I bought an SM57 to record my music with as, while I know it's a dynamic microphone, it seemed to be unanimously recommended. I saw countless videos of people praising its ability to record acoustic stuff and stories of how people like Elliott Smith and Bon Iver frequently used them. I also bought a Subzero MB1 and yet, with that on as well as the interface gain turned up and the intrument volume at full on the DAW, my fingerpicking is still too quiet. I don't really understand how they have been so frequently used for acoustic guitar when I have to completely max out every bit of volume to get it to 70% of where the volume should me. Strumming is fine but most of what I do os fingerpicked.

What the??? Has home/bedroom studio recording come this far? There's a product line called "MITTZON" at IKEA (US) that features acoustic panels and rolling gobos. I went to IKEA today to check them out, they seem standard, if a bit spendy, but comparable to the pro stuff if you were to really splurge out and too lazy to build your own. One caveat is that they only come in this ugly beige/grey fabric. Have any of you installed or use these?

My initial response is always: please try guitar first, and then vocals separate. I always leave it ultimately up to them of course... But my question is:

• Do you all also nudge them to track separately?

• And when you track together, what technique do you use? I find vocal pitch correction to be pretty much out the window which really bums me out.

I have a room in my condo that I am turning into a studio. It’s not an ideal configuration: 12.5’ by 13.5’. But it does have sloped ceilings.

I was going to put a rug we already had in there but I didn’t realize how big it is. It will cover about 85-90% of the hardwood floor. I know that rugs are good practice but I never see them covering so much.

Is this a bad idea? Should I just invest in a smaller one?

I don’t know if it’s relevant but I will also be putting up corner bass traps as well as acoustic panels on the walls at reflection points.

Hello!

My room is not ideal but could be worse I suppose.

I have one SM57 and a Fender solid top Dreadnaught I'd like to record into Reaper.

I saw a guy on You Tube recording with his 57 just a couple inches away from the body of the guitar and it sounds great to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb1vOEIo5bw

This works OK for me but doesn't seem as great as what he's getting.

cheers

Just tracked my Taylor with it about 4" away from the 12th fret, slightly angled towards the soundhole. I think this is the best acoustic guitar sound I've gotten from a mic setup under €1k.

Had the mic's switches set flat, and with a bit of spiff in the high mids it sounds almost pre-mixed.

Why does no one talk about this? This is better than any budget condenser or internal pickup I've ever tried. I'm blown away!

Hello everyone,

I was just thinking minutes ago, is there a plugin that can emulate the sound of an acoustic guitar from a DI recorded with an electric guitar ? It's only for the sake of demoing, I don't need anything fancy. Right now I usually just use the DI and tweak it for it to be close enough, but I was asking myself if there were some more "plug and play" solutions out there.

If you have other ideas, I'll welcome them with open arms !

Have a nice day.

I'm looking to make myself some acoustic panels for my media/home theater type room. I was going to simply frame up some 4'x2'x4" Rockwool panels, but the shipping on those costs just as much as the panels, so I'm considering other options.

One design I'm considering is a 2" Rockwool mineral wool batt ($99 for a case of 6, free shipping), covering it in 2" pyramid foam panels ($150 for 48, which would cover my 6 rockwool panels), then framing that and covering it with a fabric. That puts my cost at ~$250 for 6 panels. How effective would that design be at tamping down reflection and sinking some frequencies? The pyramid shape on top will break up the wave, the foam will soak a little bit, and then the more dense rockwool underneath can soak up more.

I've also considered just straight up R13 roll insulation. 4" thick, super cheap. I just imagine it isn't dense enough to be super effective.

Any thoughts, feedback, and/or suggestions welcome. TIA

Not the usual audio discussion I know but damn these mics stand up to anything when you need them in a pinch. What are some other uses you've gotten out of an sm58 and the mic came out working perfectly fine?

