You would think recording an acoustic guitar would be easy. And yet, 9 times out of 10 when I hear a mix from a home studio recording, the acoustic track sounds thin, harsh, muddy, and just downright disappointing.
A bad acoustic guitar track can bring the quality of the entire mix down considerably. And I don’t want that to happen to you.
Over the years I’ve developed four simple “rules” that I follow to ensure I get the perfect acoustic guitar recording every time. Think of them as suggestions born out of years of experience. You don’t have to follow them of course, but I think you’ll like the results you get if you do.
Rule #1 – Determine The Role Of The Acoustic
Before you grab a single microphone or arm a track in your DAW, there is one critical decision you must make that will determine everything you do for the acoustic moving forward.
You must determine what role the acoustic guitar will play in this song. It’s role within the context of the other tracks will determine the tone you are going for and how you choose to record it.
In 95% of situations the acoustic guitar is playing one of two roles: the main instrument in a sparse, simple mix OR a texture piece alongside many other instruments in a more dense mix.
If I was about to record a folky ballad that was mostly acoustic guitar, bass, and a brush style drum kit I would do my best to keep as much body and low end in the guitar as possible. I would be going for as full of an acoustic guitar sound as I could.
On the flip side, if I’m recording a pop song that features full on drums, bass, electric guitars, synths, and layers of vocals but I need an acoustic guitar to give the song texture, brightness, and energy – I’ll record (and mix) the acoustic in such a way that it is thinner and more present.
It sounds obvious when you think about it, but knowing what the acoustic guitar’s job is for the given song gives you so much clarity and direction for how to treat it in the recording and mixing phase.
Rule #2 – Do Not Record With A DI
Some people might challenge me on this (and I welcome it) but the second rule I suggest you follow is to never, ever, ever record your acoustic through the internal pickup into a DI.
Why? Because it sounds like poo. Sorry to be graphic, but it really does.
I speak from experience – because that, my friend, is how I recorded acoustic guitar for the first couple of years of my home studio adventures.
I did this because I saw acoustic electric guitars being plugged into DIs on stage at church and other venues and I figured that’s what you were “supposed” to do.
Turns out that sounds horrible and unnatural.
I always tell my students at workshops that no one ever listens to an acoustic guitar with their head inside the sound hole. So why do we try to record that sound?
Instead people hear acoustics from outside the sound hole. We like to hear the strumming and the entire body and resonance of the guitar (more on that below).
So please – trust me on this. If you are currently recording your acoustics through the pickup and through a DI, stop today. Use a microphone instead. It will sound infinitely better.
Rule #3 – Back Your Microphone Up
Assuming you’ve followed rule #2 and you’re reaching for a microphone instead of a DI to record your acoustic, please do yourself a favor and back the mic up – at least a foot away.
I see way to many people putting a microphone right up on the guitar (an inch to 6 inches away) thinking they’ll get a good sound. And they might get an OK sound, but not a good sound.
Why? Because again – do any of us listen to acoustic guitars with our heads 3 to 6 inches away from the sound hole? No!
Instead we hear acoustics from at least a foot away and more like two to three feet.
Take yourself for example, when you sit and play your acoustic, how far away is your head? 6 inches? Hardly – closer to 3 feet.
And what does that do for your ear? It gives it a chance to take in the full body and tone of the guitar: from the strings, to the sound hole, to the neck, to the entire shell of the guitar vibrating. It’s all making sound and it all folds beautifully to your ear a few feet away.
So why not place the microphone back a bit so it too can capture the full and balanced sound of your acoustic?
By doing this you’ll also solve a common problem I hear on home studio acoustic guitar recordings: too much muddy low end.
Remember that with cardioid microphones, the closer you get to the source the more bass buildup you’ll create, thus giving you a boomy and beefy acoustic guitar that soaks up all your mix’s headroom.
No bueno.
Instead, back up the mic and watch all that excessive low end melt away and the full clarity of your acoustic come into focus.
Rule #4 – Don’t Record In Stereo
This one is more of a bonus philosophy that I hold very close to and I have my reasons.
But before I explain why I think you shouldn’t record your acoustic in stereo let me acknowledge that many a great acoustic recordings were done (and still are done) this way.
I just don’t think it’s a good idea for most people – myself included.
Many times students of mine seem to ask about the best way to stereo mic their acoustic. “Should I use XY, or Mid Side, or what about simply doing a space pair and keeping the 3:1 rule?”
To all of that I say “Why bother?!”
The idea of a stereo acoustic guitar recording is that you get this nice spread in the left and the right of your one performance. It sounds larger than life and full.
But two things come to mind here.
First – any time you introduce multiple microphones on a single source you open up the box of potential phase cancellation issues.
Simply stated, by doing the very thing you hoped would give you a bigger more beautiful sound, you actually can ruin your guitar and make it sound smaller and thinner.
I hate phase cancellation just as much as the next guy – so I avoid whenever possible.
Second – I personally prefer the sound of single beautiful mono acoustic guitar recording. It is as basic and as essential as it gets.
You can put it through a touch of reverb to create some width if you like. Or simply double up the performance with another mono track and then pan them out wide. Giving you a similar (and phase free) effect.
Listen – I have recorded acoustic guitars in so many situations from rock bands, to folk bands, to singer/songwriters and all of them have been executed with a single mono recording technique. And all with great results.
Stereo tracks aren’t really that helpful to you. A bunch of mono tracks panned out is way more powerful.
What About Type Of Microphone and Placement?
Some of you might be wondering why there are no rules about which type of microphone to use or where to place it. And the answer is simple – it doesn’t matter.
Also it greatly depends on what you like and what you need in a given song.
The four rules above, however, are applicable EVERY time you sit down to record acoustic guitar and they will serve you well. Follow them and your recordings will improve. The rest is open to your tastes.
Next week I’ll show you my favorite mic choice and placement, but for now I have two questions for you:
- Do you agree or disagree with these 4 rules?
- If you could add a fifth rule what would it be?
Let’s come up with some good stuff for the community here!
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My name is Graham Cochrane and I'm the founder of The Recording Revolution, one of the world's most loved audio recording and mixing blogs with over 200,000 readers each month. 
Great stuff, Graham! Would you still argue the case for recording guitar in mono if it’s a solo classical guitar track? Or does it become more important to capture the extra subtle nuances that stereo mic’ing a guitar provides if the guitar is the only thing that you’ll be hearing on the track?
If that’s the only instrument you’re recording then the case could be made for a stereo recording, for sure. Definitely not necessary, but a good option.
graham, what frequencies would potentially cancel? Are you saying that the guitar would potentially cancel itself out with two mics? or are you referring to other instruments playing along with it?
I just don’t see where recording an un-cancelled set of frequencies would sound canceled once you listened to it on playback.
I understand your reasoning and agree
You forgot to mention the space the guitar is being record in. A natural space is the movement of of air. No air no sound.
Hello,
Your advice are very helpfull! Thank you very much.
I just wanted to ask you what kind of picks do you usually use to record your acoustic guitar when strumming ? Because I have a lot of them and I’m quite often not sure about which one I should use. In fact, I find that pick sounds are too more present in my recordings .
Thank you in advance
Greetings
I use medium gage Fender picks.
I have tried 20-30 different picks and I keep coming back to what I started with in thr late ‘50’s…a Fender medium or heavy tortoise shell (or the current simulated tortoise shell ones). They don’t click as much, they stay in your fingers and they provide great feel.
Hey Mate,
Would you opt for heavier strings ? 13’s perhaps?
Do I necessarily have to be in a completely soundproof environment to record my acoustic guitar? I’m only asking because the only place I can record my instruments are in the corner of my dining room which sits closest to my two big window panes and a T intersection outside my house and I’m worried that the mic I use will pick up all the outside noise and just completely ruin my recording.
Not at all. But just be mindful of where the loudest part of the room is (the window it sounds like) and keep the back of the mic facing that to get the most rejection and the quietest signal.
Thank you Graham, I am going to record my friend playing a lute. The lute has a fancy rose instead of a hole. Does anyone think this will make a difference to mic placement. Cheers Baz
First off, if youre familiar with “near field stereo miking”,portathen recording in stereo can sweeten up the sound. But this is a more professional aproach. Takes a bit of study. The type of mic used is very important. I prefer codensors, but a good Sennheiser or D224E’s work nice. As far as codensors, I actually like an AT2020 over a U87. Both sound great tho. The U87 sounds good up close. It was mafe for that with its presence peak. The 2020 can be pulled back to a foot or two as it has a flatter responce.
… with that said, You now have to consider collateral noise.
The chair that the musician is sitting on.
Toe tapping.
If you record a guitarist, make sure he sits on a chair that doesn’t creak or squeak 😉
That should be rule #5
I agree with all 4 rules, but rule 1 might be restated “capture the best sound you can” – you can always EQ away excess low end if needed during mixing.
Rule 5 might be (as always!) “listen while placing the mic — and place it where it sounds best.”
Good stuff, as usual – thanks Graham.
Great article, I guess I agree with everything, but its new information for me being relatively green when it comes to recording. I am still very confused though as to the best way to record my sound. I love the live sound I produce, singing with an acoustic, but I don’t know how best to capture that. For example, I have a condenser mic, an NT1a. it picks up everything, guitar and vocals. I’m not sure if I should swap it for a dynamic so I can try to separate guitar and vocals recording tracks. Some of my recordings here, as you will tell, they are inconsistent as I am experimenting. https://soundcloud.com/user-592786681
Hi Craig, the best way to record vocals and guitar at the same time is to use a dynamic mic on vocals and a ribbon mic ( known also as figure of eight mic ) on your acoustic guitar. You will achieve a great deal of separation and almost no bleeding- sound of guitar in vocals and vice versa. I listened to your NT1A recordings of you singing and playing at the same time and it sounds like there is lots of room noise which suggests that mic placement and levels panning are not correct as well as no EQ is applied to clean your recording!! However, NT1A is a great mic for both vocals and guitar recording and you can use it along with a dynamic to achieve a good “singer/songwriter” style of recording, just follow Graham advice above and you will have a great sounding recording with some practice of course…
As far as recording without a DI… I came to the exact same conclusion recently. I was even using an Aura Spectrum to embellish the recorded sound afterwards (through reamping). I was never really satisfied with the results. Using an internal pickup, you do not really get the sound of the pick on the strings which is a very important part of the whose sound, especially if you are after the rhythmic aspect of the acoustic guitar. So I totally agree… Thanks Graham!
I like to use 2 to 3 microphones on acoustic guitar. One aiming on the soundhole and one aiming to the 12. fret. Sometimes I throw up a third mic for room ambience.
Recently I found out that picks can sound very different. With fresh strings, a thin pick (0.5mm) and the right mics you can get a very nice highend without any EQ in the mix. If you aim for a darker sound, just use a very thick pick (1.5-2mm)
Totally agree.. first time ever recording acoustic I used a sdc about two feet away from and pointing at hole and a sm58 pointing at the fretboard… good being able to blend the sounds … gave me some options and ended up with a nice sound..
