Question on How to Record Guitar Pick / Tight Strum Noise?

[comfybread]

Hi there, I was wondering how do you record your acoustic guitar to have this "very tight pick" (idk the actual thermology) strum instead of being all metallic / washy / bloated?

Here is a good example of what I'm talking about, right in the beginning of the song, you can hear how Chris Martin is strumming sounds very very tight & able to hear the pick (without sounding all metallic / washy / bloated).

How do I replicate this "very tight pick" sounding acoustic? No matter where I place my mic or how I play, it sounds very metallic and not really the sound I'm looking for. (Here is an example to compare what my guitar sounds like to what I'm looking for; how FINNEAS recorded his guitar for "Billie Eilish - TV" sounds exactly like how I record my acoustic guitar, even with a pick and I do not want that)

Example of what I want to replicate: What I want




Example of how my strum sounds like when I record: Not what I'm looking for

[enroe]

Well, what about this one:

Is that the guitar sound you're after?

In general: The acoustic guitar sound is quite difficult to record. How it sounds depends largely on
two factors:

1. Microphone position. Here you set the basic sound. If you want to remain flexible, you can
even use 3 microphones: neck, middle, bridge - and vary the distances a little.

2. EQ ing. With a little knowledge of frequency ranges, you can reduce the metallic components
somewhat, emphasize or suppress the fret sounds, etc. after recording.

[donkey tugger]

Bit like this you mean (dry version - no effects/compression etc)?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Bv5KUJ ... sp=sharing

Did that with small diaphragm (pencil) condenser mic about 4 inches away from the guitar, pointed at the join between the body and neck, slightly towards the headstock end.

If there's still not enough attack, then try a transient shaper as well. Another cunning trick which sometimes works is to duplicate the guitar track and high pass this copy so you only hear the highs. Use a formant shifter to change the sound to avoid phase issues, compress the buggery out of it, and mix it back in with the original to taste.

You could also try a dynamic eq to emphasise the pick frequencies - bit like a reverse de-esser.

[comfybread]

Bit like this you mean (dry version - no effects/compression etc)?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Bv5KUJ ... sp=sharing

Did that with small diaphragm (pencil) condenser mic about 4 inches away from the guitar, pointed at the join between the body and neck, slightly towards the headstock end.

If there's still not enough attack, then try a transient shaper as well. Another cunning trick which sometimes works is to duplicate the guitar track and high pass this copy so you only hear the highs. Use a formant shifter to change the sound to avoid phase issues, compress the buggery out of it, and mix it back in with the original to taste.

You could also try a dynamic eq to emphasise the pick frequencies - bit like a reverse de-esser.

Yes! this is exactly the sound I was looking for, will test it out and let you update on it.

Question about this:

1. Does it matter which type of body & string the acoustic guitar has? Wondering which model (and if you changed your strings, which one have you used) + Pick as well

2. Is it one pencil mic, instead of stereo pairing? Plus which pencil mic have you used?

3. Is your room acoustically treated?

4. Does it matter how hard / softly you strum or it doesn't matter at all?

[donkey tugger]

Yes! this is exactly the sound I was looking for, will test it out and let you update on it.

Question about this:

1. Does it matter which type of body & string the acoustic guitar has? Wondering which model (and if you changed your strings, which one have you used) + Pick as well

2. Is it one pencil mic, instead of stereo pairing? Plus which pencil mic have you used?

3. Is your room acoustically treated?

4. Does it matter how hard / softly you strum or it doesn't matter at all?

It's a few years old that! But I reckon;

1 It was my old epiphone AJ something or other. It's a bog standard dreadnaught on the cheap end - nothing special! Strings were elixir nanoweb (probably 11 standard set), and the pick is always (for whatever guitar I play..) the very thinnest dunlop white one.

2. Just a mono setup - I think it was my either my Sontronics STC1, or a Behringer C-2

3 Nope! It's quite big as well. If you're close miking like this you don't get a lot of room sound anyway generally - the Sontronics mic in particular is quite focussed.

4. I'm a bit of a thrasher, but given the thickness of the plectrum, you'd struggle however hard you play to get it too boomy..

Hope all that is of some use.