Amazing acoustic guitar in a tiny apartment.

[bronsonmestizo]

So I've been working with the 2-610 for a while. The only really nice mics (mikes, mic's) I had in my closet were a pair of 414 B-XLS. They sounded great in my old digs, a 3,500 sq. ft. warehouse with tons of carefully placed treatment.

I left my home town and cushy recording environment for a job at a great studio here, in right-outside-of Athens, GA. I moved in to a small, yet convenient apartment in downtown Athens. Spent a couple hundred bucks, dove in dumpsters and scavenged refuse materials from job sites and sound treated my living room. But, to my dismay, the 414s just weren't translating well. I had to alter my playing to get passible performances, and still was never happy with the results.

So today, my used R84 came in the mail. After testing it's response with test tones, I sat down and tracked 2 songs. The mic has an almost tape-like control over the dynamics when I play. It smoothes out the attack in a very pleasing way. I'm able to play with real emotion, and once I find the sweet spot, I can really focus on the music and just let the mic do it's job. Another thing I noticed was the subtlety of the high end. It's there, but it's subdued. It has sparkle, but in a more natural way than most condensers.

As for the 414, I placed it as close as was safe to my strumming hand in omni to capture some sparkle. Muted it during tracking and just barely faded it in to taste when I was done. It really suited the R84, which was placed about 16" away running parallel to the neck slightly off axis so that it faced the bridge as well.

All of this to say, it really is not "All about the gear." It's all about the gear doing it's job so you can give your full attention to the moment.

[accordion squeezist]

I tried a M179 omni right next to the player's hand in conjunction with a SDC at the 12th fret and was surprised how much stupid fingerpadding noise was reduced instead of augmented. I was able to blend it in.

[bronsonmestizo]

Due to phase cancellation? Was it killing the picking hand sound or the sliding up and down the neck sound? Those "Squeak squawk" sounds drive me crazy.

[accordion squeezist]

ok, the first take was single SDC out from the 12th fret. It had this annoying fingerthumping I had never gotten before; the guy was keeping tempo w/ a finger on the right hand while fingerpicking. Plus he was "inching" the guitar toward the mic as I turned by back and hit the red button.
so, I put the LDC omni right there next to his hand, in conjunction with the SDC and on the next take the thumping was very reduced and the track was usable. Not a phase cancellation, it's still reduced when the trk is soloed. Beats me.
Plus, having the omni right there kept him from trying get the guitar closer than 16" from the SDC.

Can't wait to try it with a ribbon as you describe.

[alkooloid]

Coated strings can really cut down on "squeak".

[accordion squeezist]

True.
This was not string noise "squeek". This was subconscious tempo padding on the soundboard with a picking finger.
String noise is not always harsh and undesirable in my book. Sometimes it is really beautiful.