Quote:
Originally Posted by JJJ
I'll soon be recording an acoustic guitarist/singer.
I'm looking for some pointers on recording the guitar such as
mic placement, eq, compression, reverb etc.
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Vocal: use the SM57 and a good pop filter, at about 4-6" from the singer (mic diaphragm 4-6" away, pop filter in the middle). Track this through a hardware compressor (if you have one!). Mic-pre-comp-computer. I'd set the tracking compressor to about 6-12dB of compression or about 2:1-4:1 ratio for a vocalist like this. You can add track compression later to dial it in. Try to get the comp to sound very natural and transparent (fast attack, long release, etc.) and don't compress too much on tracking because you can't take it off later!
Guitar: Depending on which cheap LDC you have, and how it sounds compared to the guitar, you may have to experiment. Given your mic selection I think I'd put an SM57 about 10-12" away pointed at the 14th fret. You can try your LDC in that same position. Otherwise if you can run more than two mics total at one time, then I would tend to multi-mic the guitar and maybe put the SM57 at the 14th fret as above, and put the LDC over to the right of the player beyond the lower bout aimed at the bridge about 2 feet away. That right side ambient will pick up a lot of the vocal if you track vocal and guitar at the same time. Don't print any effects on these tracks, cut them dry.
FWIW if you want to hear a little bit of an acoustic guitar with an SM57 sounds like then listen to "Sunset Sky" on my myspace page:
http://myspace.com/krashjones
The other songs on there had acoustic guitars multi-mic'd with different condensers. Forgive the low-bandwidth recording.
I'm not a big fan of lots of reverb so I'd put a hint of reverb using something like Freeverb 2 or maybe ReaVerb with a good impulse on a send and mix in a little bit of it, just a little. You will need a track compressor for the vocals and I'd suggest Blockfish, tune to taste. I almost never use EQ but ReaEQ sounds ok to me. You can get a little bit of stereo image by using your two guitar mics panning the ambient LDC to the left, and pan the front mic to the right a little bit, then just mix them until the guitar sounds natural and still centered in the image. Then once your mix is perfecto then you can kind of a poor man's mastering job using a combo of Kjearus "Classic Mastering Limiter" and Endorphin (both free). Getting that right will take lots of practice and good ears. ReaEQ can also be helpful here
good luck-