Rule of thumbs for home recording

[Farhad]

Hi guys

A lot of members were kind enough to give their input on an earlier threat I started regarding background noise (perhaps self noise from the mic) which I was experiencing while recording an acoustic guitar. I thought there might be more people out there such as myself who need to be educated on the basics. Here is a summary of the inputs. Please do fill in as you think is an appropriate general rule:


1) Record dry, add effects later.
2) Keep the mic at about 6 - 12" (15 - 30 cm) from the instrument.
3) If you are doing percussive stuff or moves that may give peaks, adjust the level according to them first (preventing overloading).
4) Ensure the room is quite in regards to ventilation or outside noise. If you need to turn off the ventilation make sure your wife isn't at home (this one was from Doug)
5) Do not place the mic right at the front of the sound hole but rather approximately in front of the 14th fret.

.....hopefully to be continued.

Cheers//

[KevWind]

Im surprised no replies yet so I'll take a stab.
First understanding that ultimately there are no rules there are some generally accepted standard practices .

So IMO ..

#1 Yes generally a good idea allows a bit more flexibility while mixing

#2 6 to 12 inches is a good standard close mic'ing start. Especially in an untreated and or problematic room, can help to reduce unwanted room reflections. But by no means a general rule of thumb, because in a room that is less problematic mic'ing further out say 16 to 36 in. will give a different kind of sound and is purely a matter of subjective preference.

#3 I don't do percussive on the guitar but probably a good general notion

#4 yes the less ambient environment noise the better

#5 Yes generally right in front of the sound hole will tend to be boomy
And for close mic'ing the 12 to 14 fret location is good particularly if you want to feature string attack . However do not overlook other equally as good but different sounding locations like, just below and possibly sightly behind the bridge ( A)( will give more bass without the boom) Or one I like about 8 to 24 inches out from and at or just above the elevation of the upper waist area ( B)



I'll add
#6 Have a good reference recording (Something that you really like and would want your recording to sound like) to listen to periodically while working on your recoding

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by KevWind

#2 6 to 12 inches is a good standard close mic'ing start. Especially in an untreated and or problematic room, can help to reduce unwanted room reflections. But by no means a general rule of thumb, because in a room that is less problematic mic'ing further out say 16 to 36 in. will give a different kind of sound and is purely a matter of subjective preference.

Maybe one way to say this as a "rule of thumb" is - the worse your room acoustics, the closer you need to mic. The better the acoustics, the further away you can get.

#6 Have a good reference recording (Something that you really like and would want your recording to sound like) to listen to periodically while working on your recoding

I'd second that one. I find it useful to actually learn to play a bit of the reference and be able to compare apples to apples. Just a few measures, which has the added benefit that when you're trying to dial in a sound, you don't record a whole tune, then listen. I go for rapid iteration-record 2 measures, listen, move the mics, do it again, etc.

I'd suggest:

#7 record in stereo - it's the norm for solo acoustic guitar, at least. Not everyone will agree, but I think 2 low end mics beats 1 better mic just about every time. Just creates a more spacious, open sound that comes closer to capturing what we hear with our 2 ears.

and maybe

#8 Keep it simple. Sort of related to "record dry", but basically save complex signal chains, using lots of effects, many mics, complicated DAWs and so on for later. Figure out how to get a good sound with a small portable recorder before you try to get complicated.

[Farhad]

I think this threat once it is done and summarized should have an appendix.

"I suppose that's true, compared to, say, recording a synthesizer. Any "real" sound, whether its an acoustic guitar, or a electric guitar thru an amp or an orchestra ends up involving room acoustics and mic placement. Acoustic guitar is probably one of the easier cases, tho, compared to, for example, micing a drum set properly - tho perhaps background noise is a bigger issue for guitar, since it's quiet. I think it's one of those things that seems complicated and daunting until you figure it out, and then you realize it's pretty simple. Sort of like how hard it was, once upon a time to finger that C chord! But, yeah, getting there can take a while.

There's a ton of info out there on how to do it, tho. I don't know if this will help, but I made this video for Acoustic Guitar to accompany an more detailed print article, focused a lot on mic placement and the process of recording an acoustic guitar. Certainly not as in-depth as I'd wish it could have been - this video was very off the cuff, but maybe some basic ideas in there (especially if you check out the article).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNBRCam2YxQ

Here's an Sound-on-Sound article from quite a while back that also goes over some basics:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug0...cacgtr0801.asp

Here's another basic discussion, from Adam Rafferty, specifically about recording for videos. Might also be useful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuzTkxJ2wKk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EhSVOmq1WU

And last, but not least, check out Fran Guidry's homebrewed music site http://www.homebrewedmusic.com, which has lots of great "how to" videos and blog articles on everything from mics to making videos to acoustic treatment.
__________________
Doug Young

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Maybe one way to say this as a "rule of thumb" is - the worse your room acoustics, the closer you need to mic. The better the acoustics, the further away you can get.

#7 record in stereo - it's the norm for solo acoustic guitar, at least. Not everyone will agree, but I think 2 low end mics beats 1 better mic just about every time. Just creates a more spacious, open sound that comes closer to capturing what we hear with our 2 ears.

and maybe

#8 Keep it simple. Sort of related to "record dry", but basically save complex signal chains, using lots of effects, many mics, complicated DAWs and so on for later. Figure out how to get a good sound with a small portable recorder before you try to get complicated.

+1 I would agree with these for sure

And add # 9 Do not expect to get top flight pro engineer results right off the bat, it's a long learning curve and a life long endeavor so learn to "Enjoy the Journey." The people here getting pro quality results have most likely been at it 5 to 10 years minimum.

[rick-slo]

Inches matter, small angles matter. Setup listening through headphones. If in doubt record a half minute
or so and play back - reposition as needed. Different songs, different guitars = different mike setups. Have
the guitar tuned up as best you can for the tune you are playing - avoid beats if possible. Etc...

[MikeBmusic]

If you've got the time to read through 19 pages of posts, this thread has lots of good suggestions for acoustic guitar recording.