Graham,
My vote for rule #5:
Make sure the acoustic guitar itself is a quality instrument that is worth recording. (If not, borrow a quality guitar from a friend.)
+1 to this. I have clients borrow friends guitars all the time.
+1
And please make sure it is tuned well! That doesn’t necessarily mean using a tuner; if you have a good reference pitch from the recording, ear tuning can work. Besides, guitar design is a compromise in intonation. I have a friend who is a genius in tuning by ear to get a great guitar sound (look up ‘stretch tuning’ for piano for more on this).
Yep, I’ve got a Taylor 2005 214e , a Martin DC-E1 and a T. Haruo T-60. They all sound great live, but the 40 year old Japanese copy of a D-35 is hands down the best recorded sound. If you are recording Solo acoustic, the sound of your instrument is exposed, so borrow one if needed!
Probably even more important to the ‘good’ guitar is fresh strings. The best sounding acoustic is usually the one with the newest strings.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who discovered that 2 years of recording acoustic via DI was an exercise in futility. Great post. It also provides more validation that backing away (move along people, nothing to see) from a condenser gives a better recording every time. I did some experimenting this weekend with vocals and distance after watching a Graham video last week and was astonished at the difference backing up 6 more inches made (instead of being an inch away from the pop filter – it’s like having a new, better mic). As always, thanks for the invaluable tips!
Awesome.
I’ve actually experimented with using both a fishman aura di and a condenser mic simultaneously recorded in two tracks and thought it came out pretty good. My father in law with much more recording experience heard my recording was impressed and inquired on how I got the tone. I would never primarily record with only a di track though but it can be nice to blend both…
Great advise Graham, as always, but if you wanted you could probably simplify it further as I’d say you really have three rules going: 1) Determine its role in the song, 2) Use a single, mono, mic that supports its role in the song, 3) back the mic up. I realize that this is ultimately nit-picking though.
Go with your ears…There are no hard and fast rules.
Using a stereo mix may be useful when using 2 completely different types of microphones. You can capture a completely different texture that may help you decide whether 1) just to use one of the recorded sources, or 2) whether to use them both panned in different directions for a different sound from the same source in both left and right fields, or 3) to combine the two channels panning wise to give the guitar a little more sound from one mic than the other. Many times I will use an sm81 and a large diaphragm mic in this setup. It just gives options.
Yeah I like stereo guitars actually. I did a song recently were we recorded a condenser in front, a dynamic close to the neck and a DI track. I panned the DI and dynamic left and right and left the condenser as the main guitar track in the middle. Sounds really good.
Record your guitar with brand new strings!
+1 🙂
and tune it !
DI’s aren’t bad… I’ve gotten great results going through an external mixer and mixing it with a microphone. I keep the di that I send to the DAW at a lower volume than what I send for the mic, but the two together sound amazing. I should also mention that i agree with the stereo rule, I’m mixing them together as mono into the DAW so i have a combonation of DI signal and an MXL ribbon mic.
I’ve tried this idea of mixing a mic’d track with a DI track, too, with mixed results, but I can’t automatically dismiss using the DI in the mix sometimes. At times, I just tell myself that the DI one is another kind of sound I can get from the instrument, and I’ve come up with some neat blends on occasion. There’s one in particular that I call the “spark on top” blend. The acoustic sound is the main sound, but it has this “sparky” electric quality to it, as well. Thanks for these tips, Graham!
Yes I agree. Why not record the DI as well. I usually record with 2 to 3 mic’s and the DI. Then you can mix the different tracks together to get a sound you like. Why limit yourself to one color when you mix multiple colors together.
If you have the tracks to spare, you can add a lot from one guitar.
I have 16 channels and can record one guitar with a bunch of mics, a DI and Di through several effects. Pick and choose, mix and match.
I am a “one man band” so I like experimenting getting ass much variety as I can.
5. Pick your space.
Because an acoustic is producing such a huge range of sounds, where you record vocals probably won’t be as good of a space to record the guitar, unless you have a great sonically treated room.
It’s always amazing to me how different it sounds to the ear versus the recording in different locations.
Fully agree with your 4 rules… I struggled a lot with my acoustic guitar recordings until I found your simple rules in one of your older lessons or website… I don’t remember… but I stick to them until today and I am very happy about it!
Thanks Graham!
A lot of excepts: 1) except if you want to change the sound later EQ works great 2) except a quality DI track recorded as a backup to the mic especially in a live multitrack situation can be a really good thing to have 3) except if you experiment with micing and decide you like a close mic sound for a particular sound / guitar / song better 4) except if you try recording in stereo and decide it sounds cool for a particular track. Rule 5) turn down the click track as much as you dare, and get a click-free overdub of any free-ringing chords, such as the last chord in the song, so that no one can hear that click creeping in – nothing kills my buzz more than an audible click in a supposedly “finished” track (EXCEPT if it’s a conscious choice, but even then I think that has been already overdone.)
+1 on the click. For this reason, when recording my own performance, I use a click that sounds like real percussion (often clave and tambourine). At least if I get a great take and there is some click bleed, it sounds more like it belongs. I also sometimes lay out a virtual drum or percussion part to track by instead of a click. Not only does click bleed become less of a factor, but I feel much more natural performing. I have some sweet djembe samples I got online for free!
Good idea. I’m using Shimmer Shake Strike. Much more vibe and feel to get into than a stock click.
I like fairly fresh strings but not brand new. They can be too jangly and not allow the great character of your guitar to shine through.
Just my preference, not a rule.
+1
I attempt to back up the mics to around a foot but notice a great amount of the room sounds flooding into the mix. For me at this point it is either listen to room sounds because I have no treatment, or make my acoustic a little muddy and try to clear it it up EQ. Lastly, why would you not record stereo if you have two of the same mics? I could see phase issues approach for someone using completely different mics, or spacing them slightly different distances away from from the sound source. As for me I have done spaced pair, and XY recording with the same mics and the wav’s look identical throughout the songs. Am I not hearing or seeing the phase issues?
Nick,
Take two identical waveshapes, flip one 180 degrees out of phase.
What will you hear?
Absolutely nothing!
Phase relationships are captured even by a single microphone, this is what causes any space to have its “Tone”.
The way sound reflects and bounces around (or not) in a given space is what creates “Room Modes”.
Google the term, grab some coffee and a bottle of aspirin!
Graham,
I throw my hat in for a good instrument if you can get your hands on one.
However, taking the time to listen for mic placement, whether this means moving the mic around while an artist plays, or wearing cans while you play and moving in small increments till you find “The Magic Spot”.
M+S when done correctly does collapse into mono as the bi-directional simply cancels out, and you are simply left with the Middle signal.
It sounds very nice when done with a SDC omni and a decent to great ribbon.
Thank you for another excellent tutorial as always!
M+S : When using a figure 8 side mic, copy the side source to a second track, pan, and reverse the phase. The phase reverse cancels only the parts of the source that are exactly the same, leaving basically room reflections unique to each side hitting the mix. I happen to like M+S for acoustics when they are a feature instrument. If it’s a part where a feature pops in and out of the mix, I switch the mid on for feature and off for everything else. It actually causes me less phase issues than tracking the feature parts separately. I use a figure 8 LDC for side, and a pencil for mid, though another cardioid LDC may be better, depending on the song.
wut
Jay,
M+S refers to mid-side, a mic stereo-recording technique where you use two mics, typically a large condenser in figure 8 pattern and a small condenser mic. The small condenser mic will be pointed at the guitar and the large condenser mic will be situated underneath the small condenser mic with its side pointed towards the guitar. So, one mic (SDC) points at the guitar while another (fig. 8 pattern) will pick up sounds from the sides.
Instead of two tracks, one for each mic, you make a duplicate of the side-track – invert its polarity – and then pan each of those hard left and right. The result is a recording where you can adjust the spaciousness of the stereo effect by adjusting the levels of the side tracks compared to the mid tracks. It’s also mono-compatible as collapsing the recording to mono will make the sides phase-cancel eachother out, but leave the mid. The method is also less demanding on the mics to use, for example you don’t need a matched pair of the same mic to do this.
I agree, best advice you’ve given in ages Graham. I’ve made the mistake of recording too close to the guitar. Also, having a great sounding guitar is key to getting a good sound. No tweaking, polishing or plugins will make a bad guitar sound good.
It’s how you play your guitar, crappy or otherwise, which is important. A good take of a good performance on an instrument you know well is probably better than using an unfamiliar instrument.
Man, especially #2… I was so happy with my amazing new Gibson J45, I plugged it into my UX1 interface… Poop. This is really the only word. Thinner than thin foil, electric, unnatural, UGLY. So I finally bought a condenser (AT2020) and boy, how does it sound…
#3 is controversial. I’m currently recording very bluesy song with harsh yet boomy low-end I wanted to capture that from my J45, so I placed AT2020 at about… 20cm from sound hole (sorry, I refuse to learn that freakish system you have…). With a high-pass filter it sounds good to me!
Rule #5 – Clean Up Your Guitar Before Recording!
Lose the jangly swag attached to the guitar strap, trim the excess string length dangling from the headstock, etc. Clean up that guitar! Your guitar is NOT a hardware store wall hanger. Nothing ruins a great take better than that extraneous noise you’ll discover afterwards under the microscopic listening power of a condenser mic.
AGREE
Not unlike tremolo springs on clean electrics!!
I’ve recorded many fantastic guitars, and I’ve surprised some of the players when I pointed out that the part of the string between the nut and the tuner often resonates to add an unwelcome high pitch. A small piece of soft cloth under those strings dampens them enough to keep them quiet. My guitarists usually ask if they can keep the cloth, after they hear the difference in the recording.
I agree with your four rules. The fifth rule is keep it simple. This captures the essence of your first four rules. One mic, no DI, mono and not close mic. I enjoy your blogs. Peter Bissonnette
I agree with them, with the caveat that I do track the DI output in addition to one, and sometimes two mics for dense mixes. I frequently close mic the fret board about 2 inches north of the sound hole, and use a condenser about 2 feet away from the sound hole, slightly off axis. Due to inconsistent room sounds (I track in different places), having the DI allows me to fake a little bit of low end, if its needed in the mix. A little compression, rolling off the highs and ducking the mids, mixing it in with the other two… I can generally get the sound I’m looking for without needing to overly worry about the room. I would never do this on a sparse acoustic mix. In that situation, I just mic with a single condenser and adjust placement until the sound is right.
Sometimes you are also in a situation where you are tracking the whole band down and dirty, and you aren’t going to get a chance to overdub anything but vocals and leads, because the client’s budget doesn’t allow for it. In that case, you almost have to track the acoustic direct, unless you happen to have two isolation rooms in your small, project studio, or you are prepared to deal with a much greater amount of bleed on your acoustic track than normal.
