[Danny ~~_/) ~~_/) ~~_/) ~~]

I need to pick up a mic pre and maybe a mic, (I have one U87) to get
an acoustic guitar sound for a guitar/vocal. The style is ala James
Taylor, Jim Croce, on the softer acoustic guitar featured songs. The
room is good, 25 food ceilings, about 50 x 25 feet, is mostly hardwood
(with a lot of glass around) and actually sounds great. I have some
RNC's but sold off all my other gear except for some cheap mics I
didn't bother with dumping. I want a detailed individual note clarity
thing that will sit under a male voice that is a little raspy and
midrange strong. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I need to
grab it tomorrow night so discussion after monday afternoon is just
for fun ;-)

Keeping in mind a budget of about $1000 or so, what's the best I can
do.

thanks

[Scott Dorsey]

Danny ~~_/) ~~_/) ~~_/) ~~ wrote:

Keeping in mind a budget of about $1000 or so, what's the best I can
do.

You like the U-87? I've never been a fan of them on guitar but you can
get a huge variety of different tones out of the thing with position
changes, which can be handy.

I'd consider trying a very clean transformer-input preamp like maybe the
John Hardy. Then I'd try something more colored, like the Great River
1NV. The Hardy you can get as a single-channel configuration in a box that
you can load up to two channels later on with more money.

The original U87 with the battery meter was more touchy about loading than
the newer ones; I think the transformer has been improved somewhat over the
years. If you have an API rack you could try the new rackmount Millennia.

I'd skip the compressor completely. If you really need it, do it in software
for now. Setting up a hardware compressor seems more convenient to me, but
it's also more money.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[PStamler]

What Scott said, and I'd add that the Sytek is a good multipurpose
preamp that won't mess the sound up.

Are you planning to use the U 87 in figure-8 pattern to null out the
vocal leakage? If so, plan on using the low-cut filter and adding more
low-cut in post. Also keep the U 87 the hell away from the soundhole.
Aiming it where the neck meets the body works for me.

What kind of guitar is it (make, model)?

If you do consider another mic think about an AKG C451. They can
sound really nice on the right acoustic guitar. Or the small-diaphragm
Audix mic -- I forget the model number. Bruce Molsky brought one of
those with him last time he was in town and it sounded really nice.

Peace,
Paul

[Ty Ford]

On Sun, 9 Oct 2011 22:55:33 -0400, Danny ~~_/) ~~_/) ~~_/) ~~ wrote
(in article
):

I need to pick up a mic pre and maybe a mic, (I have one U87) to get
an acoustic guitar sound for a guitar/vocal. The style is ala James
Taylor, Jim Croce, on the softer acoustic guitar featured songs. The
room is good, 25 food ceilings, about 50 x 25 feet, is mostly hardwood
(with a lot of glass around) and actually sounds great. I have some
RNC's but sold off all my other gear except for some cheap mics I
didn't bother with dumping. I want a detailed individual note clarity
thing that will sit under a male voice that is a little raspy and
midrange strong. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I need to
grab it tomorrow night so discussion after monday afternoon is just
for fun ;-)

Keeping in mind a budget of about $1000 or so, what's the best I can
do.

thanks

Put the u 87ai on your voice and a Schoeps cmc641 on the guitar.

Regards,

Ty Ford

--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWaPRHMGhGA

[Dec [Cluskey]]

On Oct 10, 3:55*am, "Danny ~~_/) ~~_/) ~~_/) ~~"
wrote:
I need to pick up a mic pre and maybe a mic, (I have one U87) to get


thanks

Danny

I am a little in shock that no one has reacted to the description of
your recording room.

For me it is essential to nullify the acoustics so that I have total
control of the recorded sound. I have never been a fan of using the
acoustics of the room to enhance ... I prefer to have a clear 'full'
vocal and a clear 'full' guitar to work with in the mix. I would
steer away from recording both at the same time ... but that is just
me talking ... most would probably disagree.

I have been using a natty technique recently that is producing
stunning results. Total cost around $120.

I am lucky to have a phenomenal sounding recording space .... in a
walk-in loft, no parallel walls whatever, carpetted, no windows near
the mic. positions [one sloped Velux away from recording area]...
masses of insulation and all walls/ceiling cloth covered.

That sets the scene ... now the good part.

I recently bought a Red100 vocal enhancer microphone enclosure
[
http://www.studiospares.com/mic-acce...Bn4q1 A%3D%3D
] sorry for long link, hope it works.

Having used it on vocals with results that knocked my socks off - even
though the room acoustics are perfect for vocal, I decided to check it
out on acoustic guitar .... WOW!

It somehow traps all the good frequencies and just doesn't let them
escape past the microphone [usually a Shure KSM27 that I currently
love for vocals and guitar]. Of course, as has been said, mic.
position at join of neck and body ... or a more fancy multi mic. set
up.

I am not a fan of preamps .... I seem to get top results straight into
a Digidesign 003 ... using a LA Audio Fatman as vocal compression in
the mix and a Drawmer/Composer/DBX [or whatever happens to be in line]
for acoustic guitar - again in the mix.

So, my thought would be to record guitar first with the Red100 and a
decent condenser mic. [U87 is considered fine] then the vocal with the
Red100 and U87 ... the Fatman is currently the compressor of choice by
the Hip Hop fraternity ... who know a thing or two about vocals?

I still steer well away from software compression/effects.

Dec [Cluskey] http://www.deccluskey.co.uk/blog

[Ty Ford]

On Tue, 11 Oct 2011 08:14:41 -0400, Dec [Cluskey] wrote
(in article
):

I prefer to have a clear 'full' vocal and a clear 'full' guitar to work with

in the mix. I would steer away from recording both at the same time ... but
that is just me talking ... most would probably disagree.

Yah, me for one.

The quintessential timing that happens when one plays a guitar and sings
(provided they can do that, and some can't) is very special.

Put the U 87 in figure of eight. hang it parallel to the floor. Twist it to
null the guitar. Stick a Schoeps CMC641 near the 12th fret and aimed almost
straight down, with the voice on the back of it.

The more you look at the fingerboard while playing and singing, the worse it
is, but this technique works really nicely for me here in this studio. I use
a U 89 instead of a U 87, though.

Regards,

Ty Ford

--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWaPRHMGhGA