Recording Acoustic Guitar (My Foolproof Method) - TheRecordingRevolution.com

[@recordingrevolution]

And here are The 4 Rules Of Acoustic Recording: www.recordingrevolution.com/the-4-rules-of-acoustic-guitar-recording/

[@chrismichael1984]

Would I need to keep the mic closer using a Shure sm7b since it’s not a condensor? Thanks for the great instructions.

[@SwordOSouls]

1:37 2:39 4:25 If you switch back and forth between the playing you can really hear the difference. Great advice here, i really like the way it sounds

[@__Leon__]

you da real MVP

[@777Yoni]

Thanks for putting the time stamps in your post. Very helpful.

[@JavierScheuermannMusic]

thanks so much

[@MirzaAnshari]

thank you, this comment should get marked :D

[@zekewillard8703]

this helped so much! 😃

[@combrogos]

I prefer to place my microphone at least 24 foot away and around the corner from the house as my guitar playing is so bad...

[@andreasrausch5552]

Wonderful! 😂

[@klausm4086]

Good joke😂

[@madalomusic2097]

That's awesome. I am literally laughing out loud as I write this.

[@hadifelani]

you had me in the first half not gonna lie lol

[@GRequinBlanc]

combrogos funny man. I lol. Thanks

[@Mixthelightintogray]

Song: Facing sound hole, by 6 Inches Away

[@rafaarganaraz7463]

Suzuka underrated comment

[@jonathanlee4653]

LOOOL

[@samdunkksu2b129]

"what a lot of people do wrong is..." *proceeds to do exactly what i was doing*

[@realmoonhenry]

Me too🤣🤣

[@the.bobbybass]

Literally same

[@ColeRolland]

Great video Graham, very helpful!

[@hepingpanlol7206]

Mantap

[@rodemic]

Great tips as always Graham

[@railamusic]

i am from Nepal and i recently bought rode nt2a. It is a great microphone i love it i want to learn music production can you help me please ? here's my facebook account please do reply me facebook.com/bhupendrarokamusic

[@kelvinadithya7885]

learn the basic first, usually take 1-3 months,try to learn it by yourself, just watch a lot of youtube tutorial and keep experimenting

[@Howaudioworks]

I was shocked to learn that he was using what I had considered to be an albeit very good but low-end microphone :-) Yay for Rode :-)

[@focusedonmusic8612]

What about Electric guitar? The set up is probably much different

[@alistaircassidy]

@@focusedonmusic8612 Of course! You are plugged in for a start and, if you are using a mic at all, it is in front of the amp. What a strange question.

[@aaronjonesgospel]

I've been recording for 25 years and I still watch acoustic mic placement videos haha. It's such a dynamic instrument and can be used for so many elements that you can choose different placements each time. I like that you acknowledge that there's no "one" way to do it but this might work for you. Always good stuff Graham!

[@eatacay]

To compare: 1:37 - sound hole 2:39 - 12th fret 4:25 - "both" I would really like to compare them easily. If there were an annotation on each example, leading to the next or first one, that would be great. Or if there were simple time codes in the description. In any case, here are some for anyone's convenience. (including mine. lol)

[@eatacay]

+Elliot Miller oh dang. Using the time codes, I heard how much of a massive difference it makes!

[@SoloElROY]

+Elliot Miller haha thanks! :D

[@V081WLBlue]

Good Job Well Done!!!! Did you do this 1st or the other guy!!! lol

[@madalomusic2097]

Yeah that works well doing it that way. I can really hear the difference. Thanks

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Graham, very simple and straightforward and totally makes sense with that mic positioning.

[@lagiator]

+Curtis Judd i know you bro, i didn't expect to see you here

[@LearnLightAndSoundSessions]

+Nick Kapenkar I don't actually record a lot of music but Graham's often got good info for audio in general. Good to see you here!

[@HectorGallegosmusic]

My friend and I recorded classical acoustic using 2 mics in stereo. BOY! what a difference that made! We love the results.