Rule #5
Put new strings on the guitar, break ’em in a little bit, and be certain they are in tune before recording.
YAH!!!!!! Someone finally mentioned “tune the [email protected]#$%^ guitar
I apply Rule #4 as my default. I record a mono track, and if I need to spread it at all, I’ll copy/paste onto another track, pan them both extreme opposite, and then I’ll “nudge” one of them a lil before or behind the original track. Not so much as it sounds like an effect, just enough to spread the image slightely, then, any eq’ing I do the the original, I’ll do some opposite to the copied track, ie; if original track has a slight boost at 1k, then I’ll subtract a bit of 1k on the copied track.
1. Agree generally with the 4 rules re recording acoustic
2. 5th rule. Replace strings regularly and keep ’em clean.
These are excellent tips, Graham, and I employ almost all of them. I certainly agree that recording in mono with a mic is the way to go. I would also bring up mic placement as a significant factor – toward the sound hole or towards the neck gives very different sound quality.
I usually record acoustic within a few inches, only because my room isn’t the greatest sounding, and I don’t need to be picking up any fan noise from my PC (it’s quiet, but not totally silent). I find that angling the mic with purpose gives me what I want.
I’ve been working with a client the last few months using these techniques for recording his acoustic and uke, and here are the results (not mixed yet):
https://soundcloud.com/beigeshelter
Neel
An alternate rule #1. A lot of people seem to miss this one. Even though it should be obvious. Tune YOUR GUITAR! Nothing else matters if this isn’t done.
Word!
It does sound obvious, but I so strongly agree that this should be a hard recording rule for all tune-able instruments. It took me YEARS and a stroboscopic tuner to realize what “in tune” really meant and why I was doomed to sound like an amateur until I figured it out.
Thanks Graham!
You challenged me at No.4!! Gotta try that
And yes I do suggest a 5th rule:… Make sure your strings are in shape!!!! this one is gold! hahaha
have a nice day guys!
The fifth rule would be, do all of the above. Rule. 1. 2. 3. and 4. Case closed…
Thanks for the article! Actually, rule 5 should be “there are no rules!” Mic placement, type of mic, miking strategy (mono vs. stereo), etc. always comes down to the flavor I am looking for in a particular song. Every song will demand a certain tone and technique, and I let that be my guide. But I cannot disagree that miking in mono takes a lot of the “headache factors” out of the equation! Looking forward to your next piece! I am curious to know your thoughts on mic choices! Paz!
+1
I 100% agree with the four rules, and that is also after many attempts at recording acoustic guitar. If there is a fifth rule it is this.. The room acoustic treatment is vital to getting a good sound, more so than other instruments. I think vocals, amped electric guitar etc are more directional and so can be picked up easier by a Mike, minimising problems in a room. But as Graham correctly points out, the sound of the acoustic guitar is a complex of sources (throughout the body, neck, strings) interacting with each other in the space, and therefore there is less one can do to overcome problems that might be in the room . So whilst the room is always important, it is even more so with acoustic guitar
Another technique for a nice acoustic guitar sound on a lighter rock tune. (think Fleetwood Mac ballad or such). Use a very light pick, strum closer to the saddle. Use a condenser mike aiming at the saddle to capture the sound of the pick on the strings. Adds definite rhythm to the project and doesn’t get lost in the other instruments. Pan this guitar opposite another guitar.
1. Re distance: sorry Graham, I don’t disagree with you often but we don’t listen to a snare drum with our head 2″ from each drum and inside the kick at the same time either! However I’d never record a kit with 1 or 2 mics, 5 to 10 feet away just because “that’s what it really sounds like”. Like you, I’ve been doing it my way for a long time and countless records – my U87, 12th -14th fret, as close as I can get it without getting in the way of the guitarist’s hands,. Always great results. Along with…
2. Mic/DI is not an either/or option. If there’s a pickup, I almost always record it on a second track. Does it sound as good as the mic? Never. Why, then? Because sometimes it will give you frequencies, usually some 2k-4k presence, that you won’t get alone and blend well with the warm, woody tone of the mic. Just slowly bring up and blend it in behind the mic, seasoning to taste. You can also pan it slightly left or right and get a great stereo image when the artist only wants to have one guitar track. Try it (check for phase). And of course if not needed for that particular guitar/guitarist/song, toss it!
Hey Graham. I usually agree with everything you put out there but I might disagree with point 4 sometimes. I have used an X/Y pair of matched cardioid pencil condensers on a few acoustic tracks where the guitar is the main attraction with pleasing success, at least to my ears. Isn’t the whole idea behind X/Y coincident pairs to eliminate or greatly reduce the effects of phase cancellation? I usually set the pair focused about halfway between the soundhole and base of the neck and 12 to 18 inches away. This setup seems to give me a full sound from the soundhole with a bit of the pick sound to round things out more naturally.
I recently had a custom Ibanez acoustic rigged up with six RMC piezo pickups. These pickups are the individual saddles to each string. The string sits right on top of it. These are the best piezo’s ever for acoustic. I then had the luthier create six different sends/outputs using a 6-pin midi plug that broke out to a six 1/4 breakout box. I then had each string on a separate, non-bleeding input. I plugged the guitar into six of the Presonus M80 preamps (customized with Jensen Xformers and Burr Brown opamps) and the results were amazing. I could control the impact of each string on the strum, even put effects, pan etc on each string to make the guitar as wide as I wanted and only put verb on the higher strings, not washing the low E. I too was going for the “thinner” sound and eq’d each string accordingly. I found the effect of panning the strings to the width I needed to be an amazing advantage. I’ve done the low-end acoustic thing before with open mics and over the shoulder mics, yes…it works. I was looking for something very different and controllable. I found it! I used this technique on guitar slide parts too and it was real cool. Just a share here. Great post.
Wow! Never heard of this. Blows my mind. But what EQ do you apply to each individual string, and do you find you have to EQ heaviily for string-to-string bleed? It sounds very close to guitar modelling.
Good stuff, and the other comments about room, new strings, a worthwhile guitar, are also good. Don’t forget to tune it!
I have recorded in stereo when it’s just the guitar and a vox. I am not recommending this, but it might be worth a try just to see if you like it for your application. I had one client that recorded about 40 songs here and we did the guitar in stereo. She was happy. I liked it.
Recording direct… My experience is that there is a wide variation in the quality of acoustic guitar electronics. I had to buy a 12 string for a project and the only one I could find was a Martin. I didn’t even plug it in for about 6 months, but when I did I was pleasantly surprised at how good it sounded. I wouldn’t record any acoustic instrument that way as first choice, but if you’re recording the whole band at once it might be an option.
Thanks Graham.
Hi Graham and tanx for all the inspiration & tricks you share with us here!
I’ m curious about your advices about micposition when it comes to recording acoustic guitar. I agree a lot, but why doesn’t we act the same way when it comes to drums, or even a guitar amp? I mean, nobody’s listen to the drums so close as the mikes usually are placed. Nor a guitarspeaker. But that’s the common way to place mikes.
Hi Graham,
Thanks! This came in just as I was reflecting a recording I’d just done, I definitely broke rules 2 and 3 but blended a DI and mic’d signal, and had the mic way too close.
What I was wondering is that I had a huge amount of hiss on the mic (Beyerdynamic M300’s – kinda of SM58ish) that really came out after normalising and final mixing, if the mic was further away wouldn’t that have been a bigger problem? How have you dealt with that?
Keep up the amazing work!
I’d contend that there are situations where a di can be helpful. I use it on solo acoustic singer/songwriter stuff to bolster the acoustic. But I’m also using an LR Baggs M-1 which is a exceptional pickup. I’d never substitute the pickup for a mic and I wouldn’t bother with it when it’s a piece of a much more dense recording.
Graham I just want to say that these videos and blogs are huge in my understanding. I’m just getting into home recording (building my basement office into a quasi sound proof room and saving money for a new interface).
With regards to rule #2… Would a pickup like the LR Baggs M1 be an exception since it’s not IN the body of the guitar but rather mounted under the strings in the middle of the sound hole? I hear a tonal difference between the m1 and other pickups.
Plus if rule #1 leads you to making the acoustic thinner to give texture then wouldn’t a sound hole or saddle pickup suffice? Or would you just place the mic more towards fret 12 to get a thinner sound?
Thanks again for all your help!
Try it. If you like the sound you can get with it, who am I to argue? 🙂
Regarding Rule #4, I agree that recording in stereo is not a good approach. However, I use a Rode NT4 XY mic for recording acoustic. Although it is a stereo recording, I’m treating it as a mono signal (no panning). I just love the tone that comes from summing the XY mics. To get a much wider sound, I do as you mention and record a second track. Then I pan each set of recordings left and right until it sounds great. I really like experimenting with mics and mic placement. Thanks again for your posts!
I once recorded an acoustic guitar using both direct from the pick up and a mic… I felt it gave me the best of both worlds and the mixed between the pick up and mic allowed me to get a good balance of clarity and ambience…
I agree with your rules. There are a couple of techniques that work for me:
1. Mic Placement: I put the acoustic guitar mic input through my headphones (Koss Pro4AA isolation) and adjust the mic placement while the artist is playing until I get a sound that I like.
2. Double Tracking: I have my studio acoustic set up with D’Addario High Strung/Nashville Tuning strings. I get the artist to double the original acoustic track and mix the high strung track in for the additional harmonics and high end.
The High Strung sound can also be useful for rhythm guitar as part of a full band as it usually sits in the mix better as it occupies a higher octave.
I agree with the rules above except for “stereo” rule. Instead I would say “record stereo only if you can’t do it in mono” – in other words do it with the purpose and not “just in case”.
5th rule would be “change the srings before the recording” 😉
I basically agree, except for the stereo comment. If the acoustic is the primary or sole instrument, I would record it in M/S stereo – zero phase issues and a real sense of being “there”. That being said – all the other tips are spot on – especially the one about multiple mics.
Totally agree bro!! I’ve tried various methods and this one is foolproof. When you’re working with limited time, you can’t afford to make engineering errors and expect to have an artist re record something because you didn’t get a great sound the first time around. Mono, 1 foot from the 12th, works every time with great results.
Graham, though every situation is unique, overall I would agree with your philosophy regarding recording an acoustic guitar. Currently I have an acoustic with a passive eq setup. I recently recorded DI with it and as you said the resulting track sounded like poo. I was very disappointed. My first instinct was to upgrade to an active preamp, which was to be a relatively meager investment; However, reading your blog post has lead me to reconsider this action. I may choose to go forward with the upgrade, but when it comes to recording, stick with a mic setup. I was listening to a demo I recorded with an old beater guitar that my neighbor picked up at a garage sale and loaned me which was mic’d up with an inexpensive CAD95 from about 3-4 feet away and the track sounds fantastic… much better than my recent DI attempt. I will attempt this approach with my current guitar and see if it is an improvement. I have a feeling it will make a vast difference. I think the point you made about determining the role of the instrument is also key, and if I could come up with a 5th rule, it would be to choose an instrument that best suits that role. Thank you for doing what you do, it is greatly appreciated.
