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Hi,

Whenever I mike-up an acoustic guitar, it always seems to drown out all the other instruments and singers.

No matter how I adjust the equaliser settings for that channel, nothing seems to make a significant difference.

I'm sure someone will be able to help me with this!

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Cucco Tue, 11/29/2005 - 06:41

Uhhh, sorry. I don't mean to sound like a smart ass (though I am one...)

Lower the volume on the guitar. :-?

If it's drowning folks out, then the fader or the gain (or both) need to be brought down to a more appropriate level. EQ won't do anything to make it less dominant (unless you lower the output of the EQ, but then you're just doing the same thing as lowering the fader on the channel...)

J. 8-)

Cucco Tue, 11/29/2005 - 09:18

Something sounds a bit odd then.

Gain/Amplitude is not an all or nothing thing - you should be able to find a happy medium. Otherwise, I'm assuming you mean that, unamplified, the guitar is inaudible; however, with even the lowest levels of amplification possible, then the guitar is overpowering.

If that is the case, then it's a case of poor performance.

Are you DI'ing your guitar? In other words, your not taking the line out of the guitar directly into the mixer, are you?

J

McCheese Tue, 11/29/2005 - 13:04

Unless this is a classical performance, you need to get a direct signal from the guitar. Compress it, then you should be able to adjust the volume easily.

Or staple his feet to the floor.

Micing acoustics in a band environment is a waste of effort. It's very difficult to get it right, and then the guitarist moves.

AUD10 Wed, 11/30/2005 - 06:01

Mic positioning

Doh! That's exactly what I have been doing! Thanks IIR :) The mic was pointing directly at the sound hole and very close and I had noticed that the level at which feedback was occurring was much lower than usual!

How far away should the mic be from the neck/body join of the guitar?

Thanks.

Cucco Wed, 11/30/2005 - 06:08

Ahhh... good catch McCheese on the classical part - it truly is a different beast to mic.

Aud10 - try at least a foot away from the instrument. Since so much of the classical guitar sound is a synergy of pick, instrument, string resonation and everything else, I would strongly recommend a condenser if possible (or a Senn 441).

J.