Acoustic Guitar Micing, Pt. 1

Starting a new series today on how to mic acoustic guitar!

Begin by listening to the individual instrument that you’re recording-if you want a dark sound and your instrument sounds bright, no amount of mic technique can change that.

In this case, change out your guitar strings, pick, etc, or switch instruments, and this will all be much easier!

The first question to ask: how does your individual guitar naturally sound, and how does that align with the musical idea you’re trying to record?

Using different mic designs to achieve different tones in your acoustic guitar

Next question: how can you use different mic designs to achieve the specific sound you’re looking for?

Dynamic mics can sound warmer and smoother, and their sensitivity falls off rapidly with distance. This means they don’t pick up as much background noise, making it easier to record in a noisy or small space.

Condenser mics can sound more detailed and precise, and can capture a lot of nuance when used correctly. They can also capture a lot of noise when used incorrectly, or in the wrong setting.

Ribbon mics can sound especially warm and smooth, with lovely natural detail. More difficult to use, and more expensive.

If you’re using multiple mics, you can combine these different characteristics to get the best of both worlds.

Wondering about the difference between a dynamic mic and a condenser mic? Got you covered-here’s a list of articles on mic design.

The importance of acoustics in your recording space

No amount of microphone technique can fully make up for a poor sounding acoustic space.

If your room doesn’t sound so good, your best option is to go for a pretty dry recording and add better quality artificial reverb later.

The way to do this is to use acoustic baffles set up around the active recording area, and make em nice and thick! Anywhere from 4-24 inches thick, generally speaking the thicker the better. Baffles will do a ton to control noise and bleed issues in your recordings.

You can reference the full series on acoustic guitar micing, for additional techniques that are useful for capturing this instrument.

Stay tuned for more! And don’t forget to support us on Patreon!