Yes, I absolutley agree! And it’s cool to have these rules written down and use as a starting point when setting the gear up.
Another rule, a 5th one, would be to have someone that can play the guitar, at least good. If you can’t yourself, ask a friend.
Thank you Graham !
Thanks Graham, great tip!
External mic will pick sounds other than just the guitar sound such as rustling of the clothes, fingers sliding up and down the strings, heavy breathing and the plectrum touching the guitar body while strumming or picking. So minimising such noises by the guitar player is the first step, largely accomplished by standing or sitting without to much body movement and concentrating on just producing a clear guitar sound. People coming to record first time though may find this requirement challenging if not totally off-putting!
Thanks once again.
Totally agree. I learned that I have a tendency to finish each down-stroke with my fingertips on the pick guard. “Thump!” Playing technique is huge! Do you find more distance to the mic picks up less of those things? Also, IMHO, finger-on-string sounds aren’t necessarily a bad thing.
This is actually the problem I’ve been having. I’m pretty new to this and every time I record acoustic guitar I can always hear movement and breathing or the noise of the room or anything that just makes the recording sound like crap.
Rule 1: If it’s a live band on stage, I’m using a DI. Fender Squier, $9,000 Martin. No exceptions. No apologies!! (Studio? Never. They sound horrible.)
mic placement 12 to 18 inches away from the guitar is a great idea. Though that far away, room ambience should be considered.
above and beyond any mic choice/placement/technique is that people often bring cheap, toneless sounding guitars to the studio with strings that haven’t been changed in a year and expect it to sound great! Invest in a decent guitar, get it set up properly and change the strings regularly and the recording job becomes 100 times easier!
GUY! You nailed rule #5. Strings, strings, and more strings. As in, take the time to actually match a particular guitar with a particular set of strings. What sounds good on one acoustic ,i.e. gauge or brand, may sound totally wrong on another guitar. Not always a biggie, some times it is all the difference.Take the time get the best strings for the guitar you are recording. Thanks for the info, Graham
Thanks for this email Graham!
Rule #3 really helped me out. I was always wondering why i couldn’t get rid of the boomy low end of the guitar track no matter how much i scooped out with EQ. Totally changed my approach! Once again. Thanks.
Thanks for the tips. I’ve been recording with the guitar close to the mic because the input level was low. Guess I’ll turn up the input and try it 1-2 feet away. This also makes sense from a practical point in that being so close to the mic restricts your movement.
? In doubling up, do you mean recording another track or just copying the original to a new track?
Hello Graham,
I prefer LR baggs pickups over quacky unnatural sounding Piezo’s.
The LR Baggs gives me a nice pick strum brightness (picks up body vibrations too), when blended to an external mic’d source, either at the front lower part of the body (near the neck), at the 12th fret and even close to the fingers on the fretboard.
Tube preamps, Pencil mics, SM 57’s, Large diaphragms, Ribbons all give me a ton of texture choices. Minimal low end causes Little to No phase cancellation issues.
The room matters. Ever wonder why acoutic guitars sound better at the guitar store?
Tricks I use.
Try recording an acoustic guitar in a booth with hanging guitars on a wall, play facing the hanging guitars, you’ll hear ampleness from natural strings / wood harmonic reflections and natural reverb. Record both sides, 1- facing the guitar and 2- facing the hanging guitar reflections. Parallel Compress, Experiment, Blend to taste, Get your own unique sound.
Works for drum recordings too.
My 2 cents.
Cheero
Hi Graham, I agree with those 4 rules 100% and will definitely stop recording DI starting today. As for the 5th rule.. personally I think this: be VERY careful when adding a compressor. One of the beautiful things about acoustic guitar is the dynamics and this can very easily be messed up if you over do it with compressors.
#5
tune early and tune constantly between takes
(I got away with pitch shifting a DI’d electric guitar ONCE… with an acoustic instrument as complex sounding as a guitar, this is NOT feasible)
#6
use new or next to new strings – pays off double on acoustic over electric guitars
Hey Graham,
I totally agree – recording with a DI just never sounds good and you don’t have much flexibility as you do with recording with a single mic. I’ve also had great results with recording in mono, then doubling another in mono, panning L and R. No phase issues = happy acoustic guitar tracks.
If I could add a 5th rule (and I think you’ve touched on this before) it would be to just try 3-4 different locations of the mic and choose the one that sounds ‘best’ to you.
I agree with all the points made , but here it comes . I often like to use to different style mics on a acoustic to geta wider field “stereo” , one dynamic and one omni. This gives me more body than trying to double up on dynamic mic . Also I have a cool tube pickup in my Acoustic and given it is
the only tube pickup internal to acoustic guitar it does work great on some things thru the DI.
I,m sure Graham has mentioned befor but for Five , no taping feet , moving in seat unless you
want all that noise on your recording , Its a real bummer on a great take .
thank you Graham for all the good advice thru the years.
Tim Long
My pleasure Tim
Something that occurred to me while reading this: Graham, you shared a tip in the past on electric guitar doubling, where you copied the same track, panned it hard left and right, then applied a different amp model to each side. The tone difference gave the illusion of width. Same can work on acoustic guitar. The every-popular XY essentially gives you a “brighter” source (mic pointing at the neck) and a “fatter” source (mic pointing at the body) with very little real stereo separation, since the capsules are less than an inch apart. The same could apply with the acoustic: record a more neutral track (maybe… pointing at the neck joint), then copy and pan. Then EQ one “fat” and one “bright”. Should give nearly equal results. Of course, this is assuming you insist on a stereo acoustic part.
Can I agree and disagree at the same time? I agree with most of this… however, my 5th rule is “Whatever sounds the best wins”… always! I most often will take a direct line off the guitar in conjunction with a mic… sometimes a direct line and two mics. Some very nice guitars have very well sounding electronics… maybe not on their own, but if you’re trying to get some serious power and control out of an acoustic guitar, maybe for an intro or a solo, sometimes (not always) but sometimes the direct signal squashed through a compressor then blended into the track will add some punch to the guitar that you won’t get by doing the same with a microphone, and the tonal shape of the pick up will yield a totally different sound in parallel. If the acoustic is taking an upfront role, I like to have options. The same way I take a DI for a bass, and now since watching a few Warren Huart videos I always take a DI for electric guitars too… because it opens up the option of throwing an amp simulator on a track later if required.
These have just been some things I’ve tried and had great success with. Love your channel though Graham, keep up the great work!
I totally agree. You won’t get a clean mix by creating extra complications, save yourself time as an engineer and stop being so ‘clever’
And the DI thing, oh man, I’ve made that mistake far too often…
Thanks for the tips Graham! Been following you for a long long time buddy
Tim
London
Hey Graham, love what you do!!! Thanks so much !!
Having a little bit of a harder time with #4 especially in a singer songwriter format where I’d like the acoustic to be fuller ( left right pan ) with the vocal coming up the middle. I agree that you could potentially get phasing issues but that’s one of the issues we want to encounter / learn about and to correct / over come it. The only other thing I would add would be of course the acoustic guitar itself…. GIGO …. Garbage In Garbage Out :-). Thanks again Graham.
Griff
I kinda disagree with No.2. I do believe in not using your D.I track as the main theme, I usually end up muting it nearly every time. BUT there have been a handful of times where mixing fingerpicked sections I couldn’t get the sound to fit the mix but with a D.I it fit the song perfectly! Even Fab Dupont is a big fan of D.I. But it has to be used correctly in the right scenario, usually with a decent acoustic. TRUST YOUR EARS. If it sounds good it is good.
Tip No. 5 if I had to give one would be change your strings! Can’t stress how important that is.
Great guide, Graham. Thanks! 🙂
Rules #1 and #2 seem spot on.
#3 sounds interesting, and I’m keen to experiment with it, but it seems impractical for anyone working out of a less than ideal recording space, having to deal with sub-par room tone, ambient noise from outside, etc.
#4 – I feel like this should simply be reworded to “If You Record In Stereo, Check The Phase!” (Which would also be my suggestion for a fifth rule)
Stereo can sound awesome… If you make sure the phase relationship is correct after you record it. I think the real issue is with people using the 3:1 rule and then thinking it’ll be fine, when often it’s slightly out.
Personally, I record acoustic guitars close-miked in stereo and then use SoundRadix Auto-Align to match the phase (but you could do this manually by looking at the waveform).
I’m in an apartment in New York with three roommates, and this city has heaps of ambient noise, which limits things a bit.
Thanks again. Looking forward to the next guide.
This is really helpful. I really appreciated rule #4. Lately I have been using a single microphone for acoustic and I like the results better than using two, but something just seemed “wrong” about not putting up a second mic. This post helps me to validate what my ears have been telling me. Thank you for that!
I do record with a DI for scratch acoustic guitar. I figure it is going to be replaced, anyway, so I typically go direct into a preamp with my acoustic and use a Shure SM7b to play guitar and sing at the same time, but these are just scratch tracks. They serve as placeholders until the real tracks are recorded.
Rule #3 is new to me. I have been doing it wrong by trying to get as close to the source as possible, but your reasoning makes a lot of sense to me and I intend to implement this rule immediately.
Thanks for the great advice!
I think these are great guidelines to go by. I recorded an acoustic EP last year and the guidelines you laid out were pretty much how I approached the recording sessions. Big one for me was the “no DI” rule. I thought I’d at least record with DI in addition to the mic thinking I could blend in the DI if necessary. I instantly found this was a waste of time because the DI sounded so harsh and terrible.
Not sure what a 5th rule would be, but it’d probably be something about taking your time with mic placement. There’s a sweet spot in there backing up the neck from the sound hole. Too much in front of the sound hole and you get a boomy mess.
My EP ‘Of Root & Bone’ is up for free on Bandcamp. It was my first time really recording acoustic, which I’m sure you can hear, but I followed the approach you laid out here and for a first go at it, I was pretty happy with the results.
I’ve been reading, watching, and listening for years, by the way. You’re a big inspiration and I get a ton of useable advise and info from you. Thanks for all your hard work!
I think these are some great starting points to remember. The only thing I would add is to listen with your phones turned up loud and move the mic around while the guitarist is playing until you find the sweet spot. Using your ears can often be the best way to find your optimal placement.
I’ve had both great and terrible experiences with recording in stereo and I usually find that a mono recording is perfectly fine. I’ve also sacrificed great performances for phase issues in stereo which can be a real bummer. Often, even if there is only a slight phase issue it can really suck the life out of your recording in my experience. Doing it right clearly is paramount but you can still run into issues if your not careful so I generally see tracking in mono a better option as well.
