Panning: unfortunately I forgot to discuss this in the video. The two microphones are never panned to the exact same place in my productions. But they are sometimes panned very close together, and often very far apart, even hard left, hard right. This narrow XY technique I feel gives me more flexibility as it allows me to pan and the two microphones closer together while still sounding fantastic. Hope this video helped you!
Yeah, a lot of times I pan to a place. If I want it to sit at 10 o'clock I put one hard left and one at 11:30 or wherever the edges would be. I really like your channel.
Hey. Here's a hypothetical.... Say, you have a song where the first verse and chorus are just acous and vocals, and the full band kicks in at 2nd verse, and the acous doesn't need to be as full for the rest of the song, would you mute the large diaphragm and leave the small one? just a thought i had watching this vid.
@@petedemaggio I would not do that. The different mics in one of these setups are aimed at different areas and have a different sound. If you were to go to one mic for that part you'd have to deal with panning it differently. I guess with digital you can write that out and should work. I'd change pan and eq if doing that. Knowing me I'd probably just add another track and mute the first one. Maybe. Just try it an see. Colt may have a much better answe
With your two mic setups as shown here, do you typically record each mic in monoral, each with its own preamp, or as a pair in a stereo track? I ask because I've only recently started recording my guitar amp with two mics (SM-57 and a brand new Royer 121, using the Royer Axe-Mount). Noting that a cab speaker is effectively a single sound source, I'm finding myself sort of torn these days about whether to record tracks (in Luna) with the two inputs linked for a stereo track, versus each mic into its own Apollo preamp (Neve 1084 plugin), for more individual controllability on the input and the recording chain. The Axe-Mount certainly simplifies or eliminates phase problems and eliminates the mechanics challenges of mounting two mics on the same source, but I'm left wondering what the "norm" is for most sound engineers with regard to the choice of monoral vs stereo recording on single source sound. Thanks!
2 suggestions for the next video: - mixing tips (e.g. panning of the 2 microphones in this video etc) - advice on how to record when the guitarist sings too (having less voice possibile in the guitar mics and viceversa)
This is a great explanation, very simple and straightforward logic. Funny thing, cause the guitar is on your chest while speaking there is an extra resonance your mic was picking up. I had to double-check my desk mic wasn't engaged and I was hearing a slight feedback cause it was bugging me until I realized what it was :P
I have to agree that placement in the room can change things the most. I have searched for the best spot in my room for some time now, funny that I discovered that my original placement was it other than I had to turn 180 degrees...game changer for me.🌮☕🌮☕
wtf the detail you included was freaking awesome dude! I have been at it for 30 years and was just looking for a less elaborate technique. Love yours! Going with my KM184s and SOLIDTUBE (covering all 4 techniques on 3 tracks) so I can change sound of guitar depending on how far production goes. Working with a older Taylor 514 (A David Gilmour Fav) with Espression System upgrade and a Gibson Everly Bros guitar with a some kind of nice Fishman pickup (owned by Coral Reefers Band and lived on Jimmy’s tour bus decades)
Awesome Channel i came across today ❤️. Very informative. I wonder where this beautiful channel was hiding since so long , I couldn’t find it until today😁. Luckily found it today and subscribed ❤️🙏
Great tutorial on mic placement. I've found that the choice of instrument, the players skill level and knowing the material to be recorded are also HUGE factors in the quality of the recording. Mic placement has always been a problem for me and your video gave me a few more technics to try. Bravo !
Very cool video and you make some great points, especially for the singer/songwriters getting into this stuff! Over the years I moved away from stereo mic'g acoustic guitars (especially in dense arrangements) and prefer to double. One thing I'd like to add re phase is even though eyeballing the mics often gets you very close for people getting into this I'd suggest that they first record a pass and then go to their wave forms and really blow them up. This will quickly tell you what mic may be closer/further to the source and adjust one mic to line them up better. Really poor phase issues are very easy to hear but subtle ones, not so much.
