Do you need a good room to close-mic an amp?

K

Kbrinson85

New member
doing some experimenting in my bedroom (carpeted, non treated)...

i have an sm57 directly on the grill of my 1x12. for this riff, i did two takes: the first was with a fan on in the background, and the window open (Crickets). the 2nd was with fan off, window closed, and an isolation panel in front of the amp. the takes were indistinguishable. no fan or noise to be heard and certainly no "room inconsistancies."
 
A better room = a better recording pretty much no matter what. If you're in a peak or null point in the room, it's going to be a peak or null point at the mic (keeping in mind that your source-to-reflection ratio is going to still be rather high).

As you're finding, background noise vs. a loud amp with a mic a few inches away -- The amp is probably going to win. But proper positioning makes a difference, a better room makes a difference, etc.
 
I have asked myself the same question lately, and yes, the room does make a difference. The cabinet itself, is resonating in the room it is in. This may be somewhat negligible to a degree with close micing, but it is those little nuances, that seem to make the greatest difference FME.
 
Yeah, I used to think the room doesn't matter, and it probably matters less for micing a guitar than it does for micing drums, for example.

But, I always figured that the louder the guitar, the less the room will matter. However, I realized that the louder the guitar, the louder the reflections off the walls. So, I've concluded that, for electric guitar, you might not need the best room. But, like Massive suggested, you still need to find the best placement of the amp as well as the mic.
 
I have to kind of partially disagree with the fellas here. I do totally agree that rooms are important. No doubt there. But, in my opinion, what's more important when close miking a cab is simply where you put the mic. You can have the cab in the best part of the best room, but if you don't mic the speaker in a way that gives you the sound you want, it's all for nothing. One inch of movement can make all the difference in the world. The 6 inches from the center to the edge of a typical 12" guitar speaker contains a virtually unlimited spectrum of sounds. You can go from too bright to too dark within those those 6 inches. Your job is to find the spot that gives you the sound you want.
 
Greg_L said:
I have to kind of partially disagree with the fellas here.......... what's more important when close miking a cab is simply where you put the mic.
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We don't disagree. Well maybe kind of partially, but not really......

RAMI said:
you still need to find the best placement of the amp as well as the mic.
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:D
 
In my experience, you need to roll off the highs with kazoos. They can be pretty brutal in the upper EQ range.
 
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