I actually prefer hearing a double tracked guitar over a stereo version, however the trick is finding a player that can pull it off – I feel that’s when choosing how you plan to track becomes more important combined with some important points already mentioned such as the songs arrangement.
Rule #5: Try a couple different weight/size picks. Something like a JazzIII has given me a little more low/mid wood compared to something like a super thin pick giving me almost shaker-like rhythms with some bright tones.
Rule #6: Tune!
Rule #7: Put something over/under the strings between the nut and tuning trees to dampen that out-of-tune ringing that is ALWAYS present if you’re playing a guitar and can really kick you in the bits if you don’t deal with it.
Oh yeah man!
cheapest eq on earth – try different PICKS!
Great tip!
When I record acoustic i use both mic and direct. this gives me options…Processing is key. Even in a solo acoustic situation you can create interesting illusions. an example would be the direct track, EQ’d, with moderate to heavy reverb mixed low behind the mic track. it gives an upfront ‘presence’ and a distance thereby adding dimension. Copy the direct track to another track and…! If you are not happy with anything you do to the direct track(s) you can always delete. I do agree, however, that you should never JUST record an acoustic direct. Mic distance is crucial…allow the guitar to project its tone and balance and reduce any fret noise. Keep your options opened and may you all be AIR (always in record). Sometimes great stuff comes from ‘accidentals’.
I agree with ALL four rules! A tried and true and solid method for sure!
5th rule … at least for me …. depending on the acoustic guitar being used, a dynamic mic sounds better (to me) than a condenser (which appears to be the norm). Just sayin’. 🙂 Great article Graham.
Thanks for the reminders! I’m actually gonna record acoustic guitars later this afternoon. Yes, I do agree with those 4 rules, especially #3. I have been guilty of, and let others place a mic WAY too close to the source. If I had a #5 rule, it would be, as mentioned in a number of places before: Get it right at the source & be very cautious with in-going processing. (Maybe that’s 2 rules?!)
Thanks Brother!
I can’t fully agree on the pickup one. It’s true 90-95 % of the time acoustic guitar pickup don’t sound good. Although, there are some really good one, high end Fishman, L.R. Baggs & the very ultimate best for a natural sound K&K Sound pickups.
Blending a guitar track with the microphone can help gain (or regain) some body or punch in the mix,
if you can afford you should record in m/s mode with two mics. The results i had with this technique were amazing.
but if you do not have this possibility grahams tipps are great!
Have a nice day
Greets from Austria
Thanks Graham. As usual, great stuff. If I had a 5th rule it might be “Don’t expect the guitar to sound on the playback the same as it does to your ears while you’re playing, unless you mic it from up where your ears are.” This might be more for the folks who are recording themselves, but it’s a good reminder for the artist when they go to listen to their performance. I used to record ac guitars with 2 condensers, one up by my ear, one in front. Forgive me, I forget who developed this technique, but a friend of mine showed it to me way, way back. In the last year or so I have started recording acoustic with one mic for all the reasons you mentioned above, although I hadn’t articulated my reasons as well! The last couple times I recorded ac guit, I placed the mic to the right of my face to get what my ears are generally hearing, directing the mic down. Worked really great for a woody, roomy Americana sound, but it stays tight in the mix even before EQ adjustments. I also do some pattern switching and testing to see how the room is reacting. Often a figure 8 or omni will give me more of that down home “playing in the kitchen” sound for the more rootsy stuff. Sometimes it sounds like garbage due to the room reflections (or lack thereof), so I add some room verb later. Keeps it simple and sounds the way I hear it in my head. This won’t necessarily work for any song, but it’s a great go-to and starting point for me.
Great tips, Graham. I’m glad to see someone else using mono for their acoustic guitar recordings.
Yes I most definitely agree.
My rule number five would be a simple on but often ignored.
Always listen to your take closely before you add any EQ, or adjustments. The ideal is to get the best sound you can with what you have even if it means moving the microphone and doing it again.
Great tips, but there are exceptions when it comes down to writing new age music. In the song called “Rays of Light” from the album “River of Stars” by “2002” (Randy and Pamela Copus), they had their microphone closely mic’ed to their acoustic guitar for that bottom-end feel and nice flavor.
http://www.2002music.com/music/river-of-stars/
And for the kind of music I listen to, what would be a good acoustic guitar to buy? I don’t see myself stomaching over a grand ($$$) for a best-sounding acoustic guitar, so I’m thinking that $500 should be a reasonable price and it probably does not have to be top-of-the-line.
The role of an acoustic guitar is to stand out, but sometimes I would like to add some texture to a song. I plan to couple an acoustic guitar with a concert hall reverb using my TC Electronics M-One XL. I also plan to use an acoustic guitar for some 80s vibe kind of music with some orchestra from Digital Sound Factory Studio Orchestra. It would be a step-up from a Roland Fantom XR’s set of acoustic guitar instruments (still paying in monthly installments through Amazon).
Dear Graham:
I play acoustic guitar solo predominantly in altered tunings for many, many years. While I agree with your first two “rules”, I don’t necessarily agree with the last two. As to Rule #3, while physically placing the mic back away from the guitar will allow for the sound of the entire instrument to be heard in the recording, you will also pick the ambiance of the room itself and its reflections. Depending on the extent and quality of acoustic treatment in the room, this can be a dicey proposition in many home or project studios.
I also don’t necessarily agree with “Rule #4” in the context of recording a solo acoustic guitar in an X-Y configuration using pencil mics with the capsules overlapping each other. There shouldn’t be any phase cancellation issues. Moreover, a solo stereo does sound nice for an acoustic fingerstyle guitar performance since it brings out the “performance sounds” (i.e. Sweaks, taps and other hand movement sounds) that give a sense of liveliness to the recording done in stereo. Although this is a bit of a special case, I guess I would put this under the heading of a “caveat” to your “Rule #4”.
Food for thought.
I have always recorded acoustic guitar mono! mainly because I have one condenser mic (low budget Lewit). Tried SM 57 and 58 but the output was low so I would bring them closer and get the proximity effect. However, sometimes it would be ok, most of the times, no. I can add it with EQ. One more thing…
***** So mono check!
I have the Ovation Elite type acoustic guitar. No one sound hole but lots of little bullet holes that if added together would make the size of one sound hole… if you see what I mean. Anyway, it has a built in piezo pickup. Wjhen sent through the DI even with the in-built 3-band EQ it sounds… like Poo! 🙂 it is heavily compressed, awful tone. Again with a condenser mic I get a far superior sound.
***** No DI mic only check
As for distance I have always tried the 12th-14th position and about 30cm away. Didn’t really consider further away but will do on my next recording session this week!
**** Going to try different distances this week… Can’t be any worse than I’m already getting , so Check
no 5th rule just an observation really… A cheap guitar can sound as good as an expensive one… Or I should say I can get an inexpensive guitar to sound as good as Gibson and Ovations, so far anyway. Adding the Nashville tuning to acoustic tracks sounds SWEET! I will endevour to do this from now on… all I need is another acoustic permanently tuned this way.
Thanks Graham
I have never recorded acoustic guitar before, but your methods make a lot of sense.
Would this apply for mandolin if used as the main lead instrument as well?
I really appreciate all of your information I’ve receive from your emails. They have helped me a great deal.
Thank you,
The Lord be with you and your family,
Hi Graham,
Great subject and another great article. I would like to share my thoughts an techniques with you and please feel free to share them.
I agree with your thoughts on recording acoustic guitar(s). However, as an producer, recording engineer and studio musician I often find myself in a situation when I am outside of my own studio in which, no matter what you do, you just can’t get a good acoustic sound.
So, rather than spent valuable time attempting to get the right mic, the right placement and the right sound, I use the following steps to get the best sound that I can get under the circumstances.
1) To get great acoustic guitar track you need a great sounding acoustic guitar, my preferences are old Martin D-28 and Taylor’s with the Expression System installed. That being said, there are many, many great sounding acoustic guitars made but dozens of other guitar makers around the globe. You’ll know a good one when you play it and hear it.
2) I then plug direct into an Avalon preamp, then into a 501 Symetrics compressor, then into an Avid MBox Pro and then mono into Pro Tools. Any good preamp, compressor and DAW software will work. The compressor is barely on, just enough to control and even out the note volumes. I have also have good success just plugging directly into the MBox. As you said, Graham, it depends on what you are using the track for.
3) Once the track is recorded it is:
a) It is duplicated and copied to the track directly below the original. I find that it
is the easiest to work with the duplicated copy when it is in this position because
you have the original just above it for constant comparison and reference.
b) If I want more depth and width, each track is moved from 8ms to 11ms off of its
start time, depending on the tempo and other instruments. One track is moved
backwards in time, by the chosen amount and the other is moved forward in time.
c) To give the sound more of a “two different guitars” sound, each track is then
run through a pitch shifter set to the default settings. The only settings used is
the fine tuning or the cents setting. One track is set to -3 cents and the other +3
cents. This varies, again depending on the song, and can be up to -9 and +9 cents.
Don’t be afraid to try the different fine tuning settings until you find the effect
you are looking for. Once you find your preferred timing be sure to render
the two tracks.
e) Then change the equalization slightly between the two tracks, which further
enhances the “two different guitars” effect. I believe, Graham, that you have
shown this trick with electrics guitars.
f) You can then pan the mono acoustic guitar tracks full left and full right, which is
what is done most often. I find that, for me, in a track that I want the acoustic
guitar to stand out in I have found that my “sweet spot” is -88 left and 88 right. I
also find that this is a great spot for electric rhythm guitar tracks.
In most cases, not always, I will record a second acoustic guitar track and give it the same
treatment as above and pan them to a different spot spatially in the stereo panorama.
Hope you find this helpful. And thanks Graham for all the great articles and videos…keep ’em come’in.
D
Very, very interesting. I have been recording acoustic as the sole instrument in a simple mix, but haven’t been super-satisfied with results, I’ve been considering DI or XY (both of which would require purchases), but haven’t tried simply backing the mic up. I’ll give it a shot this week and see how it goes! Great advice to keep me from spending money unnecessarily! Thanks!
Rule #5
LISTEN BACK on headphones while recording (zero latency is the keyword here!) even if you dont need to hear ANY PLAYBACK or click. This way you can adjust the sound of the guitar simply by moving in front of the mic – even if you re not the musician, a musician will know when it sounds good, if you ask him to move around in front of the mic until it sounds right in the “cans”.
Great tips Graham!
BTW – maybe Rule # 6 should be to actually OWN a good Acoustic guitar (and keeping it with fresh strings), in case someone walks in with a nasty cardbox of a guitar with rusty strings on it 😉
Hi Graham,
Thanks for the article.
I prefer mono recordings too… As this is my start point… I use stereo techniques in occasions where I need a different effect.
Many people stated the need for a great instrument and that is so important, as much as important to a great performance… (Playing, breathing, noise, etc…) that would be point 0 for me… Being the foundation essential prior to build the other rules on…
My rule #5 would be… A great sounding space as it becomes more important when recording from a few feet away and would optimally contribute to the flavor of the recording.
