Dual micing guitar amp

D

Daenn

New member
I recently got off my rear and decided to try it. I've read that article on dual micing that every one has posted. But I was wondering how other people treat it afterwards?

I'm using an Mbox so I have 2 seperate tracks, one for each mic, for each guitar. Do you EQ them differently? Add chorus or delay to fatten one of the tracks up? Reverb on one of the tracks, dry on the other?

I've been playing around with it a bit and have gotten some interesting sounds by screwing with the envelope on the second track and adding some chorus. I was trying to get some of the sound that Cave In has but wasn't too successfull .Big thick guitars that sound very spacey. I'd post an mp3 but that's probably illegal. I don't know if I was doing it right at all but was having fun playing around.

Just wanted see if anyone wanted to share any ideas or tactics. :)
 
I prefer double tracking - but I do punk rock... Often heard about people using two mics on guitar, so I assume you'll get nice results. You might try to do some 'exciting' compressor technique to get a fuller sound...

The only thing I wouldn't wanna have is the adjustment of the two tracks - I don't work with a pc...

aXel
 
Different techniques for different sounds. You can try one close and one a few feet away - or across the room...

In phase, out-of-phase, mid-side... EQ'd, no EQ, one EQ'd...

You got some experimenting to do! :D

John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com
 
Looking for a bigger sound? Got some time to goof around? Try this out: two mics and two amps. You'll need something to split your guitar signal (maybe a stereo chorus pedal or a splitter box). Set your amp and one mic up as you normally would, then grap that little solid state practice amp (the first one you bought way back when) or borrow another amp--even if it's an amp that sounds cruddy on its own or if it's not something that you would normally use. Position your second mike to pickup both amps. I tried this once for kicks and I really liked the result. Sure, that little practice amp might sound yucky by itself (and yer too grown up to use it now), but play around with the knobs and use it to add something different to your tone. I normally play with an all tube half stack, but I like to throw in the solid state once in awhile to add another dimension. I guess the little speaker just reacts different than the twelve inch speakers, maybe the signal just zips through the solid state a wee bit quicker than it moves through the tube circuits...anyway, it should add some spice.
 
I wish I had 2 guitar amps. And I do all my recordings with a small practice amp :(

Don't think any other tenants in the building would appreciate a half stack playing in there. Hehe. Anyways, I did mess around with it and I'm going to post some results in the mp3 section. Though I don't think anyone would even notice the difference, but I do. It's a thicker and crunchier. I kinda like it but it could definitely be better.

I mostly EQ'd them a little differently and changed the envelopes slightly on the second tracks.
 
um, I hope I didn't sound like a braggard. I guess my point is that, if you goof around enough with whatever you have, you can find a cool sound. I get tired of reading posts that suggest that, in order to get a good sound you must buy a $5000 mic, a $3000 mic preamp, and pay $400/hr to have your disc mastered at a fancy shmancy studio. I hope I did not come across as one of those wise guys.
 
schulteboy said:
I get tired of reading posts that suggest that, in order to get a good sound you must buy a $5000 mic, a $3000 mic preamp, and pay $400/hr to have your disc mastered at a fancy shmancy studio. I hope I did not come across as one of those wise guys.
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You do bring up a good point . . .

But on the same token, some of us also get tired of reading posts asking why they can't get a professional sound out of their Fender Squire Telecaster plugged in to their $50 crate amp with a Radio Shack mic plugged directly to the mic input of their soundblaster card.

So it goes both ways.
 
Experiment a lot!

I once recorded a VERY nice guitar by placing a marshall micro stack (the 9V battery powered thing) into a little box and adding a t-shirt and the mic into the box. Took me about an hour to find the right placement, but it was really fat.

@chessrock: what is professional? If you're not a pro you might have the time to record milions of times and to adapt the whole song arrangement and mix to your equipment. And by chance someday there will be the pro recording... (I sound a little like Douglas Adams, though :D) I'm absolutely sure that knowledge may compensate a lot, and if someone learns to use his equipment, that's worth more than buying the rite stuff. Once you learn to understand what you should improve, you'll be able to get the steps right. I sincerely doubt that the beginners would even be able to take any advantage of any Neumann mic and Neve pre... It simply takes time... And once, one is infected, he'll spend all his money for new gear early enough :D

OK, your example is (alas) somehow realistic, as these people often do definitely not listen to the hints being given... I still remember my first recordings that I simply declared being perfect - and it was at least a good way to determine which gals were into me and which weren't :D :D

aXel
 
volltreffer said:
@chessrock: I'm absolutely sure that knowledge may compensate a lot, and if someone learns to use his equipment, that's worth more than buying the rite stuff. Once you learn to understand what you should improve, you'll be able to get the steps right.
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I actually agree 100% with what you're saying.

However, a big part of that learning / knowlege process you're describing is understanding what is within your control and what is beyone your control.

Tracking technique can only go so far. If the source doesn't sound good or just doesn't record well, then you're spinning your wheels. Let's take guitar tracking as an example: Regardless of how good or bad your mics, pres and/or converters are . . . regardless of how slick of an engineer you are . . . it's the amplifier that's responsible for about 90% of the tone -- technique aside. Of course, the pickups play a role . . . the strings, etc. But I can usually tell how easy of a time I'm going to have tracking based on what kind of amp the guitarist lugs in to a particular session.

