When it comes to acoustic guitar, sometimes the more mics the better. Although, each of the recordings has its place and its own beauty depending on the desired effect. The AMPL recording was recorded in Katzen Recital Hall, and similar to the vocal recordings I captured in that space, there is reverb present on the tracks. However, the subtle reverb captured by the FLEA 48 is gorgeous, and just what the classical guitar needed to make it sound larger than life. In contrast to that space, the spaced pair of Neumann U47s (pretty much the same mic as the Flea 48) is completely dry and could be worked into an artificial space with a more complicated mix. The stereo width is bigger, but surprisingly, the directness of the sound makes it feel smaller than the classical guitar. The illusion would be remedied quickly with a little reverb or delay. Another sonic attribute to note is the heavier bass frequencies on the left and higher frequencies on the right. Since the mics were spaced about three feet apart, the mix of the two microphones sounds uneven especially when monitoring in headphones.
The folk guitar recordings have this same issue, but since I used four microphones (two matching pairs) the unevenness is smoothed out a bit. In my final mixes, I corrected the issue but cut the lows on the left a few decibels. Also, by recording with two pairs of microphones, I had the option of flipping one of the pairs, so the sound balanced out even better with the highs of the KM84 on the left along with the lows of the C-414-EB and the reversion on the right channel. To avoid phasing issues with that many microphones, I used Waves’ InPhase plugin to fine tune the time the sound reached each microphone. So in this case, the Fathead approach worked better than anticipated with four mics creating the most sonically rich and fattest-head recording. Of course, each recording is satisfying, but for all intents and purposes, four mics have the most potential.
Acoustic Guitar Recording 1: AMPL March 23rd 2016
Microphones and Positions: Flea 48 standard position close miced by 12th fret
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Acoustic Guitar Recording 2: Earl Cutter at Bias Studios July 7th 2015
Microphones and Positions: Spaced pair of Neumann U47 microphones
Acoustic Guitar Recording 3: Folk Guitar tracked in Kreeger Studios
Microphones and Positions: Spaced pair of Neumann KM84s and a spaced pair of AKG C-414-EBs
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