Acoustic guitars are among the most satisfying

instruments to record and the techniques used can be
applied successfully to other stringed instruments such
as banjo, mandolin and fiddle. If you’re a newcomer to
recording, then once you’ve mastered a few basic
techniques you’ll soon be making superb recordings.
Don’t let a lack of high-quality kit put you off – you’ve
already got a pair of ultra-high grade audio bio-transducers
that are the product of millions of years of development.
Put another way, let your ears be your guide, and
remember that if it sounds good then it is good! And
experiment; if it works, then use it – if not, then try
something else. Even a poor instrument recorded with a
budget microphone can sound great if the recording is
positioned sympathetically in the mix. For example, you
could add sparkle and interest to your song by dropping
your acoustic rhythm guitar part back in the mix so that
it sits with other instruments rich in high frequencies
such as hi-hats, rides, cabaça and tambourine.

A large part of recording acoustic guitars is

experimentation. Try out different types of mic and

I

t’s easy to understand the recent return to popularity
of the acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitars are musically
very versatile, being able to produce a variety of types

of musical expression from harmonically modulating
percussive rhythm parts to poignant gentle melody lines.
The rhythmic qualities of the acoustic guitar along with
its wide timbral and dynamic ranges make it both a
capable ensemble instrument and an ideal vocal
accompaniment. Add to this its portability and the fact
that it’s relatively easy to play, and it becomes clear why
it’s also such a widely used song-writing tool.

There has never been a better time to set yourself

up for recording acoustic guitars than the present;
low-cost digital audio recorders and amazingly cheap,
large-diaphragm condenser mics provide the means to
create high-quality recordings on a low budget. Also, as
acoustic guitars are relatively lo-tech instruments and
simple to manufacture, they are inexpensive to buy. A
reasonable quality instrument that will produce good
results in the studio needn’t cost you any more than
about £200.

Guitar Tech

Recording

acoustic

guitar

Capturing the rich timbral range and subtle dynamics that characterise a great
recorded acoustic guitar sound needn’t be difficult, says Janet Cook, if you
have the right approach and are willing to practise and experiment.

October 2003 MUSIC TECH magazine

METHOD

RECORDING ACOUSTIC GUITAR

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52

BIOGRAPHY

The author

Janet Cook is a widely
published music
technology writer.
Although a pioneer of
PC audio recording,
career pressures have
led to her becoming a
regular Mac user. She
is a keen composer
and music producer
with numerous TV, radio
and video score credits.

▲

MTM07.Method Accoustic 3/9/03 1:12 PM Page 1

MTM07.Method Accoustic 3/9/03 1:12 PM Page 2

listen to the way the sound that they capture changes
when you alter their position in the room relative to the
instrument. Listen past the instrument and reposition
your mic until you find the sweet spot. This is the
position where the sound made by the acoustic guitar
best complements the ambient signature of the
recording room – ie. its natural reverb.

Stereo mic’ing often

brings little advantage
and has several
drawbacks. If you record
in stereo, you run an
increased chance of
encountering phase
problems if your mics are not perfectly matched and
correctly positioned. Working in mono also halves track
consumption and file size, and mono tracks are easier
and quicker to edit and process. If you need a stereo
recording, excellent results can be achieved and a sense
of space created by adding reverb to a mono acoustic
guitar track at mixdown.

Choosing mics and pickups

Because the acoustic guitar has a wide frequency range
and is capable of wide dynamics, to record it accurately
you need a mic with high sensitivity to volume differences
(dynamics) and that can capture the instrument’s upper
frequency registers in detail. Large-diaphragm condensers
fit the bill admirably, and are preferred for the job by
most engineers. They vary in price from around £60
for Chinese-manufactured budget models – such as the
Superlux CM-8HA and the Samson CO1 – to over
£1,800 for classic thoroughbreds such as the industry-
standard Neumann U

87Ai and its stablemate the U89i.

