Acoustic gig next week.

[gruvjack]

Yesterday, I got a call from a friend who teaches at a college nearby. His students want to do a simple show outdoors on campus. The set-up is a vocalist and his acoustic guitar. I don't normally do bands or live instruments with my PA so my knowledge and experience on this are fairly limited. I was wondering:

 

1. Is it better to use dynamic or condensor mics? I have two of Mark's Audiopile V-1 dynamic mics (the black ones like the SM58; I can't find them on his website anymore) and two MXL603S. When I needed an extra mic for an outdoor speech gig, I used the 603 and it worked just fine.

 

2. How should I mic the guitar? Will having two mics is such close proximity be a problem? As far as I know, he will be standing up not sitting on a high stool or anything.

 

3. Should I consider a little compression for the vocals and/or the guitar? I have a dbx1066 which I can patch into the mic channels. I'm not talking about major compression here, just take a little off the top to tame the peaks.

 

I'll be using 2 Yorkville NX55Ps and a Soundcraft mixer. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

V.

[Rbts]

You will be fine. I would just keep things as simple as possible. The SM58 clones should work just fine on two different mic stands... hopefully they are boom style mic stands so you can get the mics right where you want them. I would rather use a pickup on the guitar... which who knows maybe it will have one... or just micing it will work just fine. I do not think you will have that much trouble with the two mics "competing" with each other, and I do not think I would bother with a compressor for such a gig... again... keep it simple.

[gkhewitt]

Yes, keep it simple.

 

Is the guitar electro-acoustic? If so you can simply jack the guitar straight into the mixer (if it's not too far away). This will probably get a better sound than miking it in the outdoor context, even if the pickup isn't of great quality...

[gruvjack]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I don't know if the guitar is electric acoustic. I haven't met the performer yet.

 

A couple of months ago, I recorded a friend with a classical guitar (guitar and vocals on just one well placed condensor) and that turned out fine. But that was a quasi controlled environment. I'm thinking this outdoors gig could be a little more tricky.

 

So, using the compressor could make things more complicated? If that's the case, I'll keep it simple.

 

V.

[Rbts]

Sure... I mean at it's most basic level, the compressor is just one more thing to have to worry about. It is a fine tool of course (if it's a good one), for some other more complicated senario, where perhaps a tech oriented solution is required... but for a simple voice over acoustic guitar, you should not have to worry about compression. Just keep it simple, relax, and have fun.

[daklander]

That's the way I normally perform, solo acoustic.

Just use the two SM58 clones unless there is a pickup in the guitar, then use it alone or blend it with a mic on separate channels. (not really a bad way to go....)

If you have a stand-off clamp on mic adapter you'll only need one mic stand since the guy's standing. If not, as mentioned above, use two. If you have to mic the guitar set at about the body joint and point somewhat toward the sound hole, a bit over half way. That will give you some leeway for movement by the performer.

For that no compression but you may have to work some channel EQing and add a touch of reverb to taste on vox and guitar. Leave output EQ flat unless you need to cut for feedback freq's.