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One of the things I love so much about a Gibson J-30 is that it sings so much in the upper register. Theres a little trick you can do when you record a lively acoustic to make it have a gutsier sound when youre playing the high notes.

Say youve got that medium pattern cardioid set on one side of the sound hole. As you enter the section where youre gonna rock up top, turn to the side some so that the mic gets more of the sound directly from the sound hole. In the upper register the guitar wont be as boomy on the bass end, and some of the added low frequency sound from the guitar will add strength to the sound.

Remember that if youre using compression on the track that the strong signal sent by working the mic this way will push the compressor harder, so make sure the compressor doesnt squash the sound and defeat the effect. What you can achieve by doing this is a much more dynamic track where the acoustic changes color as you play through different sections.

A guitarist Ive been working with lately who is a master of working the mic like this is Ezra Idlet of Trout Fishing in America. We did several tracks in Studio B recently where he played acoustic with piano, bass, and drums live in the room with the mics set to allow a little bleed. The room sound of the tracks was incredible, but we depended on the players to "work the mics" so the dynamics of the performance didnt have to be " fixed in the mix". Weve cut a lot of stuff in the room without headphones so the pickers could hear the natural sound of the room, but headphones were the rule in this case, so we could hear the effects of "working the mics".

Producer and multi-instrumentalist Fred Bogert is the owner of Studio C Productions. which operates out of two facilities; the Historic RCA Studio B and the old RCA Studio C. Both facilities are located in the heart of Nashville's Music Row. Fred invites you to email him questions about recording techniques at fbogert@gibson.com.