Acoustic Guitar based songs - Where to post, how best to record ?

[hotmitts]

So I make very acoustic music and I record into my DAW , but I don't know where best to post the stuff, and I'm not sure what effects/instruments would go well with it.
I use some cheaper VST and freebies, like Blue Cat Chorus, Hornet plugins, and I find the really basic stuff like a little EQ -ing goes a long way.
But it's hard to make the acoustic guitar really sound big and full without effecting the signal in too digital a way, If you know what I mean. And trying to mix drums in is hard even though
I do own Addictive drums which seems reasonably realistic sounding, it just sounds like it's from a different song almost !

And as most forums seem to be EDM I'm not sure where to post the WIps or songs..
To clarify I suppose the influences are stuff like ;
Nick Drake
John Martyn
Roy Harper
Joni Mitchell
Syd Barrett

So old folky, prog, psychedelic, songwriter stuff
...yeah you know, all the really modern up-to-date stuff hahah

Is anybody else going along similar lines here ?

Let the Trollfest begin !
(PS hope this is the right place to post in)

[fedexnman]

I make acoustic guitar music , mine is more 90s and 80s ish sounding .... The Cure , U2 , Police , Ani Difranco , GooGoo Dolls , Toad the wet sprocket , Matchbox 20 .... But I love the oldies too some of Cat Stevens , Led Zeppelins acoustic stuff and no not just stairway ... I like to stereo mic the guitar , I also like most of the 70s 60s style drum kit sounds as well as indie kits , I have EZ drummer and like the Indie , Southern Soul , Americana ezx's they seem to mix and sound good for acoustic guitar music , also the vintage kit that comes with EZdrummer 2 is descent too ... I bet the some of the Addictive drum add-ons would fit the bill for you. I like the more modern sound recordings for acoustic guitar though , I always thought the 70s and 60s sounded like the guitars were dead strings sounding and thumpy like Heart - Crazy on you ... or even Bob Marley Redemption Song For example .

[hotmitts]

Thanks for the reply fedexnman ,
I love the Cure, the led Zeppelin acoustic stuff and Cat Stevens too. I'll have to listen to see what you say about the modern sound of guitars - I would imagine recording techniques have improved mightily.
When you say 'stereo Mic-ing' the guitar you literally mean two mic's ? Must admit I use a pick-up , the inbuilt one on the Fender Acoustic I borrowed (from my kind friend) , plus I have something called an 'IK multimedia Stage' which is quite a nice pick-up that makes it sound like full mic but fits inside the sound hole - just convenient and doesn't pick up background noise much.

[fedexnman]

Yes two mics .... I have some avenson audio mics . But you could use even 2 cheap mics like a shure sm58 or sm57 or just 1 . I have no luck with recording guitar pickups for acoustic music . I don't like the way they sound , but they are a necessary evil for live sound .lol you could record a signal with your pickup and also mic it and it would give you a different vibe or flavor too . Alice in Chains - jars of flies ... Has that vibe , I can tell there is a magnetic pickup recorded on some of the acoustic recordings on that album for example . I like the mic aimed at the twelfth fret about 6inches to a foot away .. I sing too ... Allot can be done with owning one dynamic mic such as a Shure sm58 , I also think the Sennheiser 835 is supposed to be a popular vocal mic , probably sound good on acoustic too .

[donkey tugger]

I use a lot acoustic guitar in songs, both as a main instrument sometimes, and also a lot of the time as a more percussive element to fill out the songs. You can post your music in the Music Cafe here -it's not just for EDM/sinthesiser music!

There are many ways to record acoustics, depending on what kind of sound you want. This article details most of the common ones and is a good place to begin;

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques ... tic-guitar

I personally favour the old simple small diaphragm condenser mic, about 12-18 inches away pointing at about the 12th fret, slightly away from the soundhole. Whilst a dynamic mic can work for some types of song, in general a condenser mic is more normal to capture the full range of the guitar, particularly the top end.

