How do you mic with condenser/dynamic combo?

[ZoSo58LP]

so since i just got my first condenser, an MXL v63m stereo condenser, i want to mix my sound of my sure-fire setup of my Sm57 and my e609 with this to create a chunkier sound. to give you a hint, i've uploaded my tone, unprocessed in that it went straight from the mic, to the mixer (which all i did was add a bit of highs/mids on the EQ on the board) then into my laptop via the behringer USB audio adapter thing.

here are a few pics showing where the mic placement is. the sm57 is on the edge of the cone, the e609 picks up more of a mix of the edge/center, and the condenser was right on the speaker:

Picasa Web Albums - Jay Ochs

Picasa Web Albums - Jay Ochs

Picasa Web Albums - Jay Ochs

Picasa Web Albums - Jay Ochs


-----------
and here's some sound clips:

SM57 - Jay Ochs - Sm57 on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
e609 - Jay Ochs - E609 on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
SM57+e609, panned hard left and right - Jay Ochs - 60957tgether on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

MXL condenser - Jay Ochs - MXLcondens on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

All mics together, MXL is stereo mic, so panned hard left and right, and then the SM57+e609 are panned hard left and right like they were in the clip of them together (so essentially, two tracks per left and right, equalling 4 tracks total) - Jay Ochs - All mics2 on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


now, i read that loud noises aren't supposed to go into a condenser, so i had the volume at like 1 while doing this. gain was around 6 on the distortion channel, and i was using a humbucker. i thought it sounded cool, but i'm still not sure. i'm also reading people say that condensers should just be used like 8 feet from the amp to just pickup the room acoustics, while the dynamic picks up the close range. then, i'm reading some people saying you should put the condenser right up against the grille like a dynamic, and don't mind the volume issue. therefore, i'm confused. i don't want to ruin this mic by blasting my amp into it.

any thoughts? who here mixes a condenser and dynamic when they record? how in the hell do you do it and what are the right, tried and true techniques to doing such? thanks!!

 

[Yammie072]

Yeah, move that mic at least a foot back, probably more. And for god sakes, turn that Marshall up, my friend. A loud guitar amp doesn't produce the kind of pressure something like a kick drum would, so your pretty safe using a condenser on it. Hell, I always run my amps all the way open when I record, and I've never damaged a condenser.

What you want to do is use the mic to augment the sound of the close-mic, which will be your primary tone source. There's no sense mic'ing that thing close with three mics (it also seems you have the two dynamics in pretty much the same place on the cone... maybe try moving it around so you get more tonal variety going on... then blend to taste).

Just ideas. Enjoy your new toy!

 

[ZoSo58LP]

interesting points! ok, good to know the amp won't damage the mic; i was worried about it after reading some stuff. only problem about running it at 10 when i record is that i'm still in my parents house lol, they don't like it THAT loud..and my basement is just a big room with concrete walls, so the acoustics are terrible. maybe picking up the room isn't what i want to do? i'm still not sure.

as for the mic placement, they're really on different parts of the cone. the SM is on the outer edge while the 609 picks up the middle. they do sort of sound the same, though, which is weird. any tips for where to place the other?

 

[ZoSo58LP]

so i played around a bit, and i realized that my e609 was def in the wrong position - it should've been further to the left in that pic, as that's where the center of the cone was. oops lol

so after playing around, and moving my condensor back about 4-6 feet to pickup the whole stack, i made 2 little recordings:

Jay Ochs - Them Bones (all mics) on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free - this is the solo part from alice in chains' them bones (two disto. pedals along with amp gain to beef up the gain grunge style)

Jay Ochs - Panama (MXL V63 condenser, Shure Sm57 dynamic, Sennheiser e609 dynamic) on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free - and this is panama, completely butchered the solo though (i admit i don't know it lol), just the marshall distortion, gain at 8..i added some studio reverb in audition to this one


any thoughts? obviously i wasn't able to blast it again since the parents were here, but it was around 2-2.5....