[@jamesstonehouse3448]

I'm a massive fan of the Rode NT2A. Acoustic guitar can sound really beautiful with one

[@TheSimonarne]

i found the M/S technique this week and i love it for solo acoustic guitar tracks. you position the first mic with a cardoid pickup pattern at the 12th fret and point it towards the sound hole and once you have found a sound you like you put a second mic with a 8 pickup pattern on the top pointing to the sides. then you take the second mic duplicate it in a daw pan them to each side and flip the faze of one of the second mics and add in the first mic till you like the sound. i also grouped them into a stack and added eq to the stack instead of eq to each of the tree tracks

[@GaragebandandBeyond]

The first one is exactly how Coldplay records acoustics, that and a ton of Nashville engineers will place a mic right on front of the sound hole for a more bluegrass tone. There's always another mic, but they do point them at the sound hole a lot of times.

[@de1vos]

I was just about to say, from the first strum I heard Yellow there.

[@lrlarch1706]

GaragebandandBeyond I think they did that back in their earlier days. Any rhythmic guitars in their music now are very thin and lightweight

[@JairajSinghPatil]

Can you tell me where did you find out about Coldplay's recording technique? Any sources which you might share?

[@Texturas75]

If there's always another mic, then pointing to the sound hole is OK, as it's just part of the sound. It's like a scooped tone, while pointing to the 12th fret yields a complimentary midrange tone.

[@TR-zf6io]

@@Texturas75 Exactly. Using a single mic like he is needs to take in all the frequencies to backing it away makes sense. . But having multiple mics pointed at multiple parts of the guitar gets all those frequencies recorded, so you can then adjust levels to taste when blending them.

[@Melvin7727]

I've been trying out multiple methods and keep coming back to this one.

[@dongdelacruz1250]

This man is very talented and the only consistent and direct to the point teacher ive ever seen in youtube. A million thanks to you sir!

[@SceneComparisons]

meanwhile The Boxer from Simon and Garfunkel used 7 mics for the main guitar. "On my guitar, they had me miked with about seven mics. They had a near mic, a distant mic, a neck mic, a mic on the hole. They even miked my breathing. They miked the guitar in back. And they had an ambient mic overhead."

[@sugatooth]

I only have one mic for recording and this shared exactly what I was looking for regarding single mic set ups. Very helpful!

[@philmccracken6134]

A technique i find interesting is to aim one microphone at the sound hole and one at the neck, then you can blend both sounds and play with the stereo field all you want.

[@MutterAvedis]

i follow all of your video for like 3 years now. thanks for all the stuff that u share, your free e book was the first big lesson that i learn and i do until to day in my studio in Indonesia

[@rome8180]

I've had really good results using two mics. I put one angled toward the 12th fret and one down by the bridge. I use one bright mic and one that's a little darker. I make sure they're the same distance away from the guitar so there are no phase issues. Then after I've recorded my part I pan one hard right and one hard left. It really creates a huge sound that's still bright enough to sit in a mix.

[@TC_Conner]

Condenser or dynamic mics?

[@samsmusichub]

This video definitely helped. I can hear the difference with the ear phones I'm using. I've been searching for great new ways to improve my sound. I've been using my PC webcam - and gone are those days. When I come back out of hiding, I want to sound drastically different. Your videos have been helping! -SV

[@StephenTack]

My favorite, for a 'warm' acoustic guitar sound: Ribbon mic, level with and a foot straight out from players left shoulder (assuming right handed), pointed between 12th fret and sound hole. This also aligns the edge null of the ribbon mic with the player's face, so breath noise won't be captured...also enabling playing and singing at the same time with good (enough) isolation. Another favorite for a woody but clear sound: Omnidirectional mic (Large diaphragm preferable, but small works fine), 8 inches out from just below the bridge. This captures the body of the guitar (only sounds as good as the instrument), and still gets some good pick-on-strings attack. It works best if you have a dead or good sounding room. Cheers!

[@JUNOtheArtist]

Very Helpful, thank you so much!

[@RobOndras]

Thanks Graham! I asked for this a couple of weeks ago and here it is! Awesome!

[@Fox131333]

Recently I recorded an acoustic track using two condenser mics (Rode NT2000) in an A-B configuration with one facing the sound hole and another facing the 10th/12th fret, both about a foot back. I produces such a wide, full yet bright tone when I panned he the tracks hard to opposite sides! The best tone I've achieved!

