Microphones for recording acoustic guitar

[Grommet]

Hi everyone!
For more than 12 years I have been playing the guitar and decided to finally record carpets and spread them on YouTube
What is a good Microphones for Recording Acoustic Guitar?

[Bob Bickerton]

Welcome to the forum!

If it's solo acoustic guitar, then I'd recommend a stereo pair of microphones, which will rendition a more realistic sound.

As to the mics to use, that very much depends on your budget. My preference would be a pair of small diaphragm condensers, but I've used many variations over the years from large diaphragm condensers to ribbon mics and there's so many options available these days.

On the cheaper side, you could look at Rode M5s which I've heard and they enjoyed a reasonable review in SOS. More expensive but better specified would be the Rode NT5, but the sky's the limit. I currently use Sennheiser MKH 8040s, but actually have them for other applications.

What's crucial to realise is that the acoustics of the room you record in will have as much, if not more impact on your recorded sound than the choice of microphone, so that might be something to explore.

There's lots and lots of good article in SOS archives on what techniques to use, so the search option is your friend.

Bob

[Arpangel]

The acoustic guitar isn’t a difficult instrument to record, in the grand scheme of things. It's frequency range and fast attack records well.
Any of the mic's Bob mentioned would be fine, but most people have their favourites, I like the Audio Technica 4060, just my taste, but the room, the guitar, will sway your choice, you can be a bit more adventurous in a good sounding room, a bad one will restrict your mic technique a bit.

[Drew Stephenson]

Hi Grommet, welcome to the forum. My first question would be, what microphone(s) do you currently own?

[adrian_k]

I tend to use either a couple of KM184 or C414, usually in XY. Basically because that’s what I’ve got. The Neumanns don’t work on every guitar, I think they can sometimes sound a bit “hard”, but if I want to bring out the attack they are good for that.

[forumuser915213]

You might be interested in a file of mic samples I made a couple of years ago using just about all the mics I then owned, which even then was too many...

The source is my pre ARE Yamaha LS16, it's my room and I'm a finger picker, so I'm not sure how directly relevant it is for you, but the sound files are in there along with the details of how the guitar was recorded.

Apart from anything else, I think it does show the truth of Arpangel's point: many of the mics (they range from cheap to less cheap but none are properly expensive expensive) can produce nice sounds from my Yamaha, but your taste, playing style, guitar and the room will all be big factors.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U7PAmm ... p=drivesdk

In practice, I use a single M201 when recording guitar with vocals when I'm making a YouTube, and the LCT340s in xy when recording for CD.

Good luck,

Gavin

[Rebus316]

Hi Grommet,

You may be operating at a more premium end of the market, but I bought a Lewitt LCT140 AIR pencil condenser after seeing a recommendation on YouTube from Warren Huart. Think I paid £120 at the time?

I was really pleasantly surprised by the sound I got from just pointing and pressing record, especially considering I'd never actually mic'd up an acoustic guitar before!

Later on, I got some really nice results mixing the lewitt with an sm57. They seemed to compliment each other well.

I did try just the SM57, but I wasn't as keen on that as the only mic on an acoustic.

[Drew Stephenson]

You might be interested in a file of mic samples I made a couple of years ago using just about all the mics I then owned, which even then was too many...

This reminds me, check out Mike Seniors library of mic positions stuff, it'll show you how much variety you can get just by moving the mic around.
https://www.cambridge-mt.com/rs2/lmp/

[Christopher Woods]

The answer is usually 'whatever you can stretch to in your budget', combined with a decent quality but in-budget mic pre.

For example, I would personally first look for a pair of Audio Technica AT2050, or an AT2050 and and AT2035 because I personally like their characteristics. Used them for years. With mics like the AT2050, which have switchable pickup (polar) patterns, you can do mid/side or X/Y recordings easily - giving you a lot of flexibility at the production step. The AT4000 series is a great step up if you can afford it over the AT2000 series.

Other forever-popular mics for reasonable prices include Shure SM57 and SM58A Beta (the Beta has improved frequency characteristics and improved sensitivity and side rejection). I've seen some recommendations for the MXL 603SPR pair, which are affordable copycats of fairly ubiquitous small diaphragm 'pencil' condensers. Rode NT1, NT1a and NT5 are also great, affordable mics. sE Electronics' range are also equally good and affordable. Nowadays we're spoiled - there are MANY other manufacturers at this price range offering very similarly performing mics.

Your microphones' and mic preamp's self-noise will become a bit important with acoustic guitar, particularly if you're compressing or bumping the preamp gain to obtain detail in recordings. Research those carefully and don't buy mics which are noted as being hissy or noisy.

Almost any of the interfaces on this page will be more than adequate (https://www.musicradar.com/news/best-bu ... interfaces). SOS in-depth reviews are handy if you want to geek out on the details: https://www.soundonsound.com/audio-interfaces (and likewise for mics!). GuitarWorld also compiles reviews of mics periodically, though take with a pinch of salt as there may be some paid inclusions. Always second opinion any recommendations from other industry mags, though I trust SOS to be honest

You'll also benefit from the array of video reviews and demos of different mics in different contexts. Check out how fingerstyle and acoustic guitarists mic their stuff up, it's really useful.

I also noticed SOS is running a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 bundle competition at the moment - go enter it! https://www.soundonsound.com/competitio ... dio-bundle

Find a quiet space with a good acoustic. Do clap tests, listen in the microphone position for odd sound reflections, echoes or reverb. Turn off the A/C and heating. As an irregular a room as possible with lots of oddly shaped surfaces is good for diffusing sound if you're on a budget and can't afford to treat a recording space. If you live in the countryside, recording outdoors on a calm quiet day can sometimes yield lovely results - you immediately lose most of the acoustic problems that come with a studio space! However if you like how a room sounds where you play, don't be afraid to experiment and lean into miking and EQing it to suit.