Small-diaphragm condenser mics can also produce

good results; the Audio Technica AT

4041 (around £300)

or the low-cost SE Electronics SE

1 (£69) can both be

safely recommended. Dynamic mics suit louder playing
styles, but their low sensitivity makes them unsuitable
for quieter playing. That said, the ubiquitous Shure
SM

57 can produce acceptable results, although it

usually benefits from a touch of EQ from the desk.
Another type of mic that should be considered is the

boundary mic. These are also called ‘PZM’ or
‘back-electret capacitors’ – a good and cost-effective
example is the Proline PZM Boundary, which should
set you back less than £50.

The way your mic responds to sounds depends on

its polar response pickup pattern. This determines the
extent to which the mic rejects off-axis sounds. Most mics
have a single fixed polar pattern – usually cardioid – but
others feature multiple selectable patterns. Cardioid mics
are highly directional and minimise room ambience to
produce an intimate sound. Cardioid mics are suitable
for close-mic’ing acoustic guitars. Omni-directional mics
pick up sound equally from all angles and deliver an
open natural sound with a high component of room
ambience. In conjunction with a good-sounding room,
an omni-directional mic is ideal for recording acoustic
guitar. Figure-of-8 pattern mics pick up sound equally
from the front or back, but reject sounds from the side.
This can be useful if you’re recording two guitarists or a
singer/guitarist from a single mic.

Piezo pickups are commonly found built-in to the

bridge or body of acoustic guitars. Budget piezo pickups

METHOD

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October 2003 MUSIC TECH magazine

Guitar Tech

Single mic directed at the junction
of the neck and body

This simple method produces a full sound with a
good balance of bridge, sound hole and neck tones.
The mic should be positioned at a distance of
300–400mm from the instrument to record chordal
playing. Very close positioning (less than 250mm)
will produce a deep, rich and punchy sound that’s
excellent for solo playing, flat-picked blues and
finger-picking techniques.

>

Single mic directed at the bridge
This arrangement produces a bright, tight and

metallic sound that suits most playing styles. Small
changes in distance between the mic and the
guitar produce distinctly different timbres.
Experiment until you find the guitar’s sweet spot by
listening out not only for differences in the sound
that the mic picks up, but also in the sounds that
are rejected. Carry on tweaking the position and
the angle of the mic until you get the most suitable
rejection pattern.

>

▲

Mic’ing up

You’ll get a different recorded
sound depending on which part
of the guitar you mic up. Here
are a few of your options…

Before we look at specific situations, there are a
few general points that are worth knowing. The
distance between the microphone and the guitar
is an important factor in determining the character
of the recorded sound. The most frequently used
mic placements are between 0.4 and 1 metres
from the guitar. A more intimate, fuller sound is
produced by closer positioning, where the mic
is placed 250–400mm from the instrument.
Ambient (or room) mics are usually positioned
at a distance of 2 metres or more.

It makes sense to record each mic to its
own track because this gives you greater
freedom to sculpt the sound at mixdown.

MTM07.Method Accoustic 3/9/03 1:12 PM Page 3

are most useful as a tuning aid and their thin, brittle
tone is suitable only for the most rudimentary recording
tasks. Better-quality piezos can be used for recording,
although they nearly always need EQ adjustments to
roll off excess treble. This is best done at source, using
the guitar’s onboard EQ where possible. As only the
most expensive piezo pickups come close to producing
a sound comparable to that of a decent mic, they are
usually recorded and layered with a mic that provides
the warm, low-register tones that are outside the range
of the piezo pickup.

Using multi-mic setups

Although it’s surprising how good a single, well-placed
mic can sound on an acoustic guitar, it’s common
practice to record with two or more mics and sum them
to mono at the desk. What we refer to as the sound of
an acoustic guitar comprises a complex set of tones that
emanate from different parts of the instrument’s neck,
body and strings. A more lifelike sound can be captured
if these individual timbral hot spots are targeted with
separate mics rather than by using a single mic.