And over time, you start learning which ones record well and which ones don't. Sure, some of them have their sweet spots and settings, but for the most part, it's the quality of the amp and how well it's maintained (how old the tubes are, etc.) that determines whether or not I'm going to be happy with the guitar tracks at the end of the day.

Does this require you to spend upwards of $2,000 or more on a bitchin' Mesa Boogie? Nope. But you do have to know which ones work for you and which ones don't. That's every bit as valuable as knowing good technique, because once you get the source right, you could just stick a 57 on the grille and have at it -- how tough is that? :D
 
chessrock said:
Does this require you to spend upwards of $2,000 or more on a bitchin' Mesa Boogie? Nope. But you do have to know which ones work for you and which ones don't. That's every bit as valuable as knowing good technique, because once you get the source right, you could just stick a 57 on the grille and have at it -- how tough is that? :D
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Chessrock -

I love your posts, no B.S.

Just as an interesting note, what did Clapton use to record during the Layla sessions?

A Pignose.

What did Jimmy Page use during the early years of his career?

A Fender champ.

Hopefully they wouldn't scare you coming into the studio with those little "fart" amps.

:)
 
masteringhouse said:
Chessrock -

I love your posts, no B.S.

Just as an interesting note, what did Clapton use to record during the Layla sessions?

A Pignose.

What did Jimmy Page use during the early years of his career?

A Fender champ.

Hopefully they wouldn't scare you coming into the studio with those little "fart" amps.

:)
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Not to mention that thing Brian May used to use.
 
<<Hopefully they wouldn't scare you coming into the studio with those little "fart" amps.>>

no, in fact, honestly, i'd rather record a small, low-wattage tube amp than a Marshall stack or Fender Twin. simply put, it's easier to get a good sound out of the smaller amps and not fracture your eardrums in the process.

give me a blues junior, champ, tube pignose, orange, boogie, talos or something along those lines ANY day. some of the hugest guitar sounds come from the smallest amps.


still, it has to be a GOOD small amp. my small $50 crate will sound like ass no matter what you run through it or stick in front of it.


cheers,
wade
 
mrface2112 said:
<<Hopefully they wouldn't scare you coming into the studio with those little "fart" amps.>>

no, in fact, honestly, i'd rather record a small, low-wattage tube amp than a Marshall stack or Fender Twin. simply put, it's easier to get a good sound out of the smaller amps and not fracture your eardrums in the process.
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A little trick that I learned from an amp tech about Marshalls is for 100 watt heads, remove either the 2 inner or 2 outer power tubes and run through 8 ohms.

It reduces the overall power to something like 65 watts.
 
Hey voll...

was that a cotton T-shirt or synthetic - and do you get a better sound if you use one of those black rock 'n' roll T-shirts with band names on it, or just your plain unadorned sort? :rolleyes:
 
masteringhouse said:
Chessrock -

Just as an interesting note, what did Clapton use to record during the Layla sessions?

A Pignose.

What did Jimmy Page use during the early years of his career?

A Fender champ.

Hopefully they wouldn't scare you coming into the studio with those little "fart" amps.

:)
Click to expand...

Shit, I love Pignoses. :D

I'd bet any money that the champs and pignoses those guys used weren't "straight off the guitar center shelf" if you know what I'm saying. :D

Again, though, they were using the right amp for the job. If Eric Clapton walked in to my place with a champ, I'd trust that he had an artistic reason for it. On the other hand, if some kid walks in with a Champ, a tube screamer and a Big Muff Pie . . . and tells me he want so sound like My Bloody Valentine or Linkin' Park, I might have a few other ideas for him/her.
 
chessrock said:
Shit, I love Pignoses. :D

I'd bet any money that the champs and pignoses those guys used weren't "straight off the guitar center shelf" if you know what I'm saying. :D

Again, though, they were using the right amp for the job. If Eric Clapton walked in to my place with a champ, I'd trust that he had an artistic reason for it. On the other hand, if some kid walks in with a Champ, a tube screamer and a Big Muff Pie . . . and tells me he want so sound like My Bloody Valentine or Linkin' Park, I might have a few other ideas for him/her.
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Here's a great site to get ideas for stuff like this. For example, My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields:

http://guitargeek.com/rigview/77/
 
Armistice said:
Hey voll...

was that a cotton T-shirt or synthetic - and do you get a better sound if you use one of those black rock 'n' roll T-shirts with band names on it, or just your plain unadorned sort? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


Dunno - at least it stank :D
 
To get a particular sound I try to find out how the pros do it.

For example I've always liked Iron Maiden's guitar sound. I read an interview with their engineer who said he double miced, about 6" from the grill with the mics at a 90 deg angle to each other so no phase issues.

I tried it on my 10W Park using 1 dynamic & 1 condensor just for kicks, and I got a great sound. It was fat and heavy and totally unlike the wasp in a bottle sounds I'd managed previously
 
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