On Record

Recording acoustic guitars at home can be frustrating and rewarding in equal measure - Michael Watts shares some hard-won advice

- SE CHLEO HERMAN LI SIGNATURE

Anyone who has pointed a condenser mic at an acoustic guitar in the hope of hearing an accurately captured and musically inspiring recording upon playback may have instead felt disappointment at the opposite. I know I have. The acoustic guitar – whether flattop or archtop, steel- or nylon-strung, flat-wound or rubber-bridged – can be a bit of a pain to capture, especially for the self-recording player. The reality is the vast majority of acoustic recordings are tracked, at best, in a modest home studio, or, at worst, a completely untreated bedroom (or toilet...). Quality of sound at source is a vital part of the process. I had an in-depth chat with Nashville studio ace Rory Rositas (Tommy Emmanuel, Bryan Sutton) who has this to offer on the subject.

“I’ve always said a good song transcends a bad recording, but for any recording the source is the most important part. If the source doesn’t sound the way you want it, then the recording will also not sound the way you want it. Getting the sound at source makes recording easier. That’s the first step.”