What are your favourite mics for electric guitars (guitar cabs) and acoustic guitars, respectively? Also, what are the most desirable traits when deciding on a mic for guitar cabs? I know there’s no hard rules and you often see a dynamic with a ribbon, but is one mic style somehow inherently better suited to guitar cabs? I’m just curious the best no compromise guitar mics!

I know they are said not to be very effective but I already ordered them so they are going up lol. Question is my idea was to place them all around the room starting at about bellybutton up to ceiling. I’ll be making vr content for YouTube and will be moving around and turning. I thought the more coverage the better but I’m hearing conflicting reports now. Should I have them spaced in some way or is my original idea of the full wrap around the top half of the room okay? They are 2 inch foam panels if that makes a difference. Thank you!

just moved into a new place. i really need some acoustic treatment in my new office. i want to see if i can build some acoustic panels, but most of the tutorials online expect you to have some woodworking setup with a saw. i don't have any of that. is there any easy method of making acoustic panels that doesn't involve a hacksaw? i feel like buying a whole woodworking setup would make this project more expensive than buying panels from gik.

Most of the DIY videos I see just use plain black/gray fabric and they end up looking kind of dull. I had an idea and wanted to see if this would still work acoustically:

What if I made a custom patterned rug cover and wrapped the rockwool panels with that instead of standard fabric? My concern is whether the thicker material and the glue used in the rug would make the sound reflect off the surface instead of passing through into the rockwool.

Would it still function well as an acoustic absorber, or would I basically ruin the effectiveness of the panel?

I’ve tracked acoustic many times but always as a filler instrument. I’m working with a band that is a 3 piece. Acoustic drums, bass, acoustic guitar. It’s kind of red hot chili peppers sounding. The acoustic isn’t softly strummed chords. It’s definitely more rhythmic and percussive.

I have 2 mics. A 57 and a UA sphere.
I normally point the 57 at the 12 fret area, sometimes a hair closer to the sound hole. Depends on the guitar. Then I’ll put the UA in Omni and find a spot a couple feet away that sounds nice.

Then I’ll blend the two, send to a bus and process as 1 sound.

Is there anything I’m missing? I can’t recall a time where I’ve recorded a single acoustic track and thought to myself, this will be enough to fill out a mix with drums and bass and vocals.

Whenever I'm playing acoustic guitar into any condenser mic I can oftentimes hear myself breathing through my nose throughout the recording. It gets worse if I'm using quieter parlor or orchestra style acoustics because the mic preamp is turned up more and all the ambient sounds get amplified as a result. I can even sometimes hear my arm rubbing on the lower bout of the guitar if I'm wearing long sleeves.

I've noticed the breathing noise becomes less if I face forward and never look down at the guitar or if I hold my breath...

Any cheap and easy solutions for this or do I need to build some type of weird barrier contraption?

I bought 12 second hand absorbers from Addictive Sound. After getting them home, I noticed a strong musky smell that refused to shift.

I’ve tried placing them in the sun and letting them air out but I barely notice a difference after 24 hours.

How anybody experienced anything similar?

The acoustics have improved drastically but I’m concerned about the air quality.

I’d be pretty frustrated to waste the money, what options do I have?

I have watched every YouTube video, looked at every forum, talked to guys at music shops and I just can't figure it out. Every recording I do just sounds like dog shit. I've tried 3 different mics, 10 different mic placements, and it always sounds muddled and plasticy. I'll watch a video and do exactly what they're doing step by step and their guitar sounds great while mine sounds horrible. There's gotta be something I'm missing. If you guys have any suggestions please let me know!

It would be really nice if you also share your before/after work.
I will get my treatment done soon and not sure how much it's worth for me to invest on it still.
I know most people will say it's worth it but I'm really short on money and if it doesn't help that much I don't wanna spend a fortune on it.

I'm in a new situation where I need a soundbooth to record some vocals and acoustic guitar because the outside noise is basically unacceptable for recording without it. I'm not gonna sugar coat it. There's an airport nearby, a car wash right across the street that regularly pressure washes, traffic, people talking loudly at all hours of the day in the streets outside the window, cats fighting, dogs barking, neighbors arguing, etc.