Have a nice one,
Dan
I disagree with always mono and never record DI. I digress that I sometimes record a dual mono mic setup for acoustics (i.e. Like 2 mics on a guitar cab). However, if the acoustic is a feature go for a stereo technique. I prefer M/S because of phase, or even Blumlein if I’m using figure 8 patterns on both mics. To determine is this is appropriate see rule 1.
I’ve actually had a DI track save the recordings in a case where the finger picking wasn’t loud enough (Rule 3). Cranking the gain gave me unwanted noise. Solution was mic it close, roll off low end and blend it with the DI to add realness/air. Sounded punchy but real. I would suggest “Never record the DI only” instead. Be mindful of phase. I flip the DI 180 out to match the mic.
My fifth rule would honestly be my first rule – IF you have time: EXPERIMENT. Tiny variables can cause massive changes, and everybody hears differently. Maybe it’s just ’cause you agree with me on “why mic in stereo when you can place multiple mono sources ANYWHERE in the stereo field?”
Don’t forget about some carpet under right leg of guitarist 🙂 Bum, bum, bum….
Fifth rule Don’t move the Guitar around because the sound and volume will change.
Since digital provides me an unlimited number of tracks, I like to experiment with different techniques to record. With acoustic, this usually means that while I’ll put a mic or two in front of the guitar, I’ll also run a line in, because why not?
9 times out of 10, when listening to all of it, the DI track is the one I use. It’s more consistent and is better at filtering room noise. Further, the onboard EQ is already set up to sit well in a busy mix. I don’t have to do much if any processing on it, and I’m happy about that.
When I run the scratch track at the beginning of a session, I usually just DI the acoustic and sing into an SM57 – quick and dirty. It’s shocking how often that DI’d acoustic track ends up being in the final mix, often replacing the properly recorded acoustic parts.
*Note that this mainly applies to dense mixes where you just need the jangle of the acoustic to cut through. I’m generally more happy with a properly mic’d acoustic for acoustic-centered work (although I have still used the DI version there, too).
I know this sounds obvious, but I’ve heard far too many home and small studio recorded acoustic albums where the guitars are not even in tune! I’m afraid it’s not as simple as tuning each string exactly in tune to agree with a tuner so you may need to trawl the net to find out which tuning idea works for your guitar. Rule #5?
Well, I just don’t agree with mic’ing in mono exclusively. In a busy mix, sure, mono is the way to go. But if you’re recording a folk song, with a good rhythm acoustic and just a few instruments and voices, then stereo mic’ing might be just what you need to fill the song.
For instance, I absolutely loathe recording two different takes and panning them L and R. It doesn’t work nor it makes sense for me. Recording stereo with different mics always sound better and feels wide and concise at the same time.
Anyhow, I like recording my acoustic with dynamics, so everything might sound different through my setup. I avoid cheap condensers and their harshness anytime I can, and it also helps me with my untreated room.
In he end, thing is, it depends, as every project has a different need.
That’s why I think this should not be considered a rule.
My rule #5 would be:
Learn these 4 rules to know how to break them properly!
For 95% of all acoustic guitar recordings these rules apply and are absolutely correct, BUT there can be exeptions:
Last week I recorded a folk singer with a spanish guitar. Just one guitar and one vocal.
For this special occasion we liked the stereo miking better then the mono version.
I recorded An AKG C414 two feet away from the body, a Neuman TLM 108 two feet away from the neck and the piezzo pickup.
The phase of the pickup signal has to be shifted to a “sweetspot” as the signal comes in a little earlier that the mics.
Phase cancellation problems can be resolved by shifting one of the recorded microphone parts to the best sounding position or by setting up the mics in the correct way in the first place.
(Took us just a view minutes to do that.)
I like the DI signal because it can add something cool in the higher frequencies if mixed in just a little.
I also always put some ducktape marks on the floor by the feet of the guitar player and urge them not to move too much. Moving the guitar just by some degrees can result in a totally different sound.
greetings,
Carsten
Graham, I agree. Only years of trial & error will bring us to the same conclusions. Some techniques may work here & there, but when you have some that are constant & repeatable, these become the basis of your work flow. Get the job done, accurately, artistically, but get the best sound you can, as quickly as you can & when it works, use it again & again. Start using your TV time or happy hour time for experimenting & be productive! The next song is already waiting…
RULE # 5 : GET IT DONE !
Use your mic like a EQ
I agree with all 4 rules! I most certainly agree with rule 2 for the same reason as you… recorded this way for a couple of years and it does not sound natural at all! I don’t disagree with rule 4, but will occasionally break that rule if… Acoustic guitar is the ONLY instrument. Such as a single acoustic and a vocal. That being said… you have to be very careful about how you approach. Safest way is XY coincident, to prevent phase issues. I have tried several other methods for stereo tracking of acoustic, Mid-Side can have a slightly wider sound, but you are purposely fighting with the phase to get the desired effect. XY, easier set up, less guesswork. But, if you are going to have more than one acoustic guitar playing, then record each in mono and let panning and reverb be your friend.
Thanks for this post, Graham. I think your advice is sound, but I’ll tell you what’s worked for me. My pieces are acoustic-guitar-based, specifically nylon-string, for both rhythm and lead, and I would never ever use an electro-acoustic classical guitar and go DI. But for the rhythm track I do record stereo without any phase issues with a large condenser mic a few inches from the soundhole angled toward the 12th fret and a small condenser about a 8″ away angled up toward the lower bout for greater presence. I pan hard right and hard left and get some nice width with the EQ differential. For lead I find myself recording mono and using some gentle sample delay and again panning hard left and hard right.
Hi Graham,
I all-ways record my acoustic guitar (if it is a rhythm track) twice instead of duplicating the track to a second track. It gives a little more width an makes it more lively.
Thanks for the article and kind regards
4 rule is not the rule I think.
2. billboard uses blend technique.
3. sometimes, extreme close distance & extreme far distance will be needed.
4. agree 🙂 you can use stereo mic for guitar solo album.
and here is my rule
5. play well. imo, this is most important thing.
if I want Stereo guitars I record the guitar a second time, sometimes using a different guitar,
And it sounds much better that was.
I think one should study the history of the hollow body electrics and how they were developed starting with Gibson’s L5 and the need for Jazz and blues players to compete with the other orchestral instruments of the 20s and 30s. Knowledge is power.
Position the mic in the middle of the strings, not necessarily at the 12th fret. That is, if you use a capo, the string length changes and you can move the mic more towards the sound hole without introducing too much bass buildup.
I agree with the 4 rules and if I added a fifth it would be no effects while recording
Good advice overall. Though I am partial to recording acoustic guitar in stereo, X setup to avoid phase problems. It’s very subtle, and you can pan it wide for a lush sound (for a very acoustic sparse arrangement) or make it mono for when it’s playing a more rhythmical or background role in a busier arrangement.
As for the strings; I certainly like fresh but not brand new strings. I think they need to be played in a bit.
This came at an opportune time as I was about to start recording some acoustics, and was playing around with ideas in my head of how to get the best sound. I was planning on using 3 mics so I would have options, but I’ll keep things simple and go for a mono large diaphragm near the soundhole. The acoustic changes roles throughout the song so I might automate some stereo reverb or record doubles here and there.
My biggest thing with getting a good sound, is use fresh strings! No point in using a nice mic with a nice preamp if you’ve got old strings. They sound dead, undynamic, and they lack so much top end.
Put MDF or hardwood timber under chair you are sitting on while recording Acoustic guitar.
This will give a reflective surface , and stops carpets absorbing sounds.
3 Mics , 1 angled over sound hole,
1 just up neck to get finger/ fret sounds
And 1 two feet away from guitar, so sound flows into mic.
I have an LR Baggs mic in my acoustic and I still count on m ldc 3 feet away to do the heavy lifting. I still use the Baggs but just a little. I personally hate piezo; sounds like a geese honking. I wouldn’t own a guitar and leave a piezo in it. Enough rant – always use a reference track! Find the sound you’re looking for and approximate it. If I can get my mixed guitar to sound very close to Phil Keaggy’s from the Beyond Nature cd I’m getting it right. IMHO If you want to get somewhere take a map.
Nicely summarised. I always record using a condenser mic AND the DI simultaneously. The mic gives the best natural sound and, if giving the perfect sound, you can delete the DI track when the mix is finished. But if you want to try a few tweaks to get a different or enhanced sound (even for just small parts of the song) the DI track is waiting there to help out … and it’s already perfectly sync’d!
Thanks Graham for great tips. Sometime I record my song with guitar.
These really appear to be interesting ideas, I have a client tomorrow who wants record guitar and banjo so I will give it a run through. Thanks.
Amazing!
I’ve been recording my Gibson Hummingbird for over 10 years now, the first 8 of them unsatisfying. I have ended up with the excact same findings as Graham. One very important thing should be addressed though: the ROOM. The better your room sounds, the further you can back up the mic. I once recorded in a great sounding wooden church, and no matter what mic I tried or where I put it, it all sounded fantastic.
Hi Graham,
Totaly agree with 4 rules.
My 5-th rule: new strings on guitar before recording. Never use old, used strings.
All good rules to live by, lot of good suggestions as well. Myself, if there is a direct pickup in the guitar, I always try to run a line from that and record it as well…although the sound is subpar on the whole, I have run into situations where I may need just an alternate source of signal, while rare, it helps to have it there and not need it rather than the other result
Place the mic in front of the neck and point it at the neck around the 8th fret. Do not point the mic at the soundhole.
Good rules to follow when recording an acoustic guitar! I agree with MHuss about a possible Rule 5…”listen while placing the mic-and place it where it sounds best.” Amen to that my friends!
As always…great stuff…thank you Graham!
🙂
I haven’t read all the comments so apolgies if this has been said already, but recently I’ve run into issues where the arrangment between keys and acoustic guitar is not optimal and it makes the two instruments hard to mix well. You can try giving each its own frequency space, moving back and forward in the mix, etc. but if the arrangement isn’t good musically then mixing acoustic and keys is harder. So my 5th rule would be check the arrangement before hitting record.
Another great trick for Acoustic Guitar is to take your mono track and create two more duplicate tracks. Hi Pass one track and low Pass the second track. For the third track cut the highs and lows to leave just the mid-range. Now pan the Low Pass hard to one side and the Hi Pass hard to the other. Leave the Mid range track in the middle. Play with frequency points and volume levels until you get the sound you like. You’ll be amazed at how big and how full the sound is 🙂
I agree with the first 3 rules, but tend to bend rule #4. I like to record a close mic in addition to stereo room mics to blend into the mix to taste. In the same vein as drum room mics can be used to color the overall drum sound. This, of course, is for songs where the acoustic in the main instrument driving the song.
I agree with the 4 rules.