[@trevorkinman7161]

What I do is probably really strange, but I put a mic close to the sound hole panned hard right and another at about the 12th fret panned hard left. It gives a lot of fretty noises to the left ear and the strummy sounds to the right ear. I think it sounds super cool

[@heyimbishu9536]

wow, the first two recordings i thought "those sound fine, one is heavy one is light, just choose whichever" then the final recording came along and i was mind blown! Thank you!

[@BlastBinary]

recordingrevolution playing that "insurance company jingle" "department store christmas commercial" chord progression xD thx for the video man

[@MikeOMearaChicago]

Thanks for sharing what you know. You're a great teacher and I constantly find myself consulting your channel when I hit a wall or have questions,

[@LaszloHarsanyi_SoundTube]

I use the same method as well! Exactly the same, moving the condenser mic back and turning it a bit to face the neck :) One question though: sometimes I have a lot of problem with the noise of the pick, especially when I'm not strumming but picking the strings one by one. The above method helps with that, too, but often it's a big headache for me. Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

[@TobiasCovers]

Same problem here actually:/

[@rodrigoavga]

+Laszlo Harsanyi I'd say try a different pick. Maybe one made of slicker plastic, or metal, or even one of those made of felt. Or a thinner pick of the same material you're using. Also, check how strongly you are picking the strings, and in what place. Maybe you're hitting them too hard, or too close/far away from the neck. Move your position around a little bit.

[@Akashsama]

+Laszlo Harsanyi Try finding those offending "pick" frequencies between 1kHz and 3kHz and cutting them. You'll have to experiment though, as always.

[@LaszloHarsanyi_SoundTube]

Thanks for the tips guys, I will definitely try them out! I never thought about the type of the pick that is for sure, maybe that's the problem! By playing around with the mic I can get rid of the pick noise most of the time, but still it would be good to know the exact source of the problem! Tried playing around with EQ, too, but I think the problem is rooted in the recording technique itself, which you cannot repair with EQ, at least not fully.

[@tompparmp9928]

@@LaszloHarsanyi_SoundTube Super late, but multiband compressor does the trick. Find the annoying frequency and compress just that so you don't eq the stuff in vain. Same process goes for palm muted heavy guitars (compress the palm muted low mid/bass away when it happens, don't eq away all nice bottom from open chords) and million other things. Just compress the annoying stuff when it occurs, don't cut it away with eq. You can do this in a guitar buss also, not just for the independent tracks. Multiband compression is a tool that gives you opportunity to give other stuff some space with parallel compression too. For example, when bass drum hits, you can snap out some low end and kick attack frequencies out of bass track so you don't end up over emphasizing the low and attack frequency levels with every kick hit. Or you can make some room for snare by snipping some frequencies off the guitar buss and not peaking the mids. Everything builds on top of everything. You need to create a space for every sound you want to be heard. Multiband compressor is a powerful tool for that.

[@johnchase8510]

Sounds great Graham!The fun thing looking at all the excellent comments is, we can see there are endless ways to create tones and textures, yours is simply one that works well, is easy and is um... Foolproof!

[@PeteKaltsa]

Would have been good to have a/b'd the 3 videos at the end of the video to hear the sound difference

[@j2dae2doublef]

you are a blessing to our generation. May the almighty God bless you.

[@lucianorockbh]

Nice job, man. Now, I am intending to record voice and guitar, at the same time. For this, I have I condenser microphone (AT2020) and the guitar are both plugged straightly into a Scarlett 2i2 (XLR, and P10 cable). But, the guitar's sound is just like strange, totally different from what we can hear from it. How do I fix it?

[@robertlottmann]

Verry helpfull... Never heard this method. Gonna try it soon....

[@nosoup9146]

But I think that the guitar also play a huge part when it come to recoding

[@datamasked623]

Correct. And the player. Good guitar + shitty musician = terrible recording.