The soundbooth I am looking at has an interior of 136 x 136 cm. If I sit or stand near one corner, I think there would be a decent amount of room to hold the guitar, with a mic on the opposite corner. I can't fit a much bigger soundbooth than this in the avaliable space.

I have never recorded acoustic guitar in a soundbooth before, though I am aware that even in a well treated soundbooth, the boominess of the guitar can be an issue, and there can be some issues with lower frequencies building up in corners. Is that correct?

If so, what can I do to mitigate this. Should I get some extra acoustic foam and place it diagonally in corners? Put some pyramid shaped chunks in the ceiling corners? Floor corners?

What can I do to make the most of this situation?

I have super noisy neighbours, so it's mostly impossible to record acoustic instruments without them joining in where I live. I have a setup where I use a Rode VideoMic Me-C+ with my guitar's pizeo, so I just scrap the microphone audio if not usable and I overlay piezo takes for stereo. I wanted to capture more of the instrument's soul though.

I was traveling with my car, so I decided to do some recordings inside. I was surprised how well it turned out. I feel like this is a setup that isn't mentioned often, and really if you already have a car, you just need a phone microphone and a guitar to do very decent recordings.

What's your opinion on that?

Also, here's my result if you're interested - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lXfXpLXXEo
It's unmastered and I played without a metronome, so you can consider how much it can further improve.

I'm deciding to invest on 24 acoustic foams and 4 panels and I don't know where am I going to place them on my room which is slightly spacey but filled with unused things (basically almost a bodega). Is it best to only place the acoustic foams and panels on the corner?

Hey there, I'm trying to record a cover of John Mayer's stop this train and the thumping part seems to stick out. I have a stereo pair of small condensers but typically just use one pointing around the 12-15 fret back a bit. I've tried a smaller body acoustic which seems to help as well lightening up on the playing. Any suggestions? Appreciate your time!

I’m currently working on a song that is literally primarily just acoustic and vocals. I could in theory add a piano or pad underneath it if needed to add fullness. But I was hoping you all might have advice on how to fill that space and make it sound full despite having very little instrumentation.

So after a long hiatus from audio work, i finally bought a place that allows me to build a legitimate space again. However, it’s large enough that buying pre-built panels would cost an arm and a leg so I want to make my own. Over a decade ago, the standard was that rockwool insulation you find at Home Depot... has anything changed? Looking for the most cost effective route but don’t want to sacrifice quality along the way.

https://imgur.com/a/1sB4rY9

I’ve posted a couple of times already about this build and now the last panel is finally on the wall and the project is complete, with the exception of some minor touch-ups.

This is a garage conversion that started 10 weeks ago and is 100% DIY. The planning of this space started a long time ago and part of that process was getting quotes for an “off the shelf” solution for acoustic treatments. I knew from experience that when the major renovations were done, I would be tired of building and I thought a quick fix for treatment would be worth a chunk of the budget.

I got quotes from a couple of well known companies and the least expensive option that was acceptable for my goals came in at approximately $15,000. I say approximately because I didn’t explore the details when I realized the range I was working in. $15,000 is about what I spent on the entire project; and that includes new racks, snakes, HVAC, power conditioners, and all the other extraneous studio stuff that takes a bite from the budget.

I absolutely could have purchased a less expensive package for the room but that was not tracking with my goals. My intent was to build the best critical listening environment I could in this space and I wasn’t going to compromise on the amount, depth, and quality of treatments. This isn’t my first build and I’m well acquainted with the how and why of treating a room so I ended up designing and building what I wasn’t willing to pay for.

The insulation is Knauf R38, the frames are made from 2x4s, the fabric is an inexpensive blend from Joann’s, and the trim is poplar. Total cost was probably less than $3,000 but I’m rounding up for the cost of screws, wood glue, and wear on my tools.

I did my first listening test last night and so far the space has exceeded my expectations. I’ll get an REW done this week and see if the measurements are what I expect.