The 5 rule: “Don`t play on a noisy chair”. Any little noise that you don’t hear when you’re recording appears clearly in the mix, and according to Murphy’s law, always in the best take.
I like your rule #5: No noisy chair, no flailing bracelets or other jewelry that click on the guitar body, etc.
Great article Graham…
I have to record the accoustic guitar last night, and I read your article in the yesterday afternoon.
Im agree but for the number #4,
I tried to record with mono track on my client song (the music are with drum, synth, bass, keyboard, like another pop song), After that, I record with stereo.
Two mics every record. So it has 4 track; 2 track on Left and 2 track on Right.
And my client prefer to the stereo one than the mono.
But, I think your opinion about mono is very logic. So have you the tips, how to make great recording accoustic guitar with only one track?
Thank You.
The most “real” sounding recording I’ve done of an acoustic guitar was with a somewhat bright condenser about 8 inches off the 12th fret and a condenser with bigger depth at just under 2 feet (3:1 ratio) off the body, with both pointing a bit inward toward the guitar. Then you can EQ the guitar naturally by mixing the levels of the two mics. Even using 2 mics, they should not necessarily be panned R&L, but mixed appropriately for the soundstage. You can also apply some ambience to one mic channel or the other to control whether you want brighter or deeper ambience.
Another way I’ve gotten a beautiful acoustic guitar image is to use the M/S configuration: an upside-down ribbon above the condenser on the same axis, but with the ribbon (a natural figure 8) picking up the sides and the condenser (cardioid) pointed straight at the guitar between the hole and the 14th fret about a foot or more away (monitor the setup and listen for the best position). The M/S technique will let you adjust the width to taste – and if you want a bit of really wide ambience, it can yield a gorgeous, natural sounding stage. (Look up the M/S mic technique for how to set up the channels if you’re not familiar with this configuration.) I doubt this one will ever get you into a phase issue unless it is bleed from another instrument. You may either need a dampened room or a room with nice acoustics for this to sound nice – I’ve used it in a fairly dampened room with beautiful results.
Neither of these techniques has to break the bank to sound great, either.
As Graham said, though, you must keep the role of the guitar in mind…
Make sure to use crisp new strings.
I partly disagree. There are times when crisp new strings are too harsh for the song, and no, a darker pick or an EQ won’t help. That’s because strings per se are too bright for the context.
I’m not saying to use 1-year old strings, but still reasonably old.
I’m with Carlo. Older strings sound much better in the studio. IMO guitars should sound more like wood than metal.
It depends on what role the acoustic guitar is playing. I sometimes record in stereo, but most of the time I record two mono tracks of the same acoustic guitar panned left and right – or with only one mono track with a stereo reverb on it. Like I say it depends what you want. Both method of recording in stereo or mono is good. Like I tell people, “It’s not what you have or what you do, it’s HOW to use (be it methods, plugins or analog equipments) what you have at the time that makes the difference. Just me. 😀
RULE ZERO: have fun!
ANXIETY is the worst enemy in the first place: it leads to bad decisions and might as well influence the performance of the player
I actually do record my built in mic sometimes. Not the piezo, but the mic. Then switch phase, overcompress, HPF and mix subtly. Used as a parallel compression track it can bring up my guitar in a busy context, as it features the energy of the pick.
Great article!
One again, pearls of wisdom by Graham.
Overwhelming response so far that shows the importance of the topic and the struggle that too many of us have gone through for too looooooong.
First I wanted to add the usual topic, excellent instrument, new strings, bla bla, when I decided to take a deep breath in remembrance of a phantastically sounding track I recorded with a crap guitar, half broken with thick old Jazz Guitar Strings that had not been changed for years. And the track sounded like a million bucks, full of warmth, not so much like crystal clear Martin D18 of course, more like a Dobro track instead.
And I learnt, an old inexpensive guitar with a broken body that is captured with the right mic placement will sound hundred times more expensive than a close miked Martin or any other expensive Hi Q guitar.
Definitely, my mistake was close miking the guitar for too long and getting this typical plastic cheap tone that I know too well from the recordings that I receive too often now.
Great work therefore, Graham, and again you always get the decisive point and point it out clearly
I completely disagree with rule #4.
A properly done M/S recording of an acoustic is mesmerizing and will capture an acoustic guitar like no other.
It can’t be done well with a cheap figure 8 mic so if you’re going to try it rent a decent quality large diaphragm condenser (yeah I know about the 100$ dollar mic myth, but trust me, if you want good phase correlation you’re gonna want a good quality capsule and not a Chinese Neumann knockoff) as for the M mic it’s less critical so use your ears and see what sounds good to you.
Of course M/S has its place and won’t always be the best choice so you’ll have to experiment to see if it will work in your particular tack or not but rule 4 is not good advice Graham 😉
I am sorry to be urged to oppose you, Lukas. But esp when you are using a typical MidSide Setup, the quality of the 8 pattern mic will of course have an influence on the sonic quality of the recording, but on the phase correlation its effect will be 0. literally and technically 0. That is the beauty of the MS technique, that in mono the sides will absolutely cancel each other out. That means in mono you cannot hear the 8 mic.
And because u relate the quality of the 8 mic in relation to the phase linearity of the ms recording only reveals that you have not understood the concept of the ms technology.
And it is not a good idea to apply something that you haven’t understood.
sorry perhaps I’m misusing the term but what I mean is that the capsule of a cheap figure 8 will not faithfully capture sound on both sides of the mic, meaning that phase or frequency response is not linear from front to back.
I dont know which mics you are talking about, but as for my experience something like the Rode NT2 is perfectly fine for a decent ms recoording. So is the NT5 for the mid signal. I could not make out a significant difference of the side signal using an AKG 414 which was the mic that I learnt the technique with in a seminar many years back. Since the AKG was a lot more expensive, I returned it and kept the NT2.
The only significant improvement I could make, when a friend of mine bought a Gefell mic which I had never heard of before. That is the best pencil mic ever.
Most important:
A well-tuned guitar
You can make the most expensive guitar sound cheap when it is out of tune, even if that is only slightly.
Sometimes old strings can sound warm in certain songs, but most of the time they make it impossible to tune your instrument. Because they may be somewhat in tune within the first 2,3 frets, but totally out of tune in the 7th and horrible in the 10th
So if you realize, that you cannot tune your instrument it is high time for a string change
Rule number 2 is nonsense. The rule should be be this: ‘Don’t record an acoustic guitar with ONLY a DI. ‘
You can line up the phase of your DI with a mic in your daw and blend to taste, it can really add some focus and definition if done well. Totall agree with graham on pulling the mic away from the guitar, so the DI can help it sound a little ‘closer’ to the listener if that’s what’s needed. Plus not all DI sounds are equal 😉
Dont believe me? Just check out any of my music, all mixed with a blended in DI. https://open.spotify.com/track/7enHLAaVDVXkEqRw5eAuTp
I agree with all 4 tips, especially cloning your tracks. If I were to add a 5th. Tip it would be to use your ear. Listen to some of the great acoustic players recordings and try to duplicate the sound. Let the beauty of the instrument come thru to the listener without so many hi tech tricks.
The DI of an acoustic really sucks! I never really find it useful, not even blending it with the mic recording. If I want more top end I either move the mic or use an EQ in the recording process.
To my ear, often the DI signal doesn’t add something to my acoustic but rather gives it a different vibe, which is not what I personally want. I would rather double my mic recording and process it with EQ and/or harmonic distortion. Plus, I end up EQing my DI signal anyway, therefore I don’t see any time-saving or whatever in recording DI – especially because, like I said, it gives a different vibe to my guitar.
100%pro. I do not see, what a pick up tone, blended with the miked up tone will “add” to the quality of the tone rather than spoiling it. First of all, only fishman piezos are the only ones that you can build in without ruining the instrument. And what is the beauty of them? Rumble in the lows and plastic sound in the hi end.
There are only two reasons for doing that. 1st, you like the blended tone, which means you like a tone that is DIFFERENT from the natural acoustic tone. Most of us don’t. Period.
2nd, the need to cover an otherwise poor recording of the natural acoustic.
Everything else makes no sense whatsoever.
Hey, Graham,
How about these ideas ?
1 After getting a good mic’ed track on the acoustic, set up an alternative tuning on the guitar, and, using the same mic’ setup, record another track, and use it to add some variety, and dimension.
2 Take another guitar, probably a Strat, or Tele, and record that DI and combine the two tracks, using the DI track for a little extra definition where, and if needed. Matter of fact, you could use the very same acoustic guitar for this instead of the electric.
3 If you can find different inversions of the same chords on the acoustic guitar, practise them, and record them using the mic as in point 1, or using a DI, as in 2.
Thanks,
Anton.
Oh, and let’s not forget some VERY valuable comments made by Fleetwood Mac’s guitar ace, Lindsey Buckingham on recording acoustic guitar. My understanding is that Lindsey actually does record acoustic guitar DI, and with great results. I think the idea is NOT to expect the acoustic guitar to sound the way it does in traditional recordings, but to go for something slightly, or even totally different. I have listened to Lindsey’s recordings, and to me, at least, the way he records the guitars, they sound great. I think DI while DI acoustic guitar might not sound as good as mic’ed acoustic guitar in the traditional sense, if some people play around with DI, with all it’s own sound “characteristics”, there could be some new, and exciting, non traditional stuff therein 🙂
Good point Anton. If the particular song or a band’s sound works better with the DI, don’t be afraid to use it – I have done that before – if only to bring a different dimension to what was caught on the mics…
[Cliff Claven] It’s a little known fact that the introduction of the acoustic DI was followed closely by the introduction of the mute button. [/Cliff Claven]
🙂
Definitely Agree!!!
I couldn’t agree with you more…….I used to DI my Taylor acoustic with results that I think was uncharacteristic of this guitar.Playing it in my studio unplugged,it has such a gorgeous sound.So I started miking it and the natural sound was amazing.I do run the Mike thru my Focusrite pre,but even then it’s very little adjustment because the guitar does all the work before going thru the mike.So ,thanks again for confirming I’m on the right track
I only use DI to use stomp boxes.
As for mikes and placement, I have several acoustics and, just like vocalists, each has its own characteristics. Use what sounds best for what you want to record. Experimentation is a great way to get the sounds you want and save all the hassle of playing with plug-ins to get the sound you want.
The better your raw tracks, the easier to mix and better final result. (IMHO)
I learned that back in the analog days and it seems to have been forgotten in the digital age.
Just now getting to read this and for the most part I agree. if I’m looking for a fuller sounding acoustic, i’ll duplicate the part, pan one left and one right, and may even delay one 7 or 8 ms. Seems to open up and make it sound more full. i’ve DI’d into a POD X3 and agree the DI sounds pretty crappy even with the presents in the POD, however, I have done both, DI and mic’d the acoustic and then blend the two. Each song is different and experimenting to get a good sound is important. Any more however, i’m usually recording with the mic about a foot or more off the 12th fret. Thanks Graham, good read and advice as always
Great tips. (Acoustic guitar pickups and internal mics do sound awful!)
