Acoustic Guitar
When recording a solo acoustic guitar a good starting point is to
position the R84 4 to 8 inches (10-20 cm) away from the guitar
roughly pointing at the 12th fret or where the neck meets the body.
This placement will capture clear midrange and pick articulation with a
balanced low end.
Since the bass response of the R84 is sensitive to the miking distance,
try rotating the mic to use its excellent horizontal off-axis performance to
find the “sweet spot”. Try pulling the microphone away from the guitar in
increments of 1 to 2 inches (2-5 cm). Listen to the guitar up close and
when you find a spot that sounds good, try putting the R84 there. Let
your ears be your guide.
Electric Guitar
To capture an authentic and balanced guitar tone with your R84, place
the mic directly in front of the amp grille. Identify where the center of
the speaker cone is located, and place the R84 4 to 8 inches (10-20
cm) away from the speaker. Pointing the mic at the center of the cone
will deliver a very direct, “in-your-face” sound. This is the spot that
will obtain the most high-frequency content. If it sounds too harsh, try
moving the microphone slightly off center of the speaker cone. You
can also try positioning the R84 at an angle. You will find that small
differences in positioning can make huge differences in the sound,
so experiment until you find the spots you like. Close up, the R84 is very
good at spotlighting a speaker’s unique sounds at various locations.
When using multiple microphones on a guitar cabinet at the same time,
it is important to pay attention to the phase relationship between the
different signals. Try to position the different microphones as close
to each other as possible to avoid phase problems caused by sound
arriving at the microphones at slightly different path lengths. Make sure
to listen to the combined signal summed to mono to catch potential
comb filtering that could be caused by out-of-phase signals. If you are
recording with the back lobe of the R84, it is important to invert the
polarity on the preamp or DAW.
For a more natural sound that captures the sound of the amp in your
room, try moving the microphone back a couple of feet.
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