amp loudness when recording

[purplehaze21]

I'm sure this is in the wrong section, but it is specifically with a 57A Beta...
How loud (or what are different techniques) should your amp be when recording. And how far away should the mic be when recording at these volumes? Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, and if someone can provide a link with a tutorial or guide to this I'd appreciate it.

 

[purplehaze21]

Come on, I'm sure some of you guys have to know this

 

[artCROSS]

I don't know if this'll help, but for me, I turn it up to where the amp can produce the best sounds. Some amps, when recording distorted, or clean for that matter, won't sound good unless you crank it. My 57 and B1 don't get a good sound until I hit around 6 or 7 on my amp (120watt). Though, w/ my Valvetronix, it has a wattage selector, so i can select a lower wattage, and even though the volume is different and lower, the tone stays the same...not sure if that makes sense or not, but hope it helps.

 

[Massive Master]

Allow me to be even less help... It depends on the sound you're going for - Get your ear in there (carefully, of course) to find out what the *microphone* is going to hear.

I've normally used quieter (smaller) sounds for a bigger sound for most distorted guitars, louder for bigger on cleaner sounds.

Sometimes right in the grille, sometimes a foot away, sometimes across the room. Same thing - Depends on what you're shooting for.

 

[distortedrumble]

heres the most vague and yet obvious....adjust volume to taste.

 

[promesis]

.. pretty good points expanded in this article :
http://www.recordingproject.com/articles/article.php?article=25

after finding the best sounding speaker/s...
I usually start with the mic/s about 3/4 inches away from the grill, with the mic pointing towards the center of the cone at an angle.
Just remember, at the point of tracking you need TONE .. so believe it or not .. to get a beefy / heavy tone Back Off on the actual Gain or Distortion .. this will print a much "fatter" image to tape. I did not believe this .. but got dragged kicking and screaming by a producer that told me (when I was tracking heavy gits for my band) that this is the way to do it .. he was right.
You basically want to drive your Power Amp stage enough to get a nice full tone with the Pre Amp/Gain/Distortion much lower than you would use live.
This will sound heavy on tape and your transients and tone are not squashed!
You can always double the track later with a crappy sizzly distorto tone ..and blend it over the "real" tone and beef - sometimes this puts some grizzle back into the feel without losing the frequency spread or your ability to control apsects of the tonal quality.

-- good luck