I’ve been trying out some different brands of strings. I have a dreadnought and generally prefer strings that give it a warmer sound. I recently put on some DR Sunbeam strings and immediately thought to myself: “too bright…not to my taste”. But then I recorded it (strumming, mixed with piano, electric guitar and some other stuff) and it really did sound much better in the mix with the brighter sounding strings.
I’ve noticed the same thing with the snare drum and cymbals – standing in the room playing them I don’t care for the bright/harsh sound. But through the microphones, recorded and played back through speakers and I think they sound good.
What would happen if you put the mic way back, say 6ft away, which is where someones ears are in the real world if they are sitting listening to you play something ???
That’s a good point Eric. If the mic is 6ft away (where a listener’s ears might be), you will generally get:
1. The sound of the room.
2. A thin sounding guitar.
I think that’s a pretty good reason to put the mic(s) where the guitar sounds the way you want it to, rather than where a listener’s ears would be…
Right on track!
Rule 1: Though it’s always a good idea to anticipate how a track may be used in the mix, I find that getting the best (most natural) sound for the original track is usually the best thing to do. EQ can always be applied later during the mix if needed to get a particular effect, but an unnatural sound in the original track can be very hard to correct later. That being said, I always roll off frequencies below the instrument’s or vocalist’s lowest pitch. This avoids recording a lot of ambient sound from sources other than the desired instrument or voice.
Rule 2: Most of the time, a microphone is preferable to using a DI; but for me a DI works better when there is a lot of other sound in the environment. This can occur when several instruments are being recorded at the same time, when a baby is crying in the next room, or when the guitarist needs to sing along with the guitar because there is a delicate contrapuntal interaction between the guitar and voice. In such cases, it may be necessary to sacrifice the very best guitar tone in order to get a better overall recording.
Rule 3: Yes. About a foot away works really well without picking up too much ambient noise.
Rule 4: Yes. Because of the guitar’s size and shape, the ear perceives it as a single sound source that is better recorded in mono. This is true of solo classical guitar as well. The sense of space surrounding a guitar is created by sound reflections from the floor, walls, and ceiling; and is better addressed in the studio through accurate timing of early reflection and reverb effects than through stereo recording of the source. A live solo recording in a performance venue where the reflections are real, is of course a different matter: requiring stereo mike placement several feet away from the guitar.
Rule 5: Listen through headphones (preferably noise-cancelling) with the early-reflection and reverb effects active to get the microphone placement just right. This enables you to hear exactly what the recorded guitar will sound like without interference from the live sound of the guitar. Note that the effects should be active only in the headphones, not in the recording. You want the recording to be dry so that the effects can be added later, but you want to hear how the recording will sound after the effects are added.
If I were to add a fifth rule, it’d be “do what sounds best for the song”. All of these are fantastic for getting a clean, natural sound out of an acoustic, and it sounds fantastic, but not everyone is going for a natural sound. To be honest I’m kinda surprised you didn’t say something like this yourself, you always preach that rule.
The DI’d acoustics rule is the one I’m mostly calling out. 9/10 it sounds bad, but sometimes it’s exactly the sound you’re going for. I’m pretty sure John Lennon’s acoustic on the Beatle’s song “Dear Prudence” is an acoustic electric running directly into the board they were using (think that was at Twickenham so whatever board was there, pretty sure that was done before Abbey Road got their 8-track), and while it’s not a sound that would work well in every song, it sounds absolutely sublime in that one. Not to mention I’m sure most of the acoustic guitars on Nine Inch Nails’ “The Fragile” were DI, they have that quality to them and they sound nasty and slinky and downright disturbing, perfect for some of the songs on the album.
Anyways, great article Graham, just wanted to point out that sometimes it’s OK to break the rules if you’re trying to get a certain sound. Especially if the music you’re making isn’t exactly run of the mill rock music.
Awesome guitar recording trick.
My problem recording acoustic guitar is always bleed from the vocal.
Mic placement and levels or volume controls are crucial in recording acoustic guitar…
Hi Graham! I recorded this and followed all the steps. Could you please give me your thoughts about it? I’m a huge fan of you 😀
we had a 12 string for a while at church. It had an internal mic and a bridge transducer. one of my cobalt 4’s sounded real nice about 2′ away so I wired up all 3 inputs and treated them as separate instruments in the mix. i have to agree the mic 2′ away was the best. I the mic on the 12th on a couple but got discouraged with the lazy finger scratch when changing cords
Wow. Reading all these wonderful comments has probably saved me years of experimentation:-) Thanks to everyone.
As a newbie to recording, I have been recording my acoustic guitar in mono, low pass at 20 and high pass at 20k then adding a stereo delay of 11ms panned hard left and right. I haven’t yet worked what else to cut or boost.
This seems similar, but a lot simpler, to some of the above suggestions of copying tracks and moving them back and/or forwards in time by 11ms or so and maybe eqing each track differently.
Are there other advantages to the copy track approach or am I fine with a single track and adding delay after eqing in mono?
Sorry but I disagree with your suggestion to record in mono. A lot of people think that stereo recording means stereo mixing or playback – in fact, a well engineered stereo recording will allow to pan, mono or create divergent balances with a richer detail than a single mic. Also stereo recording doesn’t mean that you HAVE to use both mics – it’s just a contingency plan when your production takes a new direction. Bruce Swedien recorded Michael Jackson’s vocals by layering mono and stereo recordings of multiple takes – something that he was very good at. One final reason to strive for powerful recordings is to remember that we engineer sound for an increasingly binaural audience – earbuds and videogames have really upped the stakes in terms of creating realistic, three-dimensional mixes and new techniques are required in order to achieve consistent results. Binaural microphones and techniques have been around and experimented with for decades, now broadcasters are beginning to air binaural recordings for classical music – notably the British BBC broadcasted their PROMS in binaural only weeks ago – and game composers use binaural for more immersive soundscapes. So, while I am a strong believer in using mono to validate your mixes, stereo is making a massive come back and it would be limiting to record any instrument with a single microphone.
Absolutely agree. You could never get the same depth and full body sound of an acoustic with one mic.
I know for a fact you are not professional because not stereo mic an acoustic is a big mistake. Especially if the acoustic is the main instrument and more so especially if it is just acoustic and vocals. The phase issue is simple to eliminate but making sure both mics are exactly the same distance from the instrument but you did not talk about this.
Since when did stereo micing the acoustic guitar become the “professional” way? 🙂 That’s like saying the professional way to mic a kick drum is with with two mics, when you can certainly do it with one. Just different approaches.
I am following your instructions but it seems the room which I am recording in is not really working. The guitar always sounds very far away from the mic. How can a get a guitar sound that “sits closer to the mic”?
Do you mean you hear a lot of echo or ambience in the room? If so you might just need to get some more stuff to absorb sound. Furniture, book shelf with books.
I agrree on most though i think Recording with di on top of a normal mic Recording can be of Some help when blending. Also i find it a weird reason to not record in stereo becouse of the possibility of phasing. Thats like saying, why bother Recording overheads with 2 mics when you can use one? Recording in ms shouldnt give to much phasing annyway and when setting up right you can still make the choise later on to only use the front mic if you think that works better. I mean ms and stereo micing can work fine, so why not find out how to let it sound good and teach that as well
How do you feel about mid-side? Since the side tracks cancel when summed, it’s *like* mono, right? Except when it’s not summed, then you’d have a more natural, probably less phasey sound, right? Never actually used mid-side before, so I’m just curious.
Great article. I always enjoy reading them. However, I have one question about this one. You mention towards the end that you can create a duplicate of the acoustic track and pan them for a stereo effect. I believe this creates only slightly more volume since the tracks are exact copies of each other. Wouldn’t you have phase cancellation issues with which to contend?
Correct. I was referring to RECORDING a second take of the guitar.
Hey Graham, very informative article! I play gypsy jazz, and I’m doing some recordings right now with one rhythm guitar, one lead guitar and vocals. Does not stereo-micing the guitar still apply in this instance, do you think?
Correct. My personal preference is to mono mic the guitars.
Hello Graham,
pls how do I take away the noise from finger movements on my acoustic guitar when recording?
Very nice article.
For phase shift.
Even when recording a layering acoustic guitar – there will still be phase shift problems when you hear them in mono …
If anyone has a note or tip – how to layering an acoustic guitar without a phase shift problem
I will be happy to hear
I love these rules. They are simple, straightforward and helpful. I recorded guitar yesterday with a dynamic microphone. probably placed about a foot (or slightly less) away from the sound hole. Using the parametric eq/filter plug in on my DAW I located the most bizarre sounding something across basically all frequencies except the low end. Is this feedback?? Do I need to back the microphone up or is there like tiny aliens playing a synth melody inside my guitar.
This is probably a stupid question but since I am brand new at this and clueless, I will ask. You said we are not supposed to plug our Acoustic/Electric directly into a DI but rather use a mic. OK, got it. However, what about plugging the guitar into a amp while recording with a mic? Would this add a fuller sound or would this be a terrible idea?
Not a terrible idea at all. Just a certain sound.
There is not phase cancellation in stereo
great article!!!! very useful
Graham, I came across this page by chance and rejoiced to read such common sense on the subject, particularly your views on DIs, with which I wholly agree (I’ve been recording exclusively acoustic instruments for 40 years). DIs are so widespread on acoustic guitars these days that people actually think that’s what they sound like. Maybe I’d use stereo for a solo guitar. Rule 5? Get a great instrument and play it well.
Interesting points and thank you for sharing. You may want to consider a 3rd category where the acoustic is playing differently at different points in the song. For example; I play a finger picking intro & bridge, then play a strumming chorus. Using the same mic placement techniques for both really don’t get the most out of each part (at least in my ears). Also, I have a question. I’m finding it better to have one solid strumming take over adding layers that never seem to directly align and start to create timing oddities. I still get confused with the idea of adding fullness by adding more layers. Never stop learning! Cheers!
Mate, thanks for your tips. Very much appreciated.
I record one client who has 2 super-expensive, custom, imported etc etc acoustic guitars. The pick ups and components in them are the best money can buy. The DI sounds great! Yes, tinny relative to mic’ing, but still, waaaayyy better than the average guitar.
I record two separate channels of mic and DI and mix (usually just a simple R and L full pan), with reverb added to each, and it sounds pretty damn good imo. FYI these are live recorded tracks my client performs, so there’s a vocal mic track recording too. Usually centre this, and I feel the background/quieter acoustic guitar noise captured in the vocal mic helps bleed the two together even more. Well it seems to work for this client anyway. One size doesn’t fit all I know. Like your Rule Number 1 above.
I’ve never recorded in stereo before. Now that you said not to do it, I want to try it lol.