Acoustic Guitar

There are a variety of popular mic placements for acoustic guitar. The one that might seem the most logical—miking the sound hole—is actually the least desirable in most situations. The result is very boomy, especially when combined with the proximity effect of a large diaphragm. With the exception of the audience perspective technique, place the mic(s) nine to 12 inches away from the focal area and experiment from there. In close-miking scenarios, encourage the guitarist to remain stationary in order to minimize fluctuations in the sound. Hard mounts are preferable to ensure exact placement, unless a soft mount is needed to minimize vibrations from tapping feet and the like.

In most cases, cardioids are the best choice for miking acoustic guitar. While you can certainly attain good results with a large diaphragm mic, medium diaphragms are often preferred in order reduce proximity effect.

Different microphone positions bring out different qualities of an acoustic guitar

1. Bridge. Miking the bridge yields a very sweet sound. Angle the mic either away from the sound hole or tilted up from underneath. The difficulty with this position is that the performer’s hand can obstruct the pickup pattern, yielding a fluctuation in sound. Working with the performer to find a way to capture the bridge sound unobstructed can be well worth the effort.

2. Neck joint. The most popular position is where the neck joins with the body. This placement yields a nice balance of warm body and bright neck, including natural fret and finger noises. Deploying a matched pair with one mic at the joint and the other at the bridge can result in one of the most satisfying acoustic guitar sounds. Panning the results hard left and right can yield a dramatic stereo sound.

3. Nut. Miking the nut usually results in a bright, jangly sound. Additionally miking the bridge and panning the two mics hard left and right produces an extremely wide stereo effect.

4. Audience perspective. Close-miking techniques are often a bit too “in your face” for solo classical guitar. In that event, try placing the mic three to four feet in front of the performer and level with the sound hole in order to capture more room sound. To create more of a concert ambience, deploy a matched pair left and right at even greater distances. You can also attain the best of both worlds by using multiple mics to combine the aforementioned close-miking techniques with this distance-miking technique.

M-Audio's Solaris, Luna and Nova are all great choices for acoustic guitar. The Luna in particular is a favorite among guitarists. If you want to work with distance and/or stereo miking, you might appreciate the added flexibility of the omni and figure 8 patterns the Solaris.

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