[@lexluthier8290]

Yep, nice one Graham. Little tip for those with electro-acoustic guitars (one with a pick-up built in). I have seen some make the mistake of just recording the output from the pick-up, which can be ok for some applications if there's lots more going on in the mix. But, if you want a really big, sonically wide (yet not boomy) sound, and you have a halfway decent condenser mic, position the mike about 2 feet from the sound hole (maybe a little more - you'll need to experiment depending on equipment) but at an angle, i.e. have the mike opposite the belly of the guitar (not the hole or the neck) but pointed at the soundhole. If you get the placement right, most of the boominess will have dissipated by the time the sound hits the mic. Now record that to one channel, and the output from the pick-up to another. You then have a kind of stereo recording - not true stereo, but meh, sort of. Now you can have some real fun while mixing - effects on one channel; clean on the other; wide-pan both for an interesting soundstage; run both clean, and straight down the middle, and you get fat, clear, full-range acoustic sound - no mud, not much string/fret noise, clarity of top end etc etc. If you don't have an electro, but do have two mics, experiment with one over the belly and one over the neck. Not quite as good, but still very versatile in the mix. One of the nicest sounds I've got (to my battered old ears anyway) was with a little bit of chorus on the pick-up channel (takes some of the 'twang' away that's all too common on acoustic pick-ups) and a smidge of reverb on the mic channel. Then pan each by about 5%. Lush. Keep on keepin' on bro. You're helping a lot of people out there.

[@xer0947]

What is the model name of this guitar?

[@EpicKeyz]

Very helpful tips. Thank you, Graham, for sharing your experience!

[@PKua007]

I'm recording acoustic guitar on Wednesday for the first time, the video is just in time

[@markeecoward]

I love this. just used this to record my latest cover and it sounds AMAZING!. thank you for sharing

[@craigmartin2460]

Nice video Graham, but do these principles only apply to a dreadnought guitar? I have two guitars, an Ovation 1868 which is a shallow body, which obviously sounds thin acoustically (It's made for plugging in onstage!) and a Sigma travel guitar, which is beautiful but again, obviously sounds a bit thin as , well, it's a small bodied travel guitar.....any tips for making them sound "big and full/warm" ? Thanks if you read this :)

[@skaieknox4417]

Sweet tip! I record acoustic guitars all the time, so, I'll definitely put this to good use. Thank you!

[@BertiVox]

the problem is to have a good acoustic of the room because more you take away the microphone and more you will hear this acoustic ... So the most important is to have a good acoustic which is impossible to have in a non-treated room

[@WAV-E-MUSIC]

I cant stop watching these videos! I love it! Thanks for all your help Graham! I really appreciate your insight on music and life and how your so willing to help others stuck in places where you've probably have been stuck in yourself. I can honestly say you've made me see my own approaches to those two aspects in a whole different and better way. THANKYOU!

[@fastfrankblack]

it's alright doing this in a well treated room!!!!!!!

[@cbryandad]

Best video I have ever seen on recording acoustic guitars

[@samiulhaque8238]

in my case 1.5 feet is the best im using BM-800 with no phantom power

[@rakaattt]

Hey I use the same one and my acoustic always sounds super super weird. Some of the noise from the string just cuts off and just sounds super bad. Any tips?

[@TheHouseontheHill]

Hey thanks man! I used this method to record the four acoustic tracks on my album and they came out sounding beautiful. When I record for genres like soft rock, singer-songwriter/easy listening, or even pop, I typically grab a stereo bar, a pair of small diaphragm condensers, and a mic stand (obviously) and have the first condenser pointed at the part of the soundhole closest to the neck, about 1 foot away, and the other condenser would be pointed at the 12th fret. It's a pretty stress-free method that I recently took up, but I must admit that I've gotten hooked on your method! Thanks again!

[@BrandonBurch]

I'm sharing this with my bro. Thanks

[@riwaj4372]

tell me im high but his strings have a rainbow effect going on

[@ruthlesscutthroat4030]

i thought he was using color strings

[@aarondoodles3380]

Just the lightening

[@ruthlesscutthroat4030]

@@aarondoodles3380 you’re right it’s definitely lightning.

