Whats the Best Way to Record Acoustic Guitar?got a Shure Mic N Pc Software but Dont Sound Natural-help Please?

Posted in acoustic guitar on 28. Jan, 2009

This week’s question is as follows:

Question: Whats the Best Way to Record Acoustic Guitar?got a Shure Mic N Pc Software but Dont Sound Natural-help Please?
Answer: A dynamic mic like a Shure SM57 or SM58 isn’t the best sort of mic for recording acoustic guitar. You would get better results with a condenser mic – there are some pretty good ones available in the £100-150 price range. These mics are more sensitive than dynamic mics and are better suited to picking up the subtle nuances of an acoustic guitar.

However, beware, some condensers need to have external "phantom" powering which your PC interface may not provide. Some can be battery powered which would get around that problem.

When miking a guitar don’t point the mic at the soundhole – this will tend to be very boomy. Either try pointing the mic at the point where the neck meets the body but angled a bit towards the bridge or try pointing it at the soundboard between the bridge and the end of the guitar rom between 6 and 18 inches away. Both tend to give pretty good representations of the sound of an acoustic.

Your might want to try out these miking positions with your Shure mike to see if they improve the sound before splashing out on a new mic.

Here’s a few articles on recording acoustic guitar. A Google search should throw up a load more…

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Aug01/articles/recacgtr0801.asp

http://www.humbuckermusic.com/acguitrectec.html

http://www.pcmus.com/RECacou.htm

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