How To Record Acoustic Guitar
It seems to me that many songwriters begin their work with an acoustic guitar. If you’re like me, you’ll probably record most things with acoustic guitar first. I like acoustic guitar because it’s full sounding, has great percussive qualities for banging out a pulse while strumming, and it doesn’t need anything else for it to make sound, like cables or a/c.
That said, it can be a real pain in the butt to record well. It’s EASY to record it so that it sounds like you’re playing it in your basement under the carpet, through the couch pillows. Spending any time checking out new music on sites for independent musicians bears this out. So…how to record acoustic guitar?
1. Replace your strings. Rule of thumb…replace your strings for every new recording project you do. Sure, save your $ in between and bang around on the old ones until it’s recording time. However, do yourself a HUGE favour and make sure you have new strings when it’s time to hit ‘record’. Old strings have a tendency to be problematic for tuning, as you probably know. There is also just no comparison between new and old strings for things like brilliance and articulation. Think about it…the more you play, the more grime from your greasy fingers stays on the strings. There’s more rust on them. They get overstretched and can get to the point of making you wonder if your intonation is out. Change them and revel in the beautiful sound! A caution here, stretch them out before recording. I’d recommend having them on and played for an hour or two before tracking. They need to settle in and stretch out to be stable. Otherwise you’ll be tuning in between each take, and likely half of every take will be out of tune enough to cause trouble later on.
2. Find a comfortable place and position to sit that you can duplicate easily. Use a chair or stool that is silent when you shift your weight. Practice playing the song all the way through so that you are sure there isn’t a crunch area where you tense up and naturally move the guitar to finger that weird chord in the middle 8. It’s essential for you to remain in the same place for the whole track, so get used to it. It sounds simple, but if you haven’t done this a lot, it can be a real challenge.
3. Choose your microphone. What kind of microphone to use? I’d recommend a large diaphragm condenser to start off with, but you may be limited by what you have. Consider renting a microphone and preamp if you only have the Radio Shack highball dynamic mic. Condensers almost always sound better for this kind of material than dynamics. That isn’t to say you can’t use a dynamic microphone effectively for a sought-after sound…your ear is the judge. There are many condensers on the market now that won’t break the bank, so check them out. BTW, you might be surprised how inexpensive it is to rent a good mic and preamp for a weekend.
4. Where to put the mic? Well, as a starting point for a one mic setup, I’d point it between the sound hole and the end of the fretboard, angled toward the fretboard. I can’t stress enough, however, that you need to experiment. Set the microphone up like that and play a few bars of the same song you are recording, then move yourself around to different positions without touching the mic, and speak the position description loud enough to be recorded, so you know which sound was from what position. Play it back and choose the position you like the best. I’ve found that pointing at the sound hole directly is too boomy for most applications…angling it back toward the fretboard seems to be a nice compromise.
5. Processing your input. Depending on your material, you might want to compress the input signal slightly to help tame transients. Acoustic guitar is laden with all kinds of harmonic content that can overload an otherwise great take. Adding mild compression can let you keep that take without colouring the track too much. No more than 3dB compression, 3:1 ratio should get you there. Again, test the settings by recording a few bars with different settings, announcing them into the mic as you change them, then playback to hear the differences. Play with the threshold to get more or less compression, and if you have them, attack and release settings will change the sound too. Experiment and go with what you think sounds best. If it’s a rhythmic, heavy strumming/picking piece, you might want a faster attack and shorter release to help define that rhythm. If it’s a lightly played, intricate piece, maybe a longer release time, slower attack will let more of your natural dynamic playing through. Use your ears as the judge. I try to shy away from EQ’ing my input tracks, but on acoustic guitar, you might try rolling off some bass around 100HZ to clarify things a bit. Or not, again it’s your ears that will tell you. Depending on where your EQ is in your signal path, rolling off that bass may effect how the compression impacts your sound…so keep that in mind.
6. Finally, consider how you are playing. Often guitar players strum in a casual way, without much thought to how that translates in a recording situation. You’ll find, however, that there are noises you did not hear while rehearsing which show up glaringly in the recorded version. Pick slap on the strings, pick slap on the pick guard, finger sliding noise on the fretboard, string buzz from the frets, headphone cable tapping the guitar when you move your head, the rustle of your shirt sleeve, your breathing, or even the tapping of your foot. Listen for these and adjust your playing style/position to eliminate them all. Strive to have the cleanest possible recording free from extraneous noise, and you’ll undoubtedly end up with something you’re happy with and that works well in your final mix with a minimum of “FixItInTheMix”-ness. 
Acoustic guitar is one of the simplest instruments to play, but it can be one of the most difficult to capture effectively “on tape”. Follow these steps, modify to your tastes, and you’ll be well on your way to getting the sound you hear in your head. Good luck!
Comments
Thanks for the tips
Great tips. Especially the noise from the guitarist. Breathing, fret buzz… etc. all show up in a huge way when recording. These take awhile to learn to control, so one can’t say “Don’t breathe” in the studio, eh?
How do I reduce the sound my pick slapping the strings while using my condenser mic? I just can’t get them to leave.
Pick noise is tricky business, here’s a few thoughts that might help… First, if you are recording an acoustic track that will be mixed with other instruments, like a full band, the pick “click” might not be as bad as it sounds when you solo the guitar. With some creative EQ’ing and mic placement, those click sounds can become part of the song’s pulse, a thin type of hi-hat type noise. If you listen to professionally recorded acoustic guitars that are supporting tracks, this is often the case. However, if the pick slap really is a problem in the recording, try changing picks. Different thicknesses and materials will change the tone of the pick slap greatly. You could also try changing the angle at which the pick hits the strings, or turning the pick slightly so you use more of the side edge instead of the flat…this helps alot too. My biggest problem with pick slap has been in playing with too much intensity, and I found the pick was hitting the pickguard underneath the soundhole, and even sometimes the soundhole rim itself…which records very poorly. To fix this I simply had to practice becoming a much more controlled player when recording, and that helped quite a bit. Lastly, you might try using your fingers instead of a pick…fingernails can really give your acoustic (or electric) guitar a completely different tone, and with some practice it can sound fantastic. Articulated picking, like arpeggios, is a bit tricky, but simple strumming shouldnt’ be too difficult.
If you like, email me an mp3 of a sample track so I can hear what you are experiencing and give you specific suggestions. thehipcola A T gmail DO T com
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