I was actually watching vids on this last night, thanks! Confirms my experience. I’m mostly an acoustic singer/songwriter and for sparse arrangements a SDC was too anemic. I thought my preference for an LDC was somehow wrong. Makes sense as you explained it!
Awesome video man. So informative. Keep them coming please. I love your perspective on things. Your methods always work and sound great. Anyways love your channel man. You’re awesome
Thanks for the excellent tips! I really like that you stress the technique and positioning being more important than the actual equipment. Your examples were really good for hearing the differences too. Not sure if you already have a video on the guitar or not but that wear and tear seems like it could tell a good story or two :-)
Thank you Colt. Love your vids. I always get something out to my notebook I named "the black book of mixing" lol. I was wondering if you could talk about how to build your work portfolio for people who has not landed a gig but has been practicing mixing with available multitracks and how to present it to your potential customers. Taking into consideration Copyrights and all that stuff.
Great video, I did not know all that information, I always use AT2020 to record my guitar, and it sounds too low, and thick! Now I understand, I need to get small mics like those! Thanks Colt!
One of my favorite techniques for acoustic is having an SDC pointed at the 12th fret and either an LDC or ribbon shoulder to shoulder with it. Would love to see what you think of that!
Great video, I use the second technique all the time, I use a 47 clone too. For my personal music, I blend the two mic's down the middle; in my opinion, capturing the acoustic needs two mics if you need a full sound. Cheers man.
I never had SDC mics before. Always used ribbon or LDC on my instruments. Just for an experiment I bought a matched pair of Sampson CO2s for around $130 for the pair. How good could they be at that price? OMG was I amazed at the sound! I feel like it was such a task to get a good natural sound with my other mics (they do sound great) but when I use the pencil mics it’s like no matter where I put them they sound great. Just can’t believe I got such a wonderful pure sound out of these inexpensive mics. Thank you for this fantastic video. We need more recording/mixing acoustic videos like this. Could you do a video on recording acoustic instruments with ribbons and maybe m/s technique? I’d love to see your mic placements and how you’d place that in a mix. Also do you hard pan L&R the pencils in the mix or place them differently? Thanks for your hard work and great info!!!
I think this video was very informative especially considering im a novice at recording, but I wish you could have provided a little detail on how to position the large diaphragm condenser mics. I see the “pencil mic” is pointed directly at the guitar, but the large diaphragm seems to be pointed directly up or vertical. I’ve seen people position them at different angles, but it seems that you prefer having it pointed upright. Is that the best position for recording acoustic and vocals alike?
With the LDC and SDC in that 75ish degree set up, do you pan them both mono our spread them out hard left and right? If you do left and right does is tend to make the "warmth" left or right (depending on where the LDC is panned) Or you do not go crazy L to R spread. I'm also assuming your going to say it depends on the song as well. But wanted to know your take on using 2 different mic in a stereo config. Also do you recommend M/S ever for an acoustic. thx
Don't let the others tell you what to do, (I don't think you will). XY depends on distance, capsule, polar pattern, etc. It's XY, if "they" say it isn't then call it YX. lol
Great vid! Would you still use the xy pattern if you are double tracking acoustic parts? If so would you pan the xy of each take on the same side or still pan them to opposite sides for all 4 takes? Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Is it possible to record a good quality fingerstyle guitar sound in a normal bedroom with a carpet on the floor? I ask this question because my room is not acoustic treated and I have recording equipments but my recordings sound so thin and muddy and I have lot of harsh resonant frequencies! please answer it would be a big help for me. thanks
I'm guessing that panning might be different depending on the mix, but can you give a general idea of your approach? For example, when using two SDC are they always spread? Or if using a LDC with a SDC are they always together? Thanks in advance!
The two microphones are never panned in the exact same spot in my productions, but that is part of the reason why I like this narrow XY pattern. I feel it collapses better than true XY. So it totally depends on the song. Some songs they are panned hard left, and hard right. Some songs they are panned fairly close together somewhere in the stereo field. Hope that helps!
