Using Mid/Side for amplified acoustic guitar live recording

[AdamJay]

Has anyone ever used mid/side mic'ing of an acoustic guitar amplifier in a live setting?

Here's my scenario, Acoustic Guitar + Female Vocalist in a medium/small sized lounge room with good spanish tile floor and a nice "liveliness" to it. I'm thinking of ways to both improve a stereo image of what is effectively just a duet and only 2 sources to work with, and also pick up some of the live ambience of the room. I don't have room to set up ORTF or a room mic, i'll only be dealing with the vocalist's beta 58 and the guitarist's amp.

Any experience with this? tips? hazards?

I figure if i make sure to find the sweet spot with the Mid mic, that if i am not pleased with the result of the side mic i can just scrap that channel when i mix.

[boojum]

If you scrap the side channel you will have no stereo. In converting to a "normal" two channel track the mid and side are needed. Their ratio can be easily varied in the mix with VoxenGos's MS plugin. I recommend it.

I use MS a lot in a situation with a live act when I do not have time to set up a regular rig and can not use an obtrusive mic setup. The nice part of MS is that it is quick, easy, able to be varied in the post and has a good mono for playback on a mono player. The downside is the stereo image may not be the sharpest.

It will work in your app. If it is the most practical go with it without fear. Sweet spot? We always look for that.

Good luck.

[AdamJay]

cheers, yea i just figured that if the side mic doesnt work out (as i'll be using a Ribbon with rather 'noisey at high gain' Metric Halo 2882 pre's) then i won't totally be out of luck. i'll still have the two direct mics.

Hopefully the levels out of the amp are good enough that i don't need a ton of gain but we'll see. my ribbon has been modified with a transformer so doesn't need as much gain as others. If the levels are real hot i may use my M160 ribbon (windscreened) as the mid mic too. I'm just going to have to make that decision on the fly...