Most multiple-mic arrangements augment the basic

mic setups with a combination of mics placed in close
and ambient positions (see the Mic’ing Up box above).
Close mics should be positioned

250–400mm away;

ambient mics are positioned

3m or more away from the

player. The sound captured by ambient mics contains a
high proportion of room reflection and can be used to
enhance the sense of ‘liveness’ when mixed with the
more defined sound produced by your close mics. If
you have a mixer, try using the channel Phase Reverse
switch on each mic in turn; this technique can produce
startling results by thinning out and clarifying the
sound. It also makes sense to record each mic to its
own track, even if you intend ultimately to mix to

mono. Recording this way gives you greater freedom to
sculpt the sound at mixdown because you can process
and rebalance each track independently.

Using effects

The question of whether to apply effects and processing
while laying down tracks is a controversial one, and

VALVE WARMTH

Preamps and
recording
channels

If you want to add the
warm, harmonically rich
and subtle sound
quality that
characterises valve
mics, then great results
can be achieved by
using a valve preamp.
The affordable dbx
Mini-Pre preamp (£90,
Digital Village
020 8440 3440,
www.dbxpro.com)
works well with
acoustic guitars and
includes a 12AX7 tube
stage, variable gain,
48V power, -20dB pad
and phase reverse.

If you have a

low-spec mixer (or no
mixer at all), it’s worth
considering acquiring a
channel module such
as the Focusrite
Platinum Trak Master
(£229, Focusrite
01494 462246,
www.focusrite.com).
This unit provides a
phantom-powered,
high-quality mic preamp
input and EQ. Also
included is an opto-
compressor that sounds
particularly sweet on
acoustic guitar.

October 2003 MUSIC TECH magazine

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55

▲

Close-mic’ing the fretboard
This produces a thinner, more percussive

sound with emphasised string and fret noise.
Whereas it’s standard practice to face the mic
directly towards the guitar, you can also produce
variations to the timbre of the recorded sound by
deliberately positioning the mic off-axis to the
instrument. The sound that you get is softer in tone
and less aggressive, and it becomes progressively
less focussed the more off-axis the guitar becomes.

>

Recording small instruments
If you’re recording a small acoustic guitar

(such as the Martin Traveller pictured here) close-
mic’ing the sound hole (250–300mm away) often
produces the best results. Because of the limited
capacity of the sound box, they’re less resonant and
produce little bass or lower-mid frequency content.
This technique only works well with small instruments
and mic’ing the sound hole on a standard acoustic
guitar should be avoided because it can produce
an unpleasant over-full, diffused and boomy sound.

>

Recording with two microphones
In this example, an on-body contact mic and

a large-diaphragm cardioid condenser mic are used
together to produce a bright, full tone with a good
percussive snap that will work well for multi-track
rhythm parts. This arrangement of mics can be
varied by replacing the contact mic with the
guitar’s piezo pickup or with a dynamic mic such
as a Shure SM57 directed at the bridge.

>

FENDER ACOUSTASONIC 30 ACOUSTIC GUITAR AMPLIFIER
This little amp is designed specifically for acoustic guitarists and
is designed for both the studio and live work. The Acoustasonic
provides 30 watts RMS per channel (stereo) into a
wedge-shaped cab loaded with an eight-inch speaker and a
high-frequency horn. It features onboard chorus, reverb, 3-band
tone control, dedicated and mic piezo inputs, feedback-prevention
circuitry and Fender’s String Dynamics control that claims to give
‘a bright tone without the harshness of pick transients’.

FENDER ACOUSTASONIC

Typical Price £280

Contact Arbiter Group 020 8970 1909

Web www.fender.co.uk

MTM07.Method Accoustic 3/9/03 1:13 PM Page 4

ultimately a matter of personal taste. But working on
the principal that it’s far easier to add effects later than
it is to remove them, it’s best to use minimal amounts
of effects and EQ during recording unless they’re an
integral part of the desired acoustic guitar sound.
Excessive reverb on a busy track will swamp rhythmic
subtleties; too much compression will make your track
sound flat and dull; overuse of mid-range EQ will make
the sound glassy and adversely affect the sound of other
elements rich in mid-range frequencies, such as vocals.

