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Gear / Technical Help => Ask The Tapers => Topic started by: alex2468 on December 23, 2004, 01:15:37 PM
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Hey people, im alex and my cherry is red in here. i asked a question on a different message board and someone suggested i come here since you guys are so cool and awesome and *full of shit*...ahem, sorry about that unconscious outburst. anyway, i enjoy playing accoustic guitar, classical style amongst many others, i use nylon strings and i am looking for a good mic that is best for picking up the classical sound, nylon strings and all. cheap would be nice too, but of course quality comes first. can any of you reccomend anything along these lines?
thanks for your help and merry dec. 23rd
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how cheap is cheap- the sm57 is always a trademark studio mic for this stuff, but you can get much nicer mics out there. depends what the price range is.
i mean hell if price is no object kmi86. my fav on classical strings.
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the Microtech Gefell 300s sound incredible with acoustic guitar...
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Man, there are so many choices here.
I like SD mics for acoustic guitar. Almost any microphone that is suitable for "taping" can be used in this application.
The Josephson SD's make very nice recordings, but may be out of your price range. What's your price range?
Edit for spelling
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neumann km84i's and km140/130's are my personal neumann favorites for acoustic dtringed instruments.
the sr77 is nice if you like something a little brighter and more "in your face"
got a dpa 4006 lying around? ;D
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the Microtech Gefell 300s sound incredible with acoustic guitar...
what he said... i've used the 200 series for some studio work, and i found them to be basicly all i wanted. They were a little more detailed than my AKG's but i've been happy with the 391's as well. I would take the geffels for recording in a room with good acoustics,, upclose they are great as well, but the flat akg sound i kinda prefer for close mic'ing.
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i think you will have better luck with a dean markley pro mag acoustic guitar pickup. i have a few and they are really nice on steel and nylon gutiars.
if so desired you can beef up the sound with a close mic. an sm-57 would be ok as johnny tapealot said. a good condensor will also work well but may be a little more sensative and pick up a little more backup noise
i like to use the pro mag dry and a little out front in the mix, and blend with the mic'd track with a little delay and a touch of chorus
there is no right or wrong, just whatever sounds good to you. experiment and have fun
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MY first recomendation would be the pick up style mic. IF you don't go that route, I agree that a dynamic will be less hassle, cheaper and overall better suited for on stage mic'ing- if you have less than $100.00 a Shure SM-57 may work, for a bit more money, a Beyer M201( less than $200), May be even the EV on stage series? Josephson is an OUTSTANDING microphone ( I think over $500 ?? ). Condensor mics on acoustic guitars for onstage mic'ing has more problems to watch for.
If you are in the studio, a nice LD mic would really make the strings sound good.
I also agree there is no right or wrong. Each mic brings out certain characteristics of the tonality and there's no shame in experiimenting and finding out what sounds best TO YOU.
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I couldnt really tell from your post wether you will be using this in a live or studio situation. The problem with pickups is that they sound like just that...a pickup! For live sound situations where gain before feedback is a big issue a pickup is a great way to go. However in a studio situation a mic (or stereo pair) is the way to go if you want to capture what the guitar acxtually sounds like. I work for an all acoustic band and *alot* of acoustic musicians in general and I can tell you that what I hear the most from all the musicians I work with (both the regulars and all the guests) when they get on stage is something like "Please try to make it sound real in the monitors and not like a pickup". Out front a pickup is used to add volume with lower chance of feedback, but should still be reinforced with a microhone blended in to give a full "wooden" sound. For the most part Pickups sound very bright and not very full. You hear alot of the string noise (pick hitting strings, fingers on frets) and not much of the full resonation of the instrument. This can be alleviated somewhat by playing into a high quality preamp (like a Pendulum or an Avalon) but you are talking big $$$ for a good quality pre. In a studio you would be hard pressed to beat a stereo pair of mic's, one aimed at the area where the neck joins the guitar and one aimed at the soundhole region. Avoid aiming either mic directly at the guitar, but slightly off axis. If you only have one mic use the soundhole region only. 1 mic aimed straight into the soundhole will sound boomy, while one aimed slightly off axis will sound full while losing much of teh boom. You could also experiment with a high pass filter, but the less you have to alter the signal the better. You can play with all types of frequency filters, rolloff, etc, in post-preduction on the computer. As was stated the venerable SM57 has been long used in both live and studio applications, and for only around $79 per mic is a great way to go for the budget muscian. But if you have some cash to invest a decent pair of condensors you wont be sorry. The band I tour with has done several albums (both live and studio) and all of the studio ones were done using KM84's or 184's on the guitar, no pickups. We also used my AKG461's in side by side comparison with 184's (later in a home studio) and they sounded great as well. You could also use the omni versions of these with awesome results, however the mic overall will be less versatile for all around use as omnis. The live albums were done using a blend of both pickup and microphone (an internal microphone mounted inside the guitar). So if you are going to be frequently playing out in rooms where you have to be turned up really loud, a pickup is great. For a studio, in my opinion, its the mics all the way.
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If I could I would +T bluegrass brad. he made some great points.
In studio, it is very important to follow his advice about aiming the mics off axis to the guitar hole and neck. there is prolly a pic of a studio mic'ing set up that shows this, I don't have one though.
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Thanks guys, you have all been really helpful. i am setting up and thinking of an in house studio, ive played guitar for a long time but am just now gathering the funds and settling down in one place to set up an in house studio, one component at a time. i got a lot of good suggestions that i will keep in mind for later on, i will start out with a couple of SM57's and then experiment from there. im sure ill have lots of questions along the way so its good to be here.
cheers.