Any suggestions on how to mic a guitar amp in stereo??

Get some distance between the mics and cab.
Since a standard guitar and amp is a mono source (even if there are two speakers), a stereo recording would rely on room reflections to create an image.

A traditional approach for creating a fake stereo image is to double track the guitar and pan them apart.
The subtle differences create a sense of width.
 
I did a Blumlein Pair on a lead guitar part not too long ago for a song. I was looking for something different, so I thought I would try a "stereo" lead guitar, using my Swart w/212.

I started out with the mics waaaaaay back, trying all kinds of different postions...up higher/lower...but eventually put the mics down, even with the speakers and dead center and only about 2' back from the cab.

I messed around with the levels of the two mics until I found the right balance so that image and tone wasn't to wide, since it would take away some of that center image punch I wanted to keep for a lead tone....but I did find a sweet spot and was happy with the results....so I may do it again in the future.

I'm still waiting to do some female backup vocals for the song, so it's not done yet for me to post a clip, but it actually came out pretty good.

Here's the setup (I took pics so I would remembers exactly how I had it for future reference).

BlumleinPair.jpg
 
Thanks everyone, some really good input here, I will take all your ideas into account!!
 
Traditional close mic and big condenser out in the room, slip the far mic track to compensate for the difference in arrival time. I'll generally pan the close mic as I normally would if it were single and pan the far mic somewhere across from it at a lower volume. Try all sorts of pan/level variations.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Since a standard guitar and amp is a mono source (even if there are two speakers), a stereo recording would rely on room reflections to create an image.
Click to expand...

This is basically what I was thinking when I saw the thread. A guitar amp is a mono source, no matter how you slice it. You'll have to find some way to integrate a room mic into the equation to make it kinda stereo.
 
miroslav,

A "standard" Blumlein array would be rotated a further 45° (as compared with your photo) so that each mic would face at 45° to the cab? Did you try that as well, or am I just being tricked by the perspective in the photo?

Paul
 
PRHunt said:
miroslav,

A "standard" Blumlein array would be rotated a further 45° (as compared with your photo) so that each mic would face at 45° to the cab? Did you try that as well, or am I just being tricked by the perspective in the photo?

Paul
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking. The axis of the Blumlein is at the 45 degree mark between the capsules. Miro's picture looked like MS to me. Although, Bruce Swedien used to put backing singers / choirs on MJ's records in a circle and set the Blumlein pair in the middle of them. That way all voices would reach the capsules at the same time thus retaining phase.

Cheers :)
 
Steenamaroo said:
Since a standard guitar and amp is a mono source (even if there are two speakers), a stereo recording would rely on room reflections to create an image.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

A traditional approach for creating a fake stereo image is to double track the guitar and pan them apart. The subtle differences create a sense of width.
Click to expand...

This too.

--Ethan
 
PRHunt said:
A "standard" Blumlein array would be rotated a further 45° (as compared with your photo) so that each mic would face at 45° to the cab? Did you try that as well, or am I just being tricked by the perspective in the photo?
Click to expand...

Mo Facta said:
That's what I was thinking. The axis of the Blumlein is at the 45 degree mark between the capsules. Miro's picture looked like MS to me.
Click to expand...

Yes....you are seeing it correctly as an M/S configuration. I tried a bunch of variations besides room position, also rotating the Blumlein Pair. Even the smallest rotation on the axis was quite noticeable in the L/R image...and I wanted the sound more focused in the center, with a tighter L/R spread since it was a lead part....so it ended up like that in the M/S position. :)

I think "Blumlein Pair" is still maybe a more accurate description because both mics use figure-8 patterns....but an M/S Pair is one mic in figure-8 for Sides and the second in cardioid for Mid....at least that's how I'm making sense of it.
 
chuckduffy said:
Is there anything that *isn't* a mono source?
Click to expand...

Most everything we record is mono source.....it's not the source, it's how it's being heard and miked that can make it stereo.
Two ears = stereo
Two mics = stereo when arranged in one of the several stereo configurations.

The reason a mono source becomes a stereo signal is in how its sound reacts within the space, and how our two ears or two mics pick up the direct sound from the source and the various reflections it makes in the space....giving the image a 3D, Left/Right (and to a degree up/down) shape. If it's not dead-center relative to our ears or our two mics....then the Left/Right distances vary, even if slightly...and that is what then really defines the position of the source(s) in the Left/Right image.
 
miroslav said:
Most everything we record is mono source.....it's not the source, it's how it's being heard and miked that can make it stereo.
Two ears = stereo
Two mics = stereo when arranged in one of the several stereo configurations.

The reason a mono source becomes a stereo signal is in how its sound reacts within the space, and how our two ears or two mics pick up the direct sound from the source and the various reflections it makes in the space....giving the image a 3D, Left/Right (and to a degree up/down) shape. If it's not dead-center relative to our ears or our two mics....then the Left/Right distances vary, even if slightly...and that is what then really defines the position of the source(s) in the Left/Right image.
Click to expand...

Well yes, I understand that a pair of human ears is what makes it 'stereo' :-) Steener replied that a guitar is a mono source, and I asked the question 'isn't everything'?
 
chuckduffy said:
Is there anything that *isn't* a mono source?
Click to expand...
Yes. A lot of keyboards and synthesizers are capable of recording in stereo. Or even some electronic drumkits.

In fact, guitars can be recorded in stereo from a pedal that is capable of producing a stereo signal like a stereo delay.
 
miroslav said:
I think "Blumlein Pair" is still maybe a more accurate description because both mics use figure-8 patterns....but an M/S Pair is one mic in figure-8 for Sides and the second in cardioid for Mid....at least that's how I'm making sense of it.
Click to expand...

Well, unless I am mistaken, Alan Blumlein also developed the M/S technique so there is no error in attaching his name to the technique.
 
Magnawolf said:
Yes. A lot of keyboards and synthesizers are capable of recording in stereo. Or even some electronic drumkits.

In fact, guitars can be recorded in stereo from a pedal that is capable of producing a stereo signal like a stereo delay.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Synths usually have L and R output for their stereo patches. Same with guitar processors. But even then, the only reason they're "stereo" is because of the effects, like chorus, delay, etc. Synth drums, too. They'll have a stereo out, but that's because they're taking a bunch of mono sources to combine them into a "stereo drum set".

So, really, no instrument that I can think of is truly anything but a mono signal.
 
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