Topic: Record acoustic guitar and singing child at home - how to?

[Hank H.]

Hi,

my son plays acoustic guitar and starts singing to it, and I like to record him at home. I have two Sennheiser mics - MD21 and MD421 (that I used years ago to produce radio features). To record him, I mostly use the MD21, since it is an omni, with a Marantz PMD 661 recorder. But it would be much better to be able to seperate the guitar from his voice, since he sings so quietly. So the MD 421 should be a better choice, either for the guitar or for his voice. I probably need a second cardioid, right? Any recommendations? And should I look for a new mic for the guitar or for singing? I'm also looking for a microphone stand ...
(By the way, I'd LOVE to own an MD441, just for the heck of it ... but they are ridiculously expensive these days, that would of course be completely over the top to record a child  )

[grawk]

Have him sing into the cardiod, and set the omni a little farther back.  Then play with the balance between the 2 to find an optimal level.

If you're anywhere near east tennessee, I have a few mics we could play with to see what works best.

[Hank H.]

If you're anywhere near east tennessee, I have a few mics we could play with to see what works best.

Thank you for the offer, but: I'm in Germany ... Anyway, your suggestion makes sense, we'll try that next time.