Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - Advice on real good, real simple mic technique

2k2k · 29th August 2009

Hi there, have been lurking a while and spent most of the day reading these boards, searching, pining, fantasizing ... enuff !

Here's the Q: I need to record myself - a one man show at the moment, no extra hands available - playing a classical nylon guitar. This isn't a classical gig though, it's just my instrument of choice for writing - my music is way more jazzy/bossanova pop song-based than the instrument would imply - and I need to start making decent recordings that sound good enough for now and perhaps even for later. Later, there will be other instruments (percussion, a 2nd guitar, maybe sax) so this is really not pristine church-recorded solo guitar territory.

So what do I got? So far, Logic Studio 8, an Apogee Duet and a MacBook Pro 17" monitoring thru the smaller active Mackie's (624's?) and a comfortable quiet purpose-built room built in the 'right' proportions... but I don't as yet know how it really sounds.

Basically, the next thing for me is mics, but given that I know little really about mic placement and as mentioned, there's just me to hear the sweet spots in the room... as well as play and move mics around... as well as setting levels, hitting record and making tea, I'm a little lost about which mics to buy and how to achieve what I want !!

There was a great thread earlier this month "410124-quiet-acoustic-guitar-mic-advice" that had me very excited about the CAD M179 due to it's quality and the Fo8 option to do MS recording with maybe a MC930... or an SM81... or maybe a 4021... and then I remember: be realistic. But when I start thinking 'be realistic' and just get a matched pair of 930's or NT5's, I think why buy 2 of the same microphone instead of getting more sonic options ?

So, tender slutz I ask you to sort me out: The musician in me just wants to plug directly into the portastudio and be done with it. The budding engineer wants it to sound bloody sparklingly brilliant, no matter what the cost in lost inspiration time. And somewhere between the two positions I have to record fast and efficiently and find a combination of mics, position/mounting, chair and placement that can easily be replicated. I think I can spend up to 500€/700$ for this next step. Oh, and I have an Aunt coming over from the States to Europe in the next few weeks, willing to bring electronics with her...

I know this is a hard ask, but bring it on folks !

Cheers,

2k2k

29th August 2009	#1
2k2k Gear Head Joined: Aug 2009 Location: Corbières-Minervois, France Posts: 37 Thread Starter	Advice on real good, real simple mic technique Hi there, have been lurking a while and spent most of the day reading these boards, searching, pining, fantasizing ... enuff ! Here's the Q: I need to record myself - a one man show at the moment, no extra hands available - playing a classical nylon guitar. This isn't a classical gig though, it's just my instrument of choice for writing - my music is way more jazzy/bossanova pop song-based than the instrument would imply - and I need to start making decent recordings that sound good enough for now and perhaps even for later. Later, there will be other instruments (percussion, a 2nd guitar, maybe sax) so this is really not pristine church-recorded solo guitar territory. So what do I got? So far, Logic Studio 8, an Apogee Duet and a MacBook Pro 17" monitoring thru the smaller active Mackie's (624's?) and a comfortable quiet purpose-built room built in the 'right' proportions... but I don't as yet know how it really sounds. Basically, the next thing for me is mics, but given that I know little really about mic placement and as mentioned, there's just me to hear the sweet spots in the room... as well as play and move mics around... as well as setting levels, hitting record and making tea, I'm a little lost about which mics to buy and how to achieve what I want !! There was a great thread earlier this month "410124-quiet-acoustic-guitar-mic-advice" that had me very excited about the CAD M179 due to it's quality and the Fo8 option to do MS recording with maybe a MC930... or an SM81... or maybe a 4021... and then I remember: be realistic. But when I start thinking 'be realistic' and just get a matched pair of 930's or NT5's, I think why buy 2 of the same microphone instead of getting more sonic options ? So, tender slutz I ask you to sort me out: The musician in me just wants to plug directly into the portastudio and be done with it. The budding engineer wants it to sound bloody sparklingly brilliant, no matter what the cost in lost inspiration time. And somewhere between the two positions I have to record fast and efficiently and find a combination of mics, position/mounting, chair and placement that can easily be replicated. I think I can spend up to 500€/700$ for this next step. Oh, and I have an Aunt coming over from the States to Europe in the next few weeks, willing to bring electronics with her... I know this is a hard ask, but bring it on folks ! Cheers, 2k2k