How would you record this?

F

fiveironguy

New member
I am fairly new to recording... i should probably know a lot more then i do ..But there is so much out there.. and well.. i am an idiot. So anyways, this is my question. I have been struggling for a while with my miced guitar setup.. I just cant seem to get the recorded sound i want and its holding me back from recording my songs. This is my setup...
AGILE GUITAR with Seymour duncans into a marshall JCM900 2x12 combo plus with an extension cab that has vintage 30's the combo speakers and the cab speakers both have unique sounds.. the cab speakers are bassier and a little less clear and the speakers in the cab are more midrangey. I have an Edirol 101 Firewire recording unit(cubase) which has 2 preamps on the front.. an aphex 207 mic preamp (2 channels) a RNC . and these mics
2 shure sm81's, Rode NTK, Shure SM7, sm57, Senn e906 and a nady RSM-2 ribbon mic that sounds pretty good... i realize i have a decent selection of mics here.. so this means i really only have the ability to set up 4 mics... I am looking for suggestions on which mics and how to place them.. to be safe for eqing later.. when or if i ever learn how. Positioning... how many tracks i shoudl use.. which mics.. etc any help is greatly appreciated!
 
Read this. Seriously, brew some coffee and read the whole thing. Then, read it again.

If I were you, I would use one or two mics. Mic positioning is everything when recording an amp, as minute changes in position will greatly affect what the mic "hears." For distorted guitars, I would probably use a combination of the ribbon mic and the SM7/SM57. The ribbon will give you a smoother sound, and a 57 will add a little midrange bite. The SM7 is a great cab mic, too, so try it as well. Also, try the back side of the ribbon (the side that doesn't say Nady). IMO, that side is a little more aggressive sounding. It also helps to have good isolation headphones when positioning your mics, initially, so you hear what the mic hears and not the sound in the room (you'll need to check for phase problems on moinitor speakers, though). I've been using Etymotic Er6i's lately, which I bought for my mp3 player, but love them for tracking guitars and drums because they isolate so well.

Read that article again, now. :D
 
I got a great sound once with an sm57 straight at the cone about 2" from the grillecloth and a condensor (maybe a neumann, it was 10 years ago) in the back of the cabinet with the phase reversed. You may have to try some diff mic placement with the back mic, but it can sound truly great. It was also a fender twin, but that shouldn't matter that much.
 
do you have an idea of the sound that you want to achieve? what is your current sound lacking? can you post a clip so that others can hear your current sound and make suggestions?
 
Thanks for the interest guys.. i started that thread once before.. its so long that i didnt wanna read it all unless it was good.. but now i will give it a shot again. The sound im looking for is sort of a heavy smooth sound.. i hate to say NU-METAL..... but sort of like a cross between that and an agreessive sound like nirvana or maybe rage... i know thats really hard to understand.. but anyways here is a clip.. i struggled a long time and tried a lot of eq and effects just to get this far.. http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=2725
 
fiveironguy said:
Thanks for the interest guys.. i started that thread once before.. its so long that i didnt wanna read it all unless it was good.. but now i will give it a shot again. The sound im looking for is sort of a heavy smooth sound.. i hate to say NU-METAL..... but sort of like a cross between that and an agreessive sound like nirvana or maybe rage... i know thats really hard to understand.. but anyways here is a clip.. i struggled a long time and tried a lot of eq and effects just to get this far.. http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=2725
Click to expand...

The Slipperman thread is THE BIBLE for that style of guitars. Period. Listening to your clip, you need to turn the distortion/gain down and the master volume up. Too much distortion sounds fizzy on a recording. It's all in the thread, man. :cool:
 
yeah.. ive read about a quarter of it.. and am experimenting with things hes saying .... even just your tip of turning down the gay helps a lot.. it comes across as heavy as i want.. on the recoridng but doesnt sound as heavy in person as id like.. cool tip// thanks..
 
My only issue is that it doesnt quite sound chuggy enough.. how cna i increase the chug without having to increase the gain?
 
you can track the rhythm part twice to fatten it up. for the second time around use a different sound.........maybe a different guitar, amp settings, etc. then mix the two to taste.
 
fiveironguy said:
My only issue is that it doesnt quite sound chuggy enough.. how cna i increase the chug without having to increase the gain?
Click to expand...

I noted the same issue. Turn up the amp, and/or move the mic closer to the speaker. Proximity effect will equal more bass. If you have the ability to eq before your amp, either boost the lows a touch, or cut the mids and highs, then turn your gain up so it is the same as before. If you want, you can get away with a touch more gain than you are using now, but I'd try the other suggestions in this thread first.
 
The minimalistic approach is always a good place to start. Try one mic first and go from there. Be careful of phase problems when adding other microphones. I'd start with the 57 a couple of inches from the cone of the speaker you like most. It's just a standard for good guitar sound. Good luck,
Carlos
 
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