In terms of effects/eq etc, like most things there's no hard and fast rule for every situation. Sometimes for a rhythm sound you'll multitrack the guitars, compress heavily, pan out wide and cut a lot of the low end to get a percussive sound that cuts through the mix. Other times, for softer, more prominent acoustic based stuff, you'll need to use very gentle eq and compression, if at all, for a more natural sound. Sometimes, you'll want to blend in both DI and mic'd tracks, other times you'll want just the mic sound - It's all very dependent on context, so record both and experiment!

[hotmitts]

Thanks guys for replies.
Nice one donkey tugger, thanks for the tips, yes I've wondered about getting a Condenser Mic, good for vocals too I would think ?
Is there a good reverb for transparent sounding acoustic ? I just DL-ed Oril River freebie ,on a recommendation.

[donkey tugger]

Thanks guys for replies.
Nice one donkey tugger, thanks for the tips, yes I've wondered about getting a Condenser Mic, good for vocals too I would think ?
Is there a good reverb for transparent sounding acoustic ? I just DL-ed Oril River freebie ,on a recommendation.

Indeed, usually a large diaphragm one is used for vocals (although nothing to stop you using a small one...you've just got to keep still a bit more!), and you can use it for acoustics too. I like the sound of the small one (sontronics stc-1 I've got, but there's a lot of choice) for acoustics as it tends to sound quite focused, more so than the large one to my ears. Depends on the guitar, playing technique etc a lot though.

For reverb I like NI's RC24 and also use a lot of impulses from here as well;

http://www.samplicity.com/bricasti-m7-i ... responses/

Basically, any decent reverb will do though, as long as you can set a small pre-delay (up to around 30ms) and roll the lows and highs off the wet signal so you get rid of a lot of the boom and string noise, and emphasize the mid range. Again, the settings are highly dependent on what kind of sound you're looking to get, and your guitar/recording etc.

[hotmitts]

That's useful to know, donkey tugger

My only trick is to put some saturation on the reverb

[vurt]

the café is good for posting, may not be the busiest place, but we get everything from acoustic to purely electronic and all kinds in between
music is music

[Deep Purple]

Based on your list of artists, I'd say that encompasses a number of different ways of recording, so to get something similar to each one, you might need a different mic setup.

One way to get a lot of flexibility in the way you record is to use a near mic and an ambient mic - if you place one a couple of feet away and to the side of the near mic, it will capture a totally different sound, and that gives you a lot of options when it comes to mixing the mic sound.

I know you said you use a built in pickup, and many of those can give you a harsh sound, so that in combination with another mic might give you more options when getting a final sound. If that pickup doesn't give you a good sound, another option is to plug it through a preamp of some sort that might give it a warmer, more natural sound.

[vurt]

recording wise, a nice little xy pair of condensers, one pointed at the hole, one at the neck, 12th fret ish.

so long as you don't move around too much and play consistently, simple set up will work beautifully

[thecontrolcentre]

I'm not a fan of pickups on acoustic guitars. I tried recording my mates Martin that way, and it sounded really thin. I usually prefer the sound from my Rode NT-1 condenser mic (its great on vocals too). I've used a cheaper Behringer C1 which got reasonable results, and also my trusty SM58 (usually as second mic).

[Deep Purple]

I'm not a fan of pickups on acoustic guitars. I tried recording my mates Martin that way, and it sounded really thin.

I have one on my Epiphone, but the sound improves a lot if I play through my Tech21 Para Driver.

[donkey tugger]

I'm not a fan of pickups on acoustic guitars. I tried recording my mates Martin that way, and it sounded really thin. I usually prefer the sound from my Rode NT-1 condenser mic (its great on vocals too). I've used a cheaper Behringer C1 which got reasonable results, and also my trusty SM58 (usually as second mic).

Don't think I've ever used the piezo pickup on any of my acoustics on it's own, but blended in with the mic'd track and with a bit of eq I've used them to get a percussive sound that will cut through a mix, especially with the 12 string.