Panning: unfortunately I forgot to discuss this in the video. The two microphones are never panned to the exact same place in my productions. But they are sometimes panned very close together, and often very far apart, even hard left, hard right. This narrow XY technique I feel gives me more flexibility as it allows me to pan and the two microphones closer together while still sounding fantastic. Hope this video helped you!
Got it! 💯
Yeah, a lot of times I pan to a place. If I want it to sit at 10 o'clock I put one hard left and one at 11:30 or wherever the edges would be. I really like your channel.
Hey. Here's a hypothetical.... Say, you have a song where the first verse and chorus are just acous and vocals, and the full band kicks in at 2nd verse, and the acous doesn't need to be as full for the rest of the song, would you mute the large diaphragm and leave the small one? just a thought i had watching this vid.
@@petedemaggio I would not do that. The different mics in one of these setups are aimed at different areas and have a different sound. If you were to go to one mic for that part you'd have to deal with panning it differently. I guess with digital you can write that out and should work. I'd change pan and eq if doing that. Knowing me I'd probably just add another track and mute the first one. Maybe. Just try it an see. Colt may have a much better answe
With your two mic setups as shown here, do you typically record each mic in monoral, each with its own preamp, or as a pair in a stereo track? I ask because I've only recently started recording my guitar amp with two mics (SM-57 and a brand new Royer 121, using the Royer Axe-Mount). Noting that a cab speaker is effectively a single sound source, I'm finding myself sort of torn these days about whether to record tracks (in Luna) with the two inputs linked for a stereo track, versus each mic into its own Apollo preamp (Neve 1084 plugin), for more individual controllability on the input and the recording chain. The Axe-Mount certainly simplifies or eliminates phase problems and eliminates the mechanics challenges of mounting two mics on the same source, but I'm left wondering what the "norm" is for most sound engineers with regard to the choice of monoral vs stereo recording on single source sound. Thanks!
2 suggestions for the next video:
- mixing tips (e.g. panning of the 2 microphones in this video etc)
- advice on how to record when the guitarist sings too (having less voice possibile in the guitar mics and viceversa)
This was meant to be. I’m doing a session with acoustic guitar in 45 minutes 😅 thanks Colt!
All the best 😎
THIS IS THE BEST! Thank you!
The best recording i've heard on u-tube so far
I appreciate how you explained how the different mic positions fit in various mix contexts. Monumentally helpful.
Man, you explain things so succinctly. I feel like I get so many nuggets of gold each time I watch a video of yours. Thanks so much Colt.
Good stuff, as always buddy. Hands, grip, picks, guitar, location, mics, positions, room.... all of the above! Good to see the Yairi out in a video!
Man, would've loved to hear how that mandolin came out!
Thankyou so much for this Video. I didn't know I needed this. Thanks!🙏 Much Love from India. 🇮🇳♥️
Couldn’t have come at a better time, recording acoustic for the first time in the next couple of months. Thanks man!
This is a great explanation, very simple and straightforward logic. Funny thing, cause the guitar is on your chest while speaking there is an extra resonance your mic was picking up. I had to double-check my desk mic wasn't engaged and I was hearing a slight feedback cause it was bugging me until I realized what it was :P
I have to agree that placement in the room can change things the most. I have searched for the best spot in my room for some time now, funny that I discovered that my original placement was it other than I had to turn 180 degrees...game changer for me.🌮☕🌮☕
wtf the detail you included was freaking awesome dude! I have been at it for 30 years and was just looking for a less elaborate technique. Love yours! Going with my KM184s and SOLIDTUBE (covering all 4 techniques on 3 tracks) so I can change sound of guitar depending on how far production goes. Working with a older Taylor 514 (A David Gilmour Fav) with Espression System upgrade and a Gibson Everly Bros guitar with a some kind of nice Fishman pickup (owned by Coral Reefers Band and lived on Jimmy’s tour bus decades)
Awesome Channel i came across today ❤️. Very informative. I wonder where this beautiful channel was hiding since so long , I couldn’t find it until today😁. Luckily found it today and subscribed ❤️🙏
Great tutorial on mic placement. I've found that the choice of instrument, the players skill level and knowing the material to be recorded are also HUGE factors in the quality of the recording. Mic placement has always been a problem for me and your video gave me a few more technics to try. Bravo !
