Microphone Choices

[jtacoustic]

OK. I have decided NOT to add a pickup to my gigging guitar. Instead, I will approach amplification via a good old fashioned microphone. Imagine that.

I need to get learned on the best choices out there for a live mic and a recording mic. Who know about this? I want a state of the art, high fidelity mic. I assume I will also need an appropriate pre-amp as well.

Thanks,
Mark

[keith.rogers]

Originally Posted by jtacoustic

OK. I have decided NOT to add a pickup to my gigging guitar. Instead, I will approach amplification via a good old fashioned microphone. Imagine that.

I need to get learned on the best choices out there for a live mic and a recording mic. Who know about this? I want a state of the art, high fidelity mic. I assume I will also need an appropriate pre-amp as well.

If you're a solo performer with your own PA (or a band with its own) and it has microphone inputs, they provide the preamp. You need to make sure you have a spare channel with an XLR (jack) input for a microphone.

BUT, the most common reason most acoustic guitarists use (or end up using) a pickup for live performance is that microphone often is problematic and time consuming to set up, and feedback problems can quickly ruin a performance.

What are you plugging into, and what kind of venues are you playing? Solo or band? Loud or quiet music? Etc. All of these things, including the PA system can figure into the choice of microphone.

[guitarman68]

Background:
After many years of gigging with dual source rigs in all my stringed instruments I returned to the old fashioned way: mic on a boom stand. Guitars and Weissenborn still have a pickup which I blend 50/50 with the external mic, mandolin, banjo, dobro, octave mandolin, National steel ... amplified only through the external mic.

Answering your question:
I use the same small condenser mic on stage that I love for studio work, and I could not be happier. So no reason for one-for-recording / one-for-the-stage IMO.

Some aspects that I think are very important:
1. Avoid a mic with exaggerated treble content, go for something with flat response.
2. Some high pass filtering will be necessary to avoid boominess. I set the HPF somewhere at 180 Hz when playing a dreadnought guitar (mic pointing somewhere between neck/body joint and sound hole). Some mics have usable fixed HPF settings, some decent preamps have sweepable HPF which I prefer.
3. Be careful with monitor placement and volume. And again, a flat response monitor helps.

I use a Schoeps MK4 small condenser mic, a Grace Felix preamp and a QSC K8.2 as my personal monitor. That's quite an expensive signal chain, but there is great gear out there for less money.

[YamahaGuy]

3Small diaphragm condenser is my mic of choice to mic up a guitar live.

In my experience, many dynamic mics need to have the gain cranked to get usable levels, which inevitably leads to feedback.

For recording, I like two mics. A large diaphragm condenser panned to one side about 3 feet away from the guitar and the aforementioned small diaphragm condenser about 6" away from the 14th fret panned to the other side.

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

3Small diaphragm condenser is my mic of choice to mic up a guitar live.

In my experience, many dynamic mics need to have the gain cranked to get usable levels, which inevitably leads to feedback.

Re. feedback:

An insensitive mic cranked up is exactly the same as a sensitive mic un-cranked, there is no difference in this regard. Cranking up does not make a mic more vulnerable to feedback if the reason you're cranking it is low output.

Frequency response (inc. off-axis) polar pattern and mic placement are the only considerations (assuming a mic is a realistic proposition in the first place).

[Robin, Wales]

It's the vocal mic' that turns mic'ing an acoustic guitar into a problem on stage.

If you play your acoustic guitar and sing with no p/a at all then the balance is perfect. But as soon as you close mic' your vocals then mic'ing the guitar to get the same balance as the pure acoustic sound is difficult - so folks plug in.

When you listen to someone sing you don't put your ears 6" or less from their mouth - so why place the mic' there?

Same with guitar. You don't have your head a few inches away from the guitar you are listening to - so why try and put the mic' there?

Have a look at all the threads here on playing live with a single stage mic' covering voice and guitar (or even a string band). There are techniques for setting this up so it works, and preferred large diaphragm condenser mic's for doing the job (such as the Ear Trumpet mic's).

My preference is to play a gig without a p/a as the first option, and use a single mic' as the second. Then go for two mic's as the third option if I really have to (usually because open mic's don't have a large diaphragm condenser and don't know how to use one).

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

It's the vocal mic' that turns mic'ing an acoustic guitar into a problem on stage.

