Recording Acoustic Guitar

I figured that since I went over recording electric guitar last week I would follow up on some helpful tips for recording your acoustic guitar. I personally use the acoustic guitar in almost every song I make. Even in a harder rock song where the lead guitar is heavily distorted, recording an acoustic guitar underneath is a great way to add fullness and rhythm to the overall mix even if the only thing that is audible is the scraping of the pick against the strings. Fortunately, this process is much simpler than the last and you’ll be able to get a great sound with much less effort. Here are just a few things that will help you get started.

TO MIC…
If you have to mic you’ll again want to pick out the best microphone that you can get, preferably a condenser microphone. These mics are really sensitive and will pick up everything going on in the room so you’ll want to make the room as quiet as possible. Place the microphone as close as you can right up to the sound hole in your guitar, there is no need to deviate the placement much further than that. Since acoustic guitar is quieter than electric, you may have to crank the preamp on your recording interface much more but since acoustic guitar is much easier to manage in postproduction this won’t be a problem.

OR NOT TO MIC?
Does your acoustic guitar have an electric input? If so, you may want to forget using a microphone altogether! You can plug directly into your recording interface and adjust the EQ from the preamp on your guitar. Since the signal is going straight through without having to pass through a microphone, there will be no loss in sound quality and you’ll get a nice rich tone.

BOTH?
If you’re feeling really adventuresome you can plug directly into your interface AND use a separate line to mic your guitar. You will still that clear, rich tone from the direct line but you’ll also get a nice roomy sound from the microphone too. It will add some natural reverb if that’s the overall sound you want to achieve.

Only you can decide what’s right for your sound, so as always, experiment using these techniques and feel free to leave a comment below. Good luck!