gat mic techniques

[bee]

What is the best way to mic up a gat to get a full sound like the foo fighters.My recorded gats always sounds weak.

[Dragon]

Do you mean a git (guitar)? A gat is a gun. It takes quite a special mic with a high SPL rating to properly mic a gat, not to mention all the problem with holes in the studio. I suggest getting one of those sound effects CDs instead of using a gat in the studio...micing gits, though...that we can talk about all day!

[bee]

sorry yes i mean guitar.

[drstawl]

Important Data Request: Is this an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar? And what sort of "weakness" are <you> stressing over? I always stress over this, no matter how it sounds, so a more tangible reference frame would be an immense help to those diagnosing the problem and those lurking for clues as to how to do it right. Any chance of you posting
an .mp3 sample of the sounds you consider weak?

[SteveC]

first.. get a good guitar/amp sound

Use a dynamic mic - a few inches from the cab and off centre from the speaker cone (helps if you can remove the grille). Most people would swear by an SM57, but I get better results with a cheap, crappy vocal mic which seems to have some midrange peaks that suit my sound. it's best to experiment with different mics and positions. Move the mic rather than tweaking the EQ

if you can afford the tracks for a stereo signal, there's lots of tricks to make the sound fatter. feed the signal to two tracks - apply a fractional delay or pitch shift (or both) to one of the signals and pan them hard left and right - this should sound HUUUGE

have fun - if it makes you smile, it's working



[This message has been edited by SteveC (edited 06-08-2000).]

[Cakey2]

I'm having a similar problem.

I'm trying to mic up my Marshallo Master Lead Combo (solid state form early 80s), distortion from my zoom 3030, with an SM 57 and an AKG C3000.

The sound that I hear from the amp is OK (not brilliant - it's an aging solid state amp), but when I play back what I've recorded, it all sounds, well, a bit weedy.

I'm placing the 57 about 2ins from the grill, and its point at a slight angle at a point around an inch from the cone (I've tried other position, but this has been consistently the best of a bad bunch). The C3000 I've tried everywhere - rear of the cab, other speaker, in line with the 57 only a coupla feet away, and also about 6ft away (which _really_ sounds weak). Can't really get a sound I'm happy with.

Am I searching for something unattainable? I dunno, but any further tips would be appreciated.

Ta,

matt

[Recording Engineer]

Forget all that. I wanna find-out how you usually go about miking a gat. Hehe

[dbho]

Start with good gear. For acoustic I use Taylor's but I hear Martin's rock as well. Then for acoustic guitars, I play them through my Califorina Blond. I mic it with my M149 with no compression while tracking. I also run the pickup out at the same time and track that at the same time. I blend between the two and then shot it to whatever effects I want for that song (sometimes none). If you are PC recording, Normalize dude!.

DBHO

[pglewis]

*LOL* I wanted to be the smartass!

A couple of inches on the mic placement can make a big difference. Try monitoring through headphones while you (or preferably someone else) moves the mic around.

Also, if you're playing at a reasonable volume, try the finger in one ear trick. Try to find the "sweet spot" in front of the amp. Don't go blowin' yer eardrum out, be sensible.

[Tim Brown]

Hey Matt,

Try this.
Aim your Amp into a Corner, so that it forms a triangle. Then mic it from above pointing into the triangle.
I know that Guys in the late 60's and early 70's used to do this.

Tim

[Cakey2]

Thanks! I'll try that!

Any other suggestion (anything?) will be appreciated and tried out!

Ta,

matt

[tutton]

Hey R.E

I know how to mike a Gat

You point it right at the mics and pull the trigger .........but dont use Oktava's by the way

he he

Tony

[Recording Engineer]

Tony

Hehe!!!

Hey you better watch your mouth. Some newbie just might try that and sue you for giving him wrong information or something.

Stupider people have sued and won for even more stupid things than that.

Oktava??? That sounds like something the stupid newbie would say when he figured out it doesn't work... Maybe he shot his C3000? Maybe your suggestion isn't such a bad idea?

Ahhh Shiiit!!! I can see the flames comin' alreay.

[Recording Engineer]

Disclaimer:

The above was a joke.

[This message has been edited by Recording Engineer (edited 06-23-2000).]

[Fishmed]

The proper microphone needed to record a gat would be a "shotgun" mic.


[This message has been edited by Fishmed (edited 06-23-2000).]

[Recording Engineer]

Damn!!!

Shoulda seen it comin'!

[Sir Lee]

Hey Tony,
It's OK To Use An Oktava, But Only If It's NOT From The Sound Room Only
P Taylor

[Recording Engineer]

I like your way of thinking Sir Lee!!!

[tutton]

A ShotGun Mic A ShotGun Mic

for cristsakes now why didnt I think of that

Yeah Weston I knew you were joking BTW

cya

Tony

[newbones]

First step for improving what you hear coming from that amp is getting off of the xoom 3030

Check the pedals architecture. Probably a bitrate somewhere around 16, sampling rate somewhere below 35k

the source of your tone is lower than cd quality. If you want cd quality recordings you need cd quality input.

nb

[Jack Simpson]

Hey, I just got a 4-Track recorder and I am trying to record some songs. I am just recording guitar and drums at this point. I play through a Mesa and use a Kustom mic about 2 feet away in the center of the cabinet. I turned it up pretty loud and the result was a distorted recording, the level meter didn't peak above +3. Also I mixdown through my stereo system and the end result leaves me with a lot of noise. I don't have a mixer, should I get one?

[TXJethro]

There's another trick you can use to fatten your guitar sound, but first you have to like the sound your recording.

When first trying this don't run any effects other than distortion or compression (i.e. no delay, chorus, reverb etc.- Keep it dry)

1. Record a rhythm track - PAN FULL Left Channel.
(Don't get ahead of me here, and don't try to take any shortcuts because the results are not nearly as good - you'll see why later)

2. Play /Record the same rhythm to a different track - PAN FULL Right Channel

3. Synch and Mix both tracks.

It should fatten the sound without any processing. If you try to shortcut it and just copy the first rhythm to another track and pan it full to the other channel it sounds thinner. The fattness comes from the slight nuances that occur because you cannot play EXACTLY the same every time.

This is not my original idea at all!! I've read where many people do this including the pro's. I'll add a link if I can find some good sound clip examples and let you decide.

[LongWaveStudio]

Cakey,

get the zoom out of the rig.

[Wil Davis]

How about one of these?

- Wil

[Beatnik]

Yeah i recently read that in a magazine and have played with it a little. works great for electric or acoustic. almost all the tracks on the original Days of The New CD were done that way. I did a test last night with a simple progression i made up.....power chords in the right channel, first position in the left channel, and fingerpicked dead center with a little delay...huge sweet sound