This is the ninth installment in guest blogger Steve Lagudi’s series on Guitars & Bass in a Live Setting – if you missed his latest post – Part 2 of his series on Dynamics and Effects – you can read it here. I know…you are probably thinking, acoustic guitars in metal and hard rock?! Yep, it does happen. There are two usual approaches when dealing with acoustics. Some have a built-in pickup, which can sound good, but oftentimes doesn’t, so using a good DI box and bypassing (setting flat) any of the tone controls can give you something better to work with. The second approach: using mics on it. Once again, it can be either a dynamic, condenser, or a combination of both mics and even a combination of the mics and the DI.
On the road again.
From time to time when I was working in a venue, some players would come in with their own mics. I remember one time I had a guy bring in a beautiful vintage ribbon mic, that sounded outstanding. Personally, I would be careful doing that, old ribbon mics can NOT get phantom power or else you will fry the super thin ribbon and the owner will not be happy with you. Nowadays, ribbons cannot only take phantom power, they require it, and they can handle high SPL (sound pressure levels), and are more durable especially in a live setting. Typically for my applications I deal with using the DI and built-in preamps from the guitars. The acoustic might only get used on one song, or just certain parts, and is brought on and off stage with a wireless transmitter on it, so it just makes more sense to go that route. Other times, with different styles of music, the acoustic might be the main guitar. In that case I will put up some mics. The player is usually familiar with this method and will actually sit still and make sure that when they play they stay in front of the mics. If they don’t, well, then you will have a joy of a time dealing with them moving around. Hopefully that is not the case. Most of the time, when putting a mic on an acoustic, people like to mic up the sound hole, simply because this is where most of the sound and tone comes from. However, you can get an even better sound when you put another mic pointing towards the fret board. The sound hole mic gives a lot of bottom and low-end, while the fret mic picks up a much brighter sound giving you the definition. Also ask the musician what they like. There is a good chance they can tell you what is best, and many acoustic players tend to know what their instrument is capable of doing and not doing. Look for Part 2 of Steve’s blog on acoustic guitars on Wednesday, July 23!