In the late 60s, I played acoustic guitar, sitar and koto at a restaurant, The House of Chin, by the University of Illinois-Urbana campus. Perhaps not the most appropriate choice of instruments for a Chinese eatery, the gig did provide a regular meal. All the instruments were ‘acoustic.’ Only one of them belonged to me.
I rarely owned more than one guitar, but had access to a wide array of both acoustic and electric instruments anyway. I’d borrow from other musicians. Retailers and distributors gave me instruments to show off on stage. Best of all, I got asked by luthiers to road test their latest acoustic steel-string guitars.
The steel strings themselves produce artifacts that broaden a composer’s palette. Their long sustain and decay are great tools for orchestration. Most importantly, steel-string acoustic guitars hold ‘alternative’ tuning—key to making a solo guitar sound like an ‘ensemble.’
The average tension of the steel-strings on a 6-string acoustic guitar, in ‘standard’ tuning, is 150 lbs from bridge to nut. I was struck early on—and I am still amazed—that some humans can take wood and white glue to build instruments sturdy enough to withstand the tension of steel strings and still project such beautiful tones—without onboard electronics. You don’t have to plug in. ECO friendly?
This brings us to a fine line that makes a big difference when discussing guitar sound; the distinction between a plugged-in ‘acoustic’ guitar and one that isn’t plugged-in.
ELECTRIC acoustic vs. ACOUSTIC guitar recordings
What does an ‘acoustic’ guitar sound like? In both recordings and performance, it all depends on how the sound is captured: indirect (by microphones) or direct (by cable). You’re not listening to an ‘acoustic’ guitar unless you’re hearing sound waves pushed by the guitar itself, without using onboard electronics. That requires microphones.
Another issue is the music itself. What makes a song unplugged? According to Wiktionary, “acoustic music consists of songs created to be featured by acoustic instruments. Unplugged performances are arrangements of songs composed with electric instruments, which are transformed into acoustic versions.” So, it’s not only the sound that’s different. The composition/orchestration process may be affected as well.
I use mics-only on all of my initial recordings because it best replicates the music as created. A good representation are the solo guitar tracks on the all-instrumental Eddie Watches Flo album. They were culled from over 30 years of recordings using various guitars, studios and engineers. Each track is mastered by Andrew Arbetter (a fine guitarist in his own right), from its original indirect recording.
Despite being recorded years apart and in different places, they provoke a common feeling; a unique emotional space. To me, this distinctive sound is ‘what an acoustic guitar sounds like.’ Most importantly, how it feels. More intimate. More human?
Before anyone’s head explodes, I should point out that I also love electric guitars and the great artists who play them. We can walk and chew gum at the same time.