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This is the first video for my blog
is going to be about recording acoustic guitar
we are gonna begin
using two microphones
the first is a Rode NT1-A
the second an AKG Perception 170
and we are going to mic the guitar
first a half foot (15cm) from the guitar
then a foot (30cm) from the guitar
then three feet (1m) from the guitar, always aiming at the 12th fret
after that we are gonna mic in stereo
and lastly we are gonna position one mic
over the shoulder and the other at the 12th fret
both at the same distance from the guitar
In the end I'm gonna mix one of those sounds
of course there is no best sound
but a sound that is the most appropiate for this application
I'm gonna add EQ
compression
and reverb
and we are gonna create a guitar sound with two very inexpensive mics
and an acoustic guitar
that needs to have new strings, that's it, let's go.
Now that we've recorded the takes
let's choose
one of them to mix
very simple, with basic EQ, compression and reverb plugins
The take I chose was the last one
the one with a mic over the shoulder and another mic
at the 12th fret
both about a foot (30cm) from the guitar
I'm gonna open Reaper right now
and we are going to see how I mixed the audio for the video you watch now.
Now i have Reaper opened
the files are already loaded
We recorded three files. The first was the DI as a reference track
the second was the Rode mic over the shoulder
and the third mic was the AKG at the 12th fret
at about a foot from the guitar, the same distance of the
other mic
Here is the DI track that I didn't use in the mix
so, just as a reference
As you can see it does not sound that good, and I didn't use it
But i used the two microphones, of course
They are both opened in stereo, the AKG 52% to the right
and the Rode 52% to the left
I didn't use them completely opened because of
phase problemas that can occur
This way we have a some stereo effect
but not that much phase problems
Here is the sound of both microphones
with no processing or reverb added
Well, the first thing that I did
was
making sure that both mics are sounding
equal in volume side by side
The peak doesn't worry me that much
but the average volume (RMS) does.
It's what we perceive
as loudness from both mics.
I'm going to use my meter to see, after EQ and compression
how both mics sound, left and right
In this sound I'm using, on both sides
first an EQ, the default EQ from Reaper
with a high pass at abut 60 hertz
Everything over 60 hertz passes, everything under 60 hertz it's cut by the filter
the next is a compressor
with and attack time relatively slow
of about 9ms and a release of 378ms
Just to keep the guitar sounding at a constant level
and at the same time accentuating the attack from the guitar. If the attack time is too fast
as an example
1ms or less
The compressor is going to remove all the attack from the guitar
The ratio is 3 to 1
wich is a very conservative ratio
not really that high
after that I have another EQ plugin
Stillwell
Stillwell 1073 that is based on a Neve 1073, the plugin comes with Reaper as well
I'm adding a little bit of high mids at 3.2k
and adding a lot of highs after 12000
with a shelf of about 4dB
and lastly
I have a maximizer, wich is something like a limiter
the peak is at about -0.5dB and I'm adding about 6dB
6dB of gain
Reducing
almost nothing
on the peaks
I'm only adding gain because the audio was recorded very low
for safety reasons
And I used the same processing on both sides
On the AKG
I added a little more lows, because the mic didn't have that much
and I didn't add highs at 3.2k because the mic was already
very present at this frequency, 3.2 to 4k
Now
let's listen the sound of both mics
with Eq and compression
side by side.
We can hear that the sound is pretty dry
and the next step was to add reverb
the fisrt one is a room reverb
and the second is a plate reverb
I used the EpicVerb plugin, which is a free
reverb plugin, sound really great
So, the fisrt is a room
Cutting everything under 100Hz and everything over
about 7k
The second verb is a plate
a little longer, of one and a half second
Also cutting the lows
under 100Hz
and the highs over 10k
Let's hear how the guitar sounds
with reverb added.
So, this is it
I hope you guys liked the video
follow my channel for more videos
and you can access my blog (jpmna.com)
for more recording tips
So, that's it... recording acoustic guitar
with two mics and a lot of pacience
Thank you very much, see you.