If you play your acoustic guitar and sing with no p/a at all then the balance is perfect. But as soon as you close mic' your vocals then mic'ing the guitar to get the same balance as the pure acoustic sound is difficult - so folks plug in.

When you listen to someone sing you don't put your ears 6" or less from their mouth - so why place the mic' there?

Same with guitar. You don't have your head a few inches away from the guitar you are listening to - so why try and put the mic' there?

Have a look at all the threads here on playing live with a single stage mic' covering voice and guitar (or even a string band). There are techniques for setting this up so it works, and preferred large diaphragm condenser mic's for doing the job (such as the Ear Trumpet mic's).

My preference is to play a gig without a p/a as the first option, and use a single mic' as the second. Then go for two mic's as the third option if I really have to (usually because open mic's don't have a large diaphragm condenser and don't know how to use one).

Because that's exactly the distance every live performance or recording mic is placed? If you used that logic to place a microphone then it should be several feet from the singer or guitar. Huh?

[andrus108]

I'm liking a dynamic Sennheiser MD421. It is very articulate and has an inbuilt HPF, 5 stages between full range and tinny.

But I have not used it live yet. So I'll tag along and ask - would it make sense to have the mic'ed sound come from the wedge in front, or would anyone still use the 'behind and away from the guitar body' monitoring?

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by keith.rogers

What are you plugging into, and what kind of venues are you playing? Solo or band? Loud or quiet music? Etc. All of these things, including the PA system can figure into the choice of microphone.

Still require answers to these, otherwise suggestions are a waste of time.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Because that's exactly the distance every live performance or recording mic is placed? If you used that logic to place a microphone then it should be several feet from the singer or guitar. Huh?

Yes, get the vocal mic' further away and you then can mic' the guitar comfortably and get a great acoustic sound.

[jtacoustic]

Originally Posted by shufflebeat

Still require answers to these, otherwise suggestions are a waste of time.

I will be playing solo and occasionally in a duo in small rooms at low to moderate volumes. Guitar and vocals. I don't have a PA yet or a mixer or a pre. Building the whole thing starting with the mic choices.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by jtacoustic

I will be playing solo and occasionally in a duo in small rooms at low to moderate volumes. Guitar and vocals. I don't have a PA yet or a mixer or a pre. Building the whole thing starting with the mic choices.

I'd start with the premise of why bother with a p/a? Your answers to that question will guide you towards the kit you need.

If you can simply stand there and play and sing, then do that. If you need just a little bit of "lift" then single mic' the stage area well behind the speakers.

If you need a little bit more help then go for a vocal mic' (not too close) and an instrument mic'.

If you want more then go for a close vocal mic' and plug in the guitar.

I have to say that I have been to 5000 seat venues where the act has used a single stage mic' and sounded fantastic. And some small rooms where the act has plugged in and sounded awful.

And many small venues (up to 100 seat) where no p/a was used at all, and the acts were wonderful.

[Joe Beamish]

Interesting topic. I find there is such a dramatic difference between using a mic on your voice, and none at all. The whole approach to singing is very different.

To put it differently, there’s a reason bluegrass singers sound the way they do.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by Joe Beamish

Interesting topic. I find there is such a dramatic difference between using a mic on your voice, and none at all. The whole approach to singing is very different.

To put it differently, there’s a reason bluegrass singers sound the way they do.

That's a good point Joe. I'll admit that I'm not particularly practised on using an SM58 close mic'd. But I am used to using a Rode NT1a and other large diaphragm condenser mic's for single mic' stages. So I expect that I certainly show some bias as I think that I sing better when not close mic'd. And that's from my days in a bluegrass band.

At open mic's, I'm always back a bit from an SM58 compared to many other people. But I can then get away with mic'ing my guitar and not plugging in. But I sort of have to be bold enough to be a little quieter than other acts.

[L20A]

I have been playing in bands for over 40 years.
Many times, we provide our own sound system. Other times we use wither
house sound or pro sound.

In almost every case, the good old SM 57 and SM 58 mics are used.
They are tried and true and my preference.

The vocal mic is used at close proximity and the guitar mic is located about 12" from the guitar and placed where the neck meets the body of the guitar.
This set up has worked very well for my 6 piece Folk/Grass Band for years.

Now PA selection is a whole other can of worms.