[@aarondoodles3380]

@@ruthlesscutthroat4030 *Lighting

[@goodoladam]

I totally did the second example you had on here. Although, in many of my songs, the acoustic is the main texture and I didn't realize how much tone I was losing. Thanks so much

[@autumn-works]

Nice - very helpful Graham!

[@eastonbroome]

Been recording for nearly 15 years, and your video gave me a total "Aha!" moment. Excellent advice. Thank you!

[@ghorse2000]

Nice lesson - thank you! 😊

[@charkendall]

I'm doing research for a college assignment on recording acoustic guitar and this has helped so much! Thank you! :)

[@NacekO]

Always helpful Graham...I enjoy and learn from every video you post.

[@BobbyHarrisonGuitar]

Great tip. Thank you so much. I have an NT1A (excellent mic) and was just about to record an acoustic part for the first time in a while.

[@sevenonsunday3968]

Wow...great insight! I will be trying that out, and checking your other videos. Thanks for putting this out there! Lots to learn, ready to listen!

[@thegreatgambeeno]

I just came across your vids, I'm already 3 or 4 in and have learned some extremely useful stuff. Thank you sir, keep it up, and have a nice day.

[@AidenBradley95]

Every time I need to record acoustic guitar, I go around in circles. I record a bunch of takes that I think are all right, using the method that I used before (spaced LDC on the neck, SDC shoulder height by the bridge) and I listen back and I think they sound garbage. I try every method under the sun to record them to sound good. I do setups on my guitars, change strings, try (and in some cases, buy) different microphones trying to get everything just right to get a clean, nice, emotion-filled take. Then I remember that I prefer thin picks when recording acoustic, go right back to the start and everything's sweet. Cheers for the video Graham, your tutorials calibrate me and remind me to go back to the start and that I did things that way for a reason.

[@SubCultureMEDIAHilbert]

Nice! I saw Rick Beato doing exactly the opposite too, aiming at the edge of the soundhole but positioned at the 12-14 fret. So fun to try all the different methods!

[@digitalramyun]

I've been using the "12th fret" method for years - thanks for your idea, which I'll be trying out at the first opportunity. Much appreciated!

[@sundoge]

Very very exp(ensive) fantastic microphone

[@ego_sarx]

That's exactly how I've recorded acoustic guitars for one of my band's song, angled mike "in-front" the guitar hole, I think you've shared that tip before because I had it in mind... I did one more thing that you don't like actually, I've used the piezo signal from the guitar but just to catch some mid-high frequency "attack" transitories, not the crispness itself but the attack of the pick... I think it worked 'cause blendind both signals gave me some satisfactory result, I liked a lot... Again, thanks for the tip!

[@raysbrain]

Thanks for all these Vids Graham.I'm just starting out outing together a studio and recording and these tutorials have been a tremendous resource.

[@Aleph_Null_Audio]

Another great sound that I rarely see used is to position the mic at the lower bout and then angle it toward the bridge. It's a good way to capture a natural and more woody tone.

[@Homestudiosimplifed]

Money! Great vid man! I like putting a mic over the shoulder as well to fill out things and blend to taste. I did a vid on mid side mic technique, that might be a cool topic for you to cover as well.

[@ChazJazzNY]

Great....Sounds great with your suggestive mic placement.

[@foxplaysguitar]

the sound is amazing when you change the position to the balance point!

[@mtidwell111]

Great stuff, Graham. I've been using the Rode NT-1A for about 10 years and still go to it often. Paired small diaphragm condensers X-Y or modified X-Y at or around the 12-14th fret is usually my go to if the guitar is to be featured in the mix. However, the M/S method can produce some awesome textures and stereo width, as well. Bottom line is like you've said. Try different methods and see what works for you. 👍👍

[@MaemiNoYume]

so. I have an advice for you. When you talk about distance using the Imperial System, try to remember to show it converted. I had to google "1 foot" to know that it's 30 cm. Okay, I know that googling something is not such a big workout, but if you just show the converted measure, it would also show that you think about your viewers, that you know your viewers aren't all North Americans. ;) but, I can't forget to thank you! your video is very clarifying.

[@RPMac]

Great stuff....direct and simple....excellent !!!! Thank you !!!

