Recording Guitar, Record Guitar, How to Record Guitar,
ON THIS PAGE:
How To Record Electric Guitar At Home *video
How to record electric guitar in your home studio *video
Different ways to record the acoustic guitar with 1 mic *video
Recording The Acoustic Guitar *article
Recording the Acoustic Guitar 2 *article
Recording Electric Guitars *article
How to Record Music at Home : How To Record Electric Guitar At Home
Posted July 06, 2010
Level: Basic to Intermediate (some pro knowledge helpful but not necessary)
Learn tips on how to record an electric guitar at home in this free video clip. Expert: Shana Bethune - Bio: Shana Bethune is an accomplished home studio engineer with four years experience producing locals recordings in the Boston area.
How to record electric guitar in your home studio
Posted June 20, 2010
Level: Basic to Intermediate (some pro knowledge helpful but not necessary)
...tips and tricks for recording electric guitar. Simple mic choice and placement ideas.
Different ways to record the acoustic guitar with 1 mic
Posted June 20, 2010
Level: Basic to Intermediate (some pro knowledge helpful but not necessary)
...shows you how to make a stereo signal from a mono recording.
Recording The Acoustic Guitar
By the Audio Recording CenterWhile the acoustic guitar remains one of the most simple instruments by design, it also remains one of the hardest to get a great sound on in the studio. It's really not brain surgery, but knowing some of the basic laws of physics doesn't hurt. Unfortunately, I skipped school that day and didn't learn my physics, so I had to learn how to get a great acoustic guitar sound one mistake at a time. After making those mistakes, I sat down and formulated these laws which are considered to be the Ten Commandments of recording the acoustic guitar (by me anyway).
For the sake of argument I'm going to assume that if you're reading this, you own a 4 track, or an 8 track recorder, a fairly small console, some basic outboard equipment, and you don't own any $2,000 microphones. If you own 13 foot long console and a 48 track digital machine, you can skip this article because you probably know what I'm about to tell you.
Rule 1 - A condensor mic will almost always sound better than a dynamic mic for acoustic guitars. There are several condensor mics that are currently on the market in the $350 price range that sound great on acoustics.
Rule 2 - New strings will always sound better for recording than old.
Rule 3 - Skinny strings sound brighter than fat ones (can you believe I get paid to write crap like this?!)
Rule 4 - The sound you get has a great deal to do with the dynamics of the player.
Rule 5 - Get down on your knees and position your ear as if it were the microphone while somebody else is playing the guitar. Move your ear around to find "sweet spots". You'll learn more from that, than you will by reading this article. Don't try it with an electric guitar!
Rule 6 - If you have somebody that is assisting you on the session, have them move the mic around what you think will be the sweet spot while the player is practicing the part he or she is about to lay down. Have your assistant wear headphones so you can communicate with him while the moving of the mic is taking place.
Rule 7 - A limiter/compressor will almost always help you get a better sound.
Rule 8 - Don't believe everything you read. I only have seven commandments, not ten.
Let's get right to it. If the sound you want to get is a country/pop, strummed sound similar to the Eagles "Lyin' Eyes", here's the formula: Place the microphone about 6 to 8 inches from the guitar's sound hole, but angle the mic toward the area where the fretboard and the sound hole meet. If you point the mic directly into the sound hole, it will be very full -- probably much too full, and very boomy. Use a compressor/limiter to knock down any peaks (3:1 ratio), and set the threshold a little lower to give it a slightly "squashed" or tighter sound. Set the threshold higher to just limit the peaks and give a more open sound. You may need to EQ out some boominess. If so, try rolling off some bottom (100Hz), or cutting a couple of db at 300Hz. To add some "silk" on the top end, try something in the 8-10K range, but be careful, to much will add noise to the track. Positioning the mic so it angles toward the pick will give more attack-less sweetness.
For that John Cougar Mellenkamp sound, try medium gauge strings, a little more compression, and try adding a little EQ around the mids -- lets say 700Hz-1.2K. That will give you a sound that is a little more "woodsy" (a highly technical term).
"Ya, well what about Melissa Ethridge," you say. Try this on for size. Use a guitar with a built-in pick up and a microphone to boot. You will undoubtedly get some phase anomalies, but that's part of the sound. Experiment with moving the mic closer and farther. That will affect the phase relationship of the two sound sources. Sooner or later, you'll hit on something that will put a smile on your face. You can pan the two signals left and right to get a broad stereo sound, but make sure that if you check the sound in mono, that there's still some signal left. Keep an eagle ear on Mr. Phase, he can be a tricky bugger.