That said, adding a touch of compression during

recording can help a rhythm guitar part sit better in the
mix. But it isn’t advisable to use gating during
recording – if it’s not right, the recording will probably
be beyond repair and you’ll have to redo the take. If this
occurs on your own work, it’s inconvenient; if you’re
recording the part for a client, repeating the session
could prove rather costly!

If you’re recording with effects and have spare track

capacity, one safeguard is to record the dry signal to a
spare track at the same time that you record the effected
signal. If the guitarist is unable to perform without
effects, you could alternatively record dry and add a
touch of reverb or chorus to the cans mix. These
settings can then be used as a starting point when you
come to processing the recording at mixdown.

Arranging your part

The acoustic guitar parts you record should reflect the
style of the musical piece in which they are used. A
busy, syncopated accompaniment or lead line will rarely
sit well in a gentle, flowing song; nor will a lyrical
finger-picking style suit a full-on, take-no-prisoners

punk rock effort. Linking your rhythm or melody
part stylistically to the other instrument parts makes
the song as a whole more cohesive. For example, if
there is a hi-hat part in eights, try playing your
acoustic guitar in rhythmic patterns based around
eights. But the most important thing is to keep the
overdubbed acoustic guitar parts simple, otherwise
you run the risk of cluttering the track and filling
space in the mix that musically could be better used
by other instruments.

Double-tracking acoustic guitars can be a very

effective method of fattening the rhythm part, and two
guitars recorded in mono can sound great with one
panned to the left and the other to the right. Variety and
contrast will also be added to the song if the second
guitar part utilises different chord inversions and
playing techniques, and of course you can change the
type of mics that you use or alter their positions and
polar response settings. Alternatively, you could deploy
another acoustic guitar that has a complementary tone,
or even create an emulated acoustic guitar part on your
Mac or PC sequencer using Steinberg’s wonderful
Virtual Guitarist VST instrument software. OK – this
may seem like cheating, but if it delivers the goods,
then who cares!

If the basic sound of your first acoustic guitar track

is satisfactory then the overdubbed track need not be full
frequency; a thinner sound on the overdubbed guitar
recorded from its piezo pickup or from a contact mic
may sit better in the mix. Neither does the second acoustic
guitar line need to be continuous; the part might sound
better if you bring it in and out of the mix, just as you
would if you were arranging backing vocal parts.

MTM

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October 2003 MUSIC TECH magazine

SUPERLUX
CM-H8A

This large-diaphragm
cardioid condenser
mic is one of the many
similar Chinese-made,
low-budget mics
available. While the
CM-H8A may lack
the sensitivity, tonal
subtlety and multi-polar
patterns of more
expensive mics, it is
nonetheless a capable
and versatile studio
recording mic that’s well
suited to recording
acoustic guitar.

>

Mics and pickups

Here are three classic mic/pickup
options for recording acoustic guitar.

Guitar Tech

AKG C411 PP MICRO-MIC
A great-sounding, low-feedback

condenser mic that captures the vibrations
from the instrument’s soundboard or bridge
saddle. It features a wider frequency range
than conventional piezo pickups. Useful for all
acoustic instruments, including piano.

>

>

▲

Typical price £80

Contact SCV London
020 8418 0778

Web www.superlux.us

Typical price £100

Contact Arbiter Group
020 8970 1909

Web www.akg.com

Typical price £1,800

Contact Sennheiser
01494 551551

Web www.neumannusa.com

NEUMANN U89i
A condenser mic

with twin LF rolloff
filters and -6dB pad. Its
dual, large-diaphragm
capsule and extended
frequency response gives
a slightly different
timbre to its illustrious
sibling the Neumann
U87Ai. The U89i has five
polar patterns omni,
wide-angle cardioid,
cardioid, hyper-cardioid
and figure-of-8. Both the
U87Ai and U89i are
superb for recording
acoustic guitar.

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