What ac gtr/mandolin mic technique is this? (Abbey Rd., Alison Krauss)

[PheelTheMusic]

This technique keeps popping up in different places and it's something I've never used so I thought some slutz might be able to shed some light on this for me.

On many of the Live from Abbey Road series performances the acoustic guitar is mic'ed with two SDCs, on pointing up and one pointing down; both aiming towards the 12th fret area.

The same style is used on all of the acoustic guitars and mandolins on Alison Krauss' A Hundred Miles or More DVD. Screenshots are attached below.

Would there be any phase issues with this technique? Does one mic have to be polarity reversed? Have any of you used this technique successfully?

I'm of course going to try it for myself but I thought we might all benefit from sharing some experiences!

[Stenkjaer]

Not sure what the technique is called, but this interview covers it to some extent:
Mix magazine May special Nashville issue feature article on professional audio bluegrass music acoustic recording acoustic instruments in bluegrass music recording studios

[jeep]

i just tried this stereo micing technique on acoustic and i'm in love!
first i tried 2 x 451 EBs but there was some body lacking. i then tried a 451 up top and a U87 down the bottom and wow. you should try it out
there were some phase issues but nothing drastic; just move the acoustic around and measure the mics so they're the same distance from the neck

thank you abbey road.
thank you pheelthemusic!

[Musiclab]

On the acoustic guitar unless I'm going blind those mics don't look like they're going to the 12th fret, they look closer to the hole, or I need new glasses

[jeep]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

On the acoustic guitar unless I'm going blind those mics don't look like they're going to the 12th fret, they look closer to the hole, or I need new glasses

this appears to be correct
in my short time of experimentation i found that somewhere between the 12th fret and the hole worked.
how close to the hole/12th fret would be relevant to what mics/instrument you are using..

oh and i panned them hard L and R.

[Dan Kennedy]

This is a variation on the technique George Massenburg talked about when he did the Lyle Lovett album "Joshua, Judges, Ruth".

He used a C24 stereo mic in a horizontal position if I recall correctly, and panned the vertical stereo to left and right.

[tguy]

Using this technique, do you have the bottom mic out of phase or in phase?

[Mikeren]

Originally Posted by tguy

Using this technique, do you have the bottom mic out of phase or in phase?

In phase.

[Musiclab]

If you were to use a stereo bar phase probably wouldn't be much of an issue.

[PheelTheMusic]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

On the acoustic guitar unless I'm going blind those mics don't look like they're going to the 12th fret, they look closer to the hole, or I need new glasses

Yeah, on the guitar in that screen grab the mics are definitely centered more towards the soundhole area than 12th fret. It has however been placed by the 12th fret on the Abbey Road series.

[PheelTheMusic]

Originally Posted by Stenkjaer

Not sure what the technique is called, but this interview covers it to some extent:
Mix magazine May special Nashville issue feature article on professional audio bluegrass music acoustic recording acoustic instruments in bluegrass music recording studios

Thanks for the link!!! Paczosa engineered this Alison Krauss DVD.

[robnold]

Hi to all, After reading this thread I just had to purchase the Alison Krauss' dvd "A hundred miles or more". Thanks to Pheelthemusic for mentioning that this dvd was engineered by Gary Paczosa--I have been a fan of his work for quite some time and I had no idea that this video was available. What a nicely done dvd!! I am curious if anyone can identify the black bodied sdc's used on Dan Tyminski's mandolin in the first thumbnail at the beginning of this thread? I am aware that Gary Paczosa likes to use Neumann KM-54's for many applications. These mics look a bit like KM-54's, but I've never seen ones with black bodies. Anyone know what they are? Thanks in advance. Rob

[jeffsochor]

Gefell 582s.

[Musiclab]

I've been doing a version of this technique with a stereo bar and liking it a lot.
Phase is good tone is good and it's a nice stereo picture.

[rjacobsen]

Interesting mic technique, thanks for reviving the thread robnold. Great article Stenkjaer, thanks for sharing!

rjacobsen