And now ladies and gentlemen, for the most often heard acoustic guitar sound at the 1993 Grammys . . . it's that Eric Clapton classical/gut string guitar! Piece of cake. Once again, use a condensor mic, but place it about ten inches away from the guitar. As a matter of fact, try placing it about 3 to 4 inches up the neck, but aim it at the players picking fingers. This angle will reduce boominess by virtue of the mic's cardioid polar pattern producing a natural roll off when it's aimed off-axis, while simultaneously delivering the attack of the fingers. Try and say that three times in a row! The added distance will pick up some of the guitar body's resonance. A compressor/limiter is a must for this case because of unexpected peaks. A 4:1 ratio is a good place to start, but set the threshold fairly high so that the most of the guitar's natural dynamics are left in tact.
When mixing acoustics guitars for rock or alternative tracks, you will usually have an electric guitar or two in the track as well. My personal preference is to pan the acoustic and electric across from each other. Send one full left, and the other full right. You'll quickly discover that the electric will overpower the acoustic and the most effective way to even them out is to compress the acoustic a little bit more than what you may have already done going to tape so you can bring the acoustic's level up high enough to compete with the electric.
Another simple but effective trick is to have the acoustic and electric guitars play parts that counter each other rhythmically (giving them each their own space), and have them each play in a different octave. That will give you a full sounding track that remains open and airy at the same time. You can also make an acoustic guitar sound bigger or more rock-like by panning the original to one side and a delayed signal (short delays are best) of the same guitar to the other side. That effect can be taken one step further by using the pitch change option on your delay to "de-tune" one of the guitars just a pinch (one cent is a good place to start). The delay will provide the brain with the psychoacoustic information it needs to perceive the guitar as bigger, while the pitch change will make it appear "fatter."
Funny how fatter is always better in the world of recording, but not in the case of the human body. Just a tangential observation . . . must be time to go. See you next month.
Reprinted with permission from Audio Recording Center: Good sound advice for the independent music maker. Includes helpful articles, a well organized Links section, and other useful resources. © 2001 Audio Recording Center. All rights reserved
Recording the Acoustic Guitar 2
by Joe Chiccarelli (Tori Amos, Beck, Counting Crows, Shawn Colvin)
Article sponsored by Blue Microphones.
When recording an acoustic guitar, the first thing you have to decide is what sound you are looking for. Do you want the acoustic to sound big and brassy, percussive, or rich and woody? Do you a small mid range sound or more of a hi-fi sound? Different miking techniques will yield very different results. When you've decided what sound you're after, then you can apply the mic and technique that you need to get that sound.
As a typical starting point, I will place a mic where the neck meets the body (around the 12th fret) of the guitar and aim it towards the sound hole. This mic is about 6-18" away from the guitar. It is usually a large diaphragm condenser mic with a cardiod pattern. If I'm getting too much proximately effect from a cardiod mic, then I'll use an omni and get it closer. Also, if the room is stuffy and dark sounding, then I'll use a large diaphragm condenser with an omni pattern. This will get you a good basic sound to start with.
From this starting point, you can add mics or make modifications to achieve the sound you want. For a bigger sound, I'll add another mic. This second mic will be a small diaphragm condenser placed above the neck and aimed at the body - it captures the air and top end of the strings. For a more woody sound, I'll place another mic down by the bridge, either a small diaphragm condenser or a dynamic mic, to get the finger picking and the tone of the body.
If I really want the sound to be thick and chunky, I'll only use the mic down by the bridge of the guitar. But, it is usually placed in conjunction with another mic. Sometimes I use all three. When I was recording Davey Johnstone for Elton John's last record, I used the Blue Kiwi aimed at the sound hole, a KM84 or AT 4051 by the neck, and sometimes a SM57 by the bridge. For a rock mix, the low-fi approach often cuts through the mix best. For that, I use a mid-range sounding mic like a MD421 or a SM57. I use a completely different mic technique for nylon string guitars; perhaps a stereo mic like the AKG C24 or Neumann SM69. It gets a bigger sound, giving a broader more natural picture of the sound. Using different mics and techniques make a big difference.
The player's technique will also greatly influence the sound you get. When players play too hard, you get a trashy mid range sound. In Nashville, the studio players are very sensitive to what the mic hears, changing a chord voicing or using a different thicknesses of pick to get the best sound. All of these elements play in to getting a particular sound out of an acoustic. So, decide on what sound you're looking for and go from there.
Recording Electric Guitars
by Jerry Finn engineer/producer (Greenday, Blink-182, Sum41)
Article sponsored by Blue Microphones.
For more information, www.bluemic.com
There are several keys I've found to getting a great electric guitar sound. First, I always record with more than one amp at the same time. This allows you to mix tones together to get just the right sound – something that’s not too easy to identify. I no longer use SM57s on any guitars cabs. I use a large diaphragm condenser and a ribbon mic on each cab.
The condenser gets the highs, while the ribbon gets the lows. Both mics are placed right next to the grill. One is just left of center and one just right of center (where the dust cap meets the cone). I mix these two sounds together, add fx, and then print to tape. I believe you have to commit to the sound up front. Many engineers try to keep everything separate and add fx later. Players play to the sound, so you just have to get a sound and go with it.
