Recording an acoustic guitar (BR-800)

[Johnny_E]

Been quite a while since I posted here. A house move followed by a loft conversion and starting a new business kinda took all my spare time. BUT.. I just got a new hand made acoustic guitar in December. Its un-amplified as yet. I was considering a pickup system later - but for now, if I could record it really well with a dedicated mic into my BR-800, I'd probably be happier.

So, any suggestions? It'll not be for vocals, just this guitar.

I'll post up some details about the guitar over on the instruments forum later.. but here's a wee teaser  

[Farrell Jackson]

Beautiful wood grain and that sound hole on the side is indeed very interesting! I've not seen that design before...at least not intentional anyway, lol. A friend had a great playing and sounding cheapo that had a accidental hole  knocked in it but it was on the opposite end. He left it like that and it had great tone. He called it his stereo guitar  

A Rhode NT1A is a great mic for recording acoustics. Also if you can get a figure 8 pattern mic you can turn it sideways and pick up the body and the neck sounds at the same time. There are many micing possibilities to capture a great acoustic sound such as using two mics in an XY pattern. The room also plays a big part in it.  If you have the time, I have a song called Holiday Song that is a mic'ed Taylor GS mini that came out well. I could go into detail how I did it if you like that sound. Here's the link:

http://www.mixposure.com/pages/iaudio/song_id=29957

I've heard some pretty good mic'ed acoustic sounds from the BR's built in mics also but someone else will a have to tell you how they got that. I'm sure you'll get plenty of ideas from this thread.

A beauty of a guitar just from the one picture. Do tell more about it.

Farrell Jackson

[Johnny_E]

I've posted up a guitar thread here Farrell https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=17514.0

The sound port is something new that Dave experimented with after trying a few guitars at the recent London acoustic guitar show. It widens out the sound. Like hearing stereo for the first time! Tone doesnt change much - maybe a bit more depth - but the difference is that the sound floods you as a player rather than projecting outwards alone.

I'm in work so cant get your link but will check that recording tonight.

I wonder.. is there a clip on mic for instruments that would fit to my sound port for recording?

[Johnny_E]

A quick side question here... I'm looking now at condenser mics. I think this is the way to go and ideally, I'd have liked to try a matched pair of mics..

BUT.. correct me if I'm wrong here, but doesnt the BR800 only give out 1 x phantom power channel? I'd need to buy mics that take a 9V battery wouldnt I?

Had spotted Behringer matched pairs at a budget price.. but phantom power only 

[IanR]

Hi Johnny

As Farrell has already said, there are innumerable ways to mic up an acoustic.  I often read Sound on Sound magazine  looking for advice like this.  And it makes me look intellectual when I read it on the train. 

I use a dynamic mic to record my acoustic.  I place it on a mic stand so that its about 30-40cm from about the 12 fret of the guitar and pointing right at it.  It seems to work.

But given you unusual guitar design, I be experimenting with two mics.  One pointed at the 12 fret and pointed at the top sound hole.  Or, try some other positions or combinations. 

Lots of people in Sound on Sound seem to use two mics to record into two channels into the mixing desk.  They can then balance them later when mixing to optimise the sound.  I only own one external mic but I'm planning to use my new BR800 to try recording my acoustic using the mic and the line in.  We'll see how that goes soon I hope.

cheers,

Ian