A Beginners guide to recording with one microphone

We live in a wonderful time when anyone can pick up their instrument and record straight from their bedroom. Today I am going to give you 2 methods for capturing an acoustic guitar and vocals using one microphone.

 

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What you need…

 

To begin recording, you will need a few things set up and planned before you get started.

1. A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) downloaded into your computer
2. Your audio interface connected to your DAW
3. Tracks created inside your DAW
4. Headphones to hear yourself while you record
5. The recording location. Always consider the acoustics in the room you are recording in. If you are recording in your bathroom and you don’t like the echos and reverb acoustics from your bathroom, then throw in some towels around you (helps capture sound) or choose a different location.

All the basic gear being used in these examples are mentioned in my post-Beginner Home Studio Equipment, you might find that you need some accessories before you start recording. 

 

Recording Tip 1

For these methods, it’s best to use a condenser microphone with a large diaphragm rather than a dynamic microphone since a condenser will be able to capture both instruments easily. If you only have a dynamic microphone, you will need to spend a little more time adjusting your gain to capture your sound. I will give you a word of caution though it won’t sound as sweet as the condenser microphone so if you can get your hands on a condenser that’ll be great. Here’s a link to a good budget condenser microphone, the Behringer C-1. If you have a bit more money to spend here is a sweet condenser to use, the Rode NT1-A.

Before we begin, I want to talk about what an audio stem is and why I am mentioning it at all.

 

What is a STEM?

 

Music stems are audio files that are broken down from a track or song into individual mixes. Let’s take “ Remember Me” for instance, the lullaby from the movie COCO. The song consists of an acoustic guitar, Hector’s voice, and little Mama Coco’s voice. Each voice and instrument gets its individual STEM and then gets put together into one whole track later on. Of course, there isn’t a rule that says each instrument in a track has to have its own stem, but it is nice to have more control of your sound once we begin mixing. During the mixing stage of your music production, the audio engineer will need to clean up, EQ, compress, and, my favorite, add effects such as reverb, delay, etc… Giving the engineer more sway to the individual track or stem. Also, this will help your music get out on Spotify as quickly as possible, who wouldn’t want that?

It’s okay if we are still confused, things will get much clearer once we start recording. In method #1, we are going to create a single stem consisting of one vocal and one guitar.

 

Method #1: Single Stem

Method 1 will require you to record the vocal and guitar at the same time. If you are looking to create a demo or an old-school feel, this method can work and can be much simpler than method #2. Like every recording session, you will undergo several trials and errors to find the sweet spot. I am assuming you are the musician, the audio engineer, and the producer in your home studio, so everything will require a bit of time and patients. If you don’t have all the gear, that is okay, use what you have. Recording requires you to truly listen to your playbacks so don’t be afraid to keep moving your microphone around in different angles or positions. Also, remember to adjust your gain as needed, you don’t want to be distorting your audio tracks so check your signal meter through your DAW or audio interface.

 

Microphone Placement

Every time I record 2 instruments with one microphone, I always ask myself which instrument needs to be emphasized more than the other. In this case with one guitar and one singer, try to position the microphone closer to the singer’s mouth to spotlight the singer’s performance. This will put the guitar more in the background on the track instead of the front end with the vocals. Your listeners will also want to hear the lyrics you worked hard on so why have the guitar overpower your words?

When the guitar solo begins, have the guitar player aim their acoustic sound hole closer to the microphone if possible, then back off again when the singer comes in. Try not to move so much during the recording, but just enough to capture a bigger sound for the guitar during an important solo or musical phrase.

Here is a pic of me with my sweet spot… Remember your sweet spot might require you to be closer to the guitar or closer to the singer’s mouth. Move the microphone around to find your sweet spot.

 

Method #2: Double Stems

For this method, we will be recording the vocals and the guitar separately. I would start with recording the guitar first, leaving the vocals for last. A personal favorite of mine is Method # 2 because it will give you more control over your tracks when you are ready for the mixing stage. You can individually EQ each stem to cut off any unwanted frequency, use compression to warm up the vocals, add different effects to manipulate the sound, and so much more. Now we are still going to use one microphone, but if you have two you can use the same techniques and perform at the same time.

 

Recording Tip 2

I recommend trying out the previous method if you haven’t already, the reason being it’ll help out with Method 2, and it’s good to practice a variety of recording techniques. You might find that method 1 works better for you than method 2.

 

If you used method 1 or have a demo track ready, begin by placing the demo track in the same DAW project file as the one you will be recording in. The demo will be a reference for you to playback or follow while you record your guitar. Remember you are creating a separate stem from the demo. Recording the acoustic guitar first can be a benefit because the guitarist can add a solo or extra guitar pickings in the mix.

 

Mic Placement

When recording any instrument, it’s best to figure out where the low, mid, and high frequencies live on that particular instrument. For an acoustic guitar, you will receive a lot of the low end if you put the microphone closer to the sound hole. Putting the microphone closer to the neck and away from the sound hole can also create a thinner sound. Again if that is what you are looking for great, but I prefer to have the best of both worlds and have a balanced sound, creating less work for me later on in the mix.

 

Guitar

Have your microphone stand about a foot away and in front of the sound hole of your guitar. Aim the microphone right where the body and neck meet, that can be on the 12th or 13th fret of your guitar. Remember to do a sound check and move the microphone around if you have to.

 

Vocals

Now that you got your guitar sound recorded, create a new track in your DAW so the singer can have their audio stem.

The reflection of your room can make or break your track so the best thing you can do to record your vocals is to get away from the walls. If your only option is your closet full of your grandpa’s blazers that is okay too! When you find that sweet spot, remember to use a pop filter before you do a final recording to capture the plosives in your mix. The pop filter should be about four inches away from the microphone and the singer about six inches to 8 inches away from the mic so you can get a nice balanced sound. Too close to the microphone will give you a lot of boominess in your mix and standing too far from the mic will be hard to capture the details of the singer’s voice.

 

Conclusion

That’s pretty much it. Recording at home isn’t difficult to do it’s just mentally hard to get started with all this new terminology and gear that you barely know. Talking about gear, use what you have on hand, and don’t go out buying expensive gear thinking that it’ll give you better recordings.

 

If you like this post consider leaving a comment down below. Also, let me know if you have any questions or if you’d like more information about starting your home studio. Shalom.