a vocal or piano, acoustic guitars are complex instruments, both harmonically and dynamically.
There are a lot of variables that can have a huge impact on your acoustic guitar recordings:
- The movements of the player
- How hard the player is playing
- How close or far your mic placement is
- The quality of the guitar itself
- The microphone you’re using to record
- The room you’re recording in
A bit stressful when you think about it all, isn’t it? It doesn’t have to be stressful though. With a bit of testing, you can arrive at an acoustic guitar sound that will sound great in your songs.
Today I’d like to share with you a series of acoustic recordings I captured with a buddy of mine. These recordings compare 2 different microphones at different:
- Positions
- Angles
- Distances
So 4 sets of recordings of 2 microphones at 4 different positions.
After that, we’ll then use Logic’s Channel EQ and Multipressor to tighten up the sound of one of the recordings.
My goal today is to show you how spending even a *little* bit of time testing mic positions can do wonders for your music.
It’s easy to assume we can “fix it in the mix.” But it’s often much faster and easier to figure it out at the recording stage. You may not arrive at the “perfect” recording. But you’ll certainly arrive at a much better recording.
Check out today’s video above for more. Enjoy!
In that narrow room I would have tried Figure 8 position, you’ll get deeper nulls on the reflections from the side walls. Assuming the guitar is pointed down the length