[@eccentrictones498]

Graham your videos are really helpful. Would really like to know more about how to structure a song and how to initiate a project.

[@TrevorHuntMusic]

Subscribed. Thank you for helping improve my recording game for my KZbin Cover Channel!

[@Disasterbator]

This was perfect! I was just going to start recording acoustic with my NT1.... it's like you read my mind man! Much thanks, and keep up the fantastic work! :D

[@joeblackwolf17]

thanks Graham. I'm learning a lot from your videos. the answer to my prayers. a musician who's learning about recording and about to set up my first home studio. subscribed.

[@Kineticartist]

nice tips Graham a veritcal stereo SDC setup works well too but if all ya got a is a single LDC or dynamic mic this is excellent advice

[@sevenonsunday3968]

Recorded with this method today. Man it was amazing. I used my Gibson which has a big sound and then the Taylor is super bright, and both sounded really nice! Thank you so much for making this so easy to understand. First time seeing your video, but I'm posting it on my Blog about my journey, and hopefully others will come here and use this technique. Sounds amazing! Thanks again!

[@1302richard]

Helpful and simple as usual!!! Thanks Graham!

[@Visionsofmortality]

Very helpful! I used the "point to fretboard" technique a couple years ago, but I wish I had known this approach then, much better.

[@GiorgosSartabakos]

Great tips Graham! I own a Martin and I found a way which works really well using my Rode NT1-a, a Shure sm7b and the line from the guitar...You can pan hard left the line and put some reverb and also pan hard right the Rode and put some delay on it,with the shure sm7b being the only 'raw' in the center and it will create great atmosphere!

[@HarvinderSingh-yy8th]

Excellent recording tips. Thanks.

[@TheHirade]

I use always one additional mic near my right ear spotting down to the guitar. so you have got one track with the sound your ear hears. this then can be mixed with the other mic tracks. There I use one to the 12 fret, one to the bridge, and one as shown here, but three foots away as a room mic. with that mic setup you get all out what you need for every kind of music.

[@johnthelad]

Spent some time trying to get my Gibson J200 to sound good, putting the mic in all the usual spots, but it never sounded right. Your recommendation is GOLD. I never thought of that and now the Gibson sounds beautiful in my Studio One DAW. I'll stick with this method from now on. Thanks for the tip.

[@KylePhelanMusic]

Thanks man! Love your Chanel .... very helpful.

[@YouriPoulin]

The video is great and everything is explained very clearly. Thank you !

[@thomascole5738]

This video popped up right when I was trying to record my acoustic guitar. I didn't even search it or anything it was just there but this helped me a lot.

[@modernmusicstudio303]

Nice Method! the placement is able to capture the sound so well! Thank for the tutorial!

[@miguelpaz6099]

Great info!!! please share that martin guitar serie!!! thanks.

[@denvy21]

excellent tips ..Thnx for the time out for a beginner person like me..You r my fav.

[@cagdasakdogan8386]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.

[@PherotoneStudios]

Nice work mate. Can't go wrong with simple

[@krissinistar6959]

he gets so excited when doing the demonstrations

[@KoolKatRecordingStudios]

Thanks Graham. its a compromise & combination between the two to capture both.

[@billheinowski1807]

Absolutely perfect - for most users. My room is small, and very nearly cubic - could be worse, but not by much! At 12+ in. away on the mic, I get way too much "room", not enough "guitar". 6-8" away works pretty well. Yeah, it's close, but it works. The take-away point is this - don't neglect the way your room colors what the mic hears, adjust as required!

[@savingsoul]

Good information

[@KDSmith-id1go]

Thanks Graham, very simple but effective. I've tried stereo, XY and MS but still find mono the best way to record acoustic guitar.

[@MrTom_Songwriter]

I hope you are doing well, happy new year. One thing that I have been doing is recording my acoustic EP album, is using a USB condenser mic, 12 fret on an angle about a foot away, and also use a "magnetic soundhole pickup" and "blend" both tracks in the DAW. The USB mic gives a nice "live" sound and high ends of the guitar and the magnetic soundhole pickup make gives nice lows in regards to the sound of the guitar.