Townsend Labs Sphere L22 Precision Microphone System Guide Recording Acoustic Guitar
45
Stereo Guitar
One Mic
For a rich, spacious sound it is often desirable to record acoustic guitar in stereo. A wonderful
feature of the Sphere system is recording in stereo with one mic using the Townsend Labs Sphere
180 plug-in. By rotating the mic 90° off-axis, the front and back correspond to the left and right
channel outputs, respectively.
One major benefit of this approach is that the two capsules are close enough to avoid the phase
issues that can occur with non-coincident stereo mic placement. Although coincident mic techniques
tend to produce a narrower stereo image than some others, the Sphere’s back-to-back capsule
configuration produces the widest stereo spread of any coincident setup, and is comparable in width
to spaced pairs. We recommend using a cardioid or supercardioid pattern for both outputs, with
supercardioid producing a wider stereo image.
A good starting point is to place the mic around the 12th fret of the guitar. For some guitars, this may
result in too much bass from the bridge or a thin trebly sound from the neck, so move the mic
between them to find the sweet spot (see Figure 7-3).
Figure 7-3 Recording acoustic guitar in stereo with one mic near neck
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