Tips & Techniques:Acc Gtr - Vocal separation

To get good separation when tracking a live acoustic guitar/vocal performance, you can use two figure-8 mics. Position the vocal mic so that the performer is singing into it at a slightly upward angle, and the bottom of the mic (the bottom null of the figure 8 pattern) is pointing at the guitar. Position the guitar mic slightly above and in front of the guitar angled down towards the strings, with the top of the mic (the top null point) facing the singer's mouth.

The mics will form an L with the singer facing towards the left vertical line and the guitar below the bottom horizontal line.

This technique works best with ribbon mics, as they yield much less off axis coloration than a condenser mic . This gives you a bit more freedom in positioning the mics for best separation without adversely effecting tone.

[Joe Porto]

Hey Jules,

I failed to mention what may be the most important part, at least regarding the off axis response, in that I use this technique with a couple AEA R84 ribbons mics, which have very little off axis coloration. Using standard condensers would bring off axis response into the equation, and so would bring a lot of tonal variables as well. I will edit the post.

thanks!

[thedoner]

I'm doing an CD with an artist who insists on recording GTR & Vox simultaneously at the end of Feb. I just ordered a Cascade L2 stereo mic, and I'm looking forward to try it using this technique. I'll post the results when I've got em.
-G

[SANDS]

Is there any pics you know of so I can see a visual of this?

[Fran Guidry]

I did a post for my Homebrewed Music blog illustrating this technique:

Homebrewed Music − Vocal - Guitar Separation with Figure 8 Mics

Fran

[dogslayeggs]

Thanks for the suggestions. I gotta try this now.