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C. Lynne 14 March 2022
Hi, I'm working on recording acoustic guitar and vocals using my zoom R16 track recorder. transferring them to Cubase 5 then editing, mixing mastering etc... My issue is getting my Acoustic Guitar to sound like it does when I play it live or through my fishman solo amp. I've tried all kinds of mics, room treatments, set up etc... but this is the best I've gotten and it sounds too metally, and tin can like, Any thoughts on working with it in cubase or ?? Recorded both mic'd ( with at2020 and through guitar pedal) and lined in. guitar Taylor 314ce

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audiokid Tue, 03/15/2022 - 00:43

Hi there, welcome to RO.  Your sound is not bad... a thinner acoustic guitar track can be preferred when layered with bass ( lower frequency counterparts in a mix). So you may be happy with the at2020 for that.  

Thank you for sharing the audio clip!

Being said,

I think the sound you are probably looking for would require a SDC (small diaphragm microphone) mic. The at2020 is a LDC (mayb better for vocals too?) An SDC usually sound more focused, generally choice for acoustic guitars, especially as the main mic for the guitar.

To chat on about stuff.. In other words, if I was buying a first mic for an acoustic, an SDC would probably be the better choice, or first choice. You get more guitar, less room with an SDC. Nothing is right or wrong but just saying. At the end of the day, whatever works, work! ;)

Mixing, if I have a guitar track with with both SDC and LDC, where example it was tracked with an SDC pointed at the 12th fret and the LCD positioned example over to the side back 10 feet in the room to add ambience, that can give you a really big and open sound. . When mixing the track, the majority of that acoustic guitar would likely come from from the SDC. In your case the at2020 would add room space. Where did you place your at2020 in the room?  Maybe a different position would be better

Below.
Check out this video.  SDC, aiming in on the "12 fret"  adjusting until you get the sweet spot.

There are some excellent topics about this subject that might help: https://recording.o…

audiokid Tue, 03/15/2022 - 13:44

Thin sound can also be due to a converter / preamp. Tracking at lower level can help warm up converters, same for preamps.

Other mics you can try are ribbon or dynamic mics. Ribbons are warmer, dynamics can help reduce bad acoustic reflections. For those two type of mic you may need an In-Line Signal Booster like the dBooster or Cloudlifter

I particularly love recording with Royer ribbon mics. The R-121 and SF series are awesome.

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