Was watching a PBS cooking show and they had an ad for Green Mt grills playing what sounds like your CZcams theme song!!!!!!!!!!
Very cool video and you make some great points, especially for the singer/songwriters getting into this stuff! Over the years I moved away from stereo mic'g acoustic guitars (especially in dense arrangements) and prefer to double. One thing I'd like to add re phase is even though eyeballing the mics often gets you very close for people getting into this I'd suggest that they first record a pass and then go to their wave forms and really blow them up. This will quickly tell you what mic may be closer/further to the source and adjust one mic to line them up better. Really poor phase issues are very easy to hear but subtle ones, not so much.
I was actually watching vids on this last night, thanks! Confirms my experience. I’m mostly an acoustic singer/songwriter and for sparse arrangements a SDC was too anemic. I thought my preference for an LDC was somehow wrong. Makes sense as you explained it!
Glad it helped! Thanks for watching!
Great video as usual Colt, explaining things in a straight forward manor. Thanks again buddy top drawer.
Great and important tutorial. You mention good stuff in a short time. Nice work!
Awesome video man. So informative. Keep them coming please. I love your perspective on things. Your methods always work and sound great. Anyways love your channel man. You’re awesome
Great video! I enjoy your channel. Good stuff.
Thanks for watching!
Needed this today! 😆
Hope it helps!
Gonna send this to my guitar player!!
Thank you for valuable information!!!
Thanks for the excellent tips! I really like that you stress the technique and positioning being more important than the actual equipment. Your examples were really good for hearing the differences too.
Not sure if you already have a video on the guitar or not but that wear and tear seems like it could tell a good story or two :-)
Thank you Colt. Love your vids. I always get something out to my notebook I named "the black book of mixing" lol. I was wondering if you could talk about how to build your work portfolio for people who has not landed a gig but has been practicing mixing with available multitracks and how to present it to your potential customers. Taking into consideration Copyrights and all that stuff.
Great video, I did not know all that information, I always use AT2020 to record my guitar, and it sounds too low, and thick! Now I understand, I need to get small mics like those! Thanks Colt!
Currently working on my acoustic album. I gonna try to pair big and small diaphragm, always did just ver. 1 or 3. Thank you!
One of my favorite techniques for acoustic is having an SDC pointed at the 12th fret and either an LDC or ribbon shoulder to shoulder with it. Would love to see what you think of that!
I'm From Indonesia, Like Your Content Video
This will definitely help me with my acoustic recordings! Thanks!
Great video, I use the second technique all the time, I use a 47 clone too. For my personal music, I blend the two mic's down the middle; in my opinion, capturing the acoustic needs two mics if you need a full sound. Cheers man.
I am a simple man. I liked this video. I like and comment on the video.
Just kidding ^^ this is exactly what i needed right now! Thanks!
I'd love to hear more about compression on acoustic recording(particularly attack and release rates) folded into this video.
Thanks for your high quality videos!!
Fantastic advice and insight, thanks for sharing!
They're all great, but this video was even more great!! ;p
I never had SDC mics before. Always used ribbon or LDC on my instruments. Just for an experiment I bought a matched pair of Sampson CO2s for around $130 for the pair. How good could they be at that price? OMG was I amazed at the sound! I feel like it was such a task to get a good natural sound with my other mics (they do sound great) but when I use the pencil mics it’s like no matter where I put them they sound great. Just can’t believe I got such a wonderful pure sound out of these inexpensive mics.
