Acoustic Guitar and Vocals

I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this. I want to sing & play acoustic guitar at the same time and record it as well. I have (2) Shure sm 81's and a Shure KSM 44 mic. I know how to mic an acoustic and I get some great sounds. Now I want to capture my vocals all together. I'm trying to avoid the process of laying down the acoustic tracks 1st, then laying down a seperate vocal track. I want to do this the "old-fashioned" way and capture that "vibe and energy of singing and playing at the same time". I would luv to do this in stereo if possible. I don't mind the "bleeding" into the mics as I can use this to my advantage. Can someone with experience using this technique offer me some suggestions on mic setup and should I be using a particular type of mic (or mics). I'm playing around with this, but I really feel I need some advice from the "Pros" as I feel I'm missing something in the recording process. This is being done in my home studio ( not live on-stage). I would greatly appreciate some help with this technique, some proven and tried methods. I know there are plenty of links on recording just an acoustic, but not with vocals at the same time. Thanks.

ORIGINAL: lhansen

I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this. I want to sing & play acoustic guitar at the same time and record it as well. I have (2) Shure sm 81's and a Shure KSM 44 mic. I know how to mic an acoustic and I get some great sounds. Now I want to capture my vocals all together. I'm trying to avoid the process of laying down the acoustic tracks 1st, then laying down a seperate vocal track. I want to do this the "old-fashioned" way and capture that "vibe and energy of singing and playing at the same time". I would luv to do this in stereo if possible. I don't mind the "bleeding" into the mics as I can use this to my advantage. Can someone with experience using this technique offer me some suggestions on mic setup and should I be using a particular type of mic (or mics). I'm playing around with this, but I really feel I need some advice from the "Pros" as I feel I'm missing something in the recording process. This is being done in my home studio ( not live on-stage). I would greatly appreciate some help with this technique, some proven and tried methods. I know there are plenty of links on recording just an acoustic, but not with vocals at the same time. Thanks.

You have the perfect set of mics for that application ! The SM-81 is THE acoustic guitar mic and the KSM 44 is one of the best vocal mics available. You would have to try to fail to get a bad sound from that setup Even with bleed those mics are directional enough that you will still get plenty of adjustment out of each track. After a few tries you will begin to hear how mic placement affects the recording. If voice and guitar are the only elements in the mix then use both SM-81s and record the guitar in stereo, I would start with one at the nut and one at the 12th fret back at least a foot (center of the instrument). That one will pick up plenty of low end on most guitars without causing that "boomy" sound you get if the mic is too close to the sound hole. Think about it.. would you want to put your ear there ? Don't make the mic do that either unless it's very light finger picking and you need the detail. If the guitar is loud keep the mic back at the 12th fret. The nut mic is just for string zing and bigness to create a true stereo sense of distance, space and size of the room, you can't get from close micing without washing out the entire track with reverb. The bleed to those two will also add a soundstage to the vocal track and entire recording so your room better not sound bad, stay away from walls so you don't get too many near reflections.

As for the 44, I would just hang it upside down and point it at my forhead so keep my breath and spit noise off axis to the diaphram.

Frank and MBGC,

Thanks guys. You're life-savers!! I never thought about using the 3 mics together like that! Now I can keep that stereo spread for the guitar. I scoured the Net looking for info and found very little. People like you make this forum great!! Someday when I know what the hell I'm doing, I can pass useful info on to others. I have a ton of original songs in the hopper, now I can put 'em to good use! You're the best man!!

There are not any rules to recording , as long as it sounds good I think .
I use 2 Neumenn 582 's and 2 Crowley & Tripp ribbon mics on my guitar ,
and a Lawson tube mic on the vocals, with the setting on figure 8.
I run all those through Universal Audio LA-610's and 6176's
then to a Mackie 1640 / firewire .
Sometimes I use my Pendulum Audio stereo preamp for a crisper acoustic sound.

More mics can give you a fatter , juicy , harmonic clip that is expanded by the use of
various mics of which have different dynamics and tonal range . Don't worry about phaseing
you can correct all that in Sonar .

I use from 5-6 mics on a lot of my cabinets . Each mic brings something to the table.
Mic placement is very important though . You will have to find out what works best by
experimenting with what you have .

Best of Luck ,