Thank you for this fantastic video. We need more recording/mixing acoustic videos like this. Could you do a video on recording acoustic instruments with ribbons and maybe m/s technique? I’d love to see your mic placements and how you’d place that in a mix. Also do you hard pan L&R the pencils in the mix or place them differently? Thanks for your hard work and great info!!!
I think this video was very informative especially considering im a novice at recording, but I wish you could have provided a little detail on how to position the large diaphragm condenser mics. I see the “pencil mic” is pointed directly at the guitar, but the large diaphragm seems to be pointed directly up or vertical. I’ve seen people position them at different angles, but it seems that you prefer having it pointed upright. Is that the best position for recording acoustic and vocals alike?
Love it good stuff colt!
Hi! That xy sounds great ! I have the km 184s . What preamps are you using ? Please
Great tips. What the heck caused that gaping hole in your guitar? I'm surprised it's not negatively affecting the tone.
With the LDC and SDC in that 75ish degree set up, do you pan them both mono our spread them out hard left and right? If you do left and right does is tend to make the "warmth" left or right (depending on where the LDC is panned) Or you do not go crazy L to R spread. I'm also assuming your going to say it depends on the song as well. But wanted to know your take on using 2 different mic in a stereo config. Also do you recommend M/S ever for an acoustic. thx
Noticed you didn’t really talk about polar patterns of the microphones. Would be interesting to see a comparison of that as well
Don't let the others tell you what to do, (I don't think you will). XY depends on distance, capsule, polar pattern, etc. It's XY, if "they" say it isn't then call it YX. lol
Great vid! Would you still use the xy pattern if you are double tracking acoustic parts? If so would you pan the xy of each take on the same side or still pan them to opposite sides for all 4 takes? Thanks!
Does this apply to dynamic mics as well? Like a Sennheiser E609?
And what do you do after recording? Because you ll have phase issues and they ll be cancelling each other at some point.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Is it possible to record a good quality fingerstyle guitar sound in a normal bedroom with a carpet on the floor?
I ask this question because my room is not acoustic treated and I have recording equipments but my recordings sound so thin and muddy and I have lot of harsh resonant frequencies!
please answer it would be a big help for me. thanks
Hello Colt, how are you? 🙏
I'm guessing that panning might be different depending on the mix, but can you give a general idea of your approach? For example, when using two SDC are they always spread? Or if using a LDC with a SDC are they always together? Thanks in advance!
The two microphones are never panned in the exact same spot in my productions, but that is part of the reason why I like this narrow XY pattern. I feel it collapses better than true XY. So it totally depends on the song. Some songs they are panned hard left, and hard right. Some songs they are panned fairly close together somewhere in the stereo field. Hope that helps!
@@ColtCapperrune That makes sense. Thanks for the reply!
Could you go over time editing an acoustic? I always get artifacts when editing instruments especially with multiple mics. HELP!
I'm curious if you ever record acoustic guitar M-S with a Figure-of-8 and Cardioid?
Do you record the guitar in one track or in a separate tracks?
Hey Colt, great video ! quick one, is that a crack we can see on the bottow left of the soud hole ? accient or for any purpose ?
Do you ever double track with a single mic? Or do you get the desired width with the XY technique?
Do you sometime use a SM57 ? Closer than 12 inches obviously
How do you feel about using a ribbon mic on guitar?
You should do a follow up video on how to mix depending on the configuration of mics and the result you want. 👍🏼 love your videos
Quick question. If the guitar also has a pick up, will you take a recording of that too?
Hi! I'm curious to know why don't you use a dynamic microphone for acoustic guitar for example sm57?
Which sound hole are you pointing the mic at?😂
Protools send e-mails that they rise M1 mac support,: how does it filling now? Is it work faster?
First?
Indeed 15 seconds might be a new record 😜🤘🏻🙏🏻
@@ColtCapperrune aye haha
is the large diaphragm mic you were using a bock?
No pink noise used?
Hack!
lol
comment on this to help the algi....
Appreciate it!