Mic The Amp

[Ozzy]

I've searched the BBS up to a few pages and haven't found this thread, and in the title it says to ask questions about it here. I was looking for tips or even the basics on micing Amps. I want to know that i'm doing it right. The way i'm micing it is from what i've seen at our live shows and just recently i have been using the line out on my practice amp and doing it that way. But i don't feel like it gives me the tone I hear out of my amp normally. I have a Half stack 4x12 and a roland cube 30. I am in absolute love with the rectafier distortion setting on it. But when i run it through line i just don't get the same tone, it doesn't really feel that way. I've also tried a "room" mic method where i've mic'ed the amp from far away or in the middle of the room to obtain that "natural" presence. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bcains]

I've searched the BBS up to a few pages and haven't found this thread, and in the title it says to ask questions about it here. I was looking for tips or even the basics on micing Amps. I want to know that i'm doing it right. The way i'm micing it is from what i've seen at our live shows and just recently i have been using the line out on my practice amp and doing it that way. But i don't feel like it gives me the tone I hear out of my amp normally. I have a Half stack 4x12 and a roland cube 30. I am in absolute love with the rectafier distortion setting on it. But when i run it through line i just don't get the same tone, it doesn't really feel that way. I've also tried a "room" mic method where i've mic'ed the amp from far away or in the middle of the room to obtain that "natural" presence. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

*The center of the speaker cone creates higher, brighter frequencies.
*The outside of the cone gives off warmer tones.

Distance from the speaker plays a pretty big role too. I have a home studio so I pretty much always have the mic within a few inches of the speaker, I've tried distant miking too, it sounds better for some styles of music more than others. Obviously, it will sound more ambient and "lively".

When looking at the cone of a speaker cabinet (guitar amps) I place the microphone facing the outer edge, on a 45 degree angle, of the inner cone about 1/2" from the cabinet grill. If you're using two mics on the same cabinet, place the second mic in the exact position on the adjacent cone, creating a "V" like shape, so they aren't out of phase with each other.

There are many formulas on how to place the two mics in accordance with each other.

1) The first mic 1/2foot - foot, back from the speaker and the three times as far back from the speaker, or put one mic one the speaker, dead-center and put a second in the nearest corner of the room facing the corner.
2) One mic dead-center on the speaker, one mic behind an open-back cab, also dead-center, and one mic back from the front of the speaker about 6 feet and aim it straight-up, the sole purpose of that mic being to catch the 'bass wash' coming over it, interesting concept, I have never tried it...yet. The major benefit of this second mic is to pick up the very slight delay between the two mics and some room ambience. This adds a lot of depth and power to the sound.

In project studios it also becoming far more common to record guitar direct. With such products like the Line 6 POD, Sansamp, Behringer V-Amp etc.

Some reccommend microphones:
Shure SM-57
Sennheiser 421
Sennheiser E609

Good Luck

 

[Dani Pace]

First off, welcome to the forum. You're off to a good start by asking a reasonable question. Micing an amp involves two primary things, what mic to use and where to put it. Depending on the mic you use (I use an Audio Technica PRO 2ax most of the time) and how loud you play, the placement becomes the main thing to consider. Cloce micing is generally prefered, by cloce this can mean almost touching the grill to a few inches away. Dirrectly in front, pointed at different parts of the speaker will bring out different tones than off to the side. It's hard to be specific without knowing which tones you want to bring out most. Moving a mic just a few inches or changing the angle a little will affect what the mic picks up quite a bit. In front, pointed at the center of the speaker will tend to be more treble, pointed at the edge will bring out the bass more, the off to the side works somewhat similar. Set up your rig, place a mic, and record something, play it back through good monitors and listen carefully. Repeat this a few times and compare the difference. after a few tries you will discover what comes clocest to what you want to hear. Don't be afraid to try a few different mics, some work better with certain amps than others. Finding the perfect match is largely a matter of try and see, if it works keep using it, if it dosen't then try something else.

 

[HangDawg]

It certainly involves more than 2 things. Most important, the sound coming from the speaker itself. Garbage in/garbage out. You can't just assume that because it sounds good to you that a mic will record it exactly the same. I'll bet if you stick your ear right up where you've been placing that mic, you may change your opinion as to how much you like the tone from the amp. Also, try more mids and less gain than you normally use. Most of the time, the best guitar tracks I've done sound like shit in the room. That's why it's imperative you keep the guitar player out of the tracking room and in front of the monitors or on cans. Unless you are the guitar player of course.

 

[HangDawg]

place the second mic in the exact position on the adjacent cone, creating a "V" like shape, so they are out of phase with each other.

Not sure if that would always cause them to be out of phase but why would you want them to be? I've been under the impression that you want all mics to be in phase with each other as close as possible. Please explain as I don't think this is what you should be telling somebody to do.

 

[bcains]

Not sure if that would always cause them to be out of phase but why would you want them to be? I've been under the impression that you want all mics to be in phase with each other as close as possible. Please explain as I don't think this is what you should be telling somebody to do.

Ohh sorry i wrote that wrong, i meant so they arent out of phase. I'll fix now.

 

[scrubs]

http://www.badmuckingfastard.com/sound/slipperman.html

 

[Dani Pace]

Hang Dawg has certainly got that one pegged, the amp that sounds great to your ears just might record like crap or the amp that sounds awfull may be the one that allows you to record that perfect sound, somehow converting a sound to an electronic siginal then back to a sound then back to an electronic siginal then to either a magnetic or binary recording does some things which are not always what the human ear expects. Then when you play it back it gets even less like what you expect.
been there, done that!!!

 

[alex_n]

hmm...

How do you mic a 4x12 ?

Put it in the center? Or something?

 

[heroics321]

a 4x12 isn't one big speaker... you find the speaker you like the best, or maybe the one you have a pet name for, and you mic it up.... or mic a couple and get a few different flavors. if you dont know what you're doing, though, more mics can easily = more problems.

 

[Clive Hugh]

Another thing, if you can make a mic stand up especially for micing the amp. What I did was I got a blank pipe flange and drilled and tapped it to take a 1/2" tube and brazed a bolt on the top to take my mic holder. It is at the right height. I realise not everyone has access to this sort of equipment but try your local engineering company, they might have a blank from a profile cutter that they would otherwise send to scrap.
I used all stainless steel, but only because it was available.
If I was smart enough I'd work out how to post a photo of it but I'm not.

 

[Ozzy]

Well those are all really cool pieces of information. The only way you could go from electronic to sound is if you push back out of a speaker to another mic (create sound waves), otherwise it's all electricity.

I've noticed since i first started playing that changing the direction of my amp at all would make a huge difference in how it sounded. I used to have to face my amp a certain direction from always because it gave me the sound i wanted, but some EQ practice and knowledge you can recreate it fairly well. My biggest issue i've ran into is that when i listen through ear, it sounds how i want it, but when i play it through "recording out" it sounds a lot more electronic and keyboard-ish. Thats where i came up with the idea to try a room mic. Lately i've been in a hurry and focusing on the drums so i've just thrown it to a channel with the recording out but now with some of the stuff you have told me i'm going to try those techniques.

I guess with the cone thing i was pretty much doing that without realizing it. I'm guessing at live shows they where micing my speaker on the outer portion that way because it's easier to eliminate that frequency and prevent feedback. I think i'm going to put a condensor on the bottom left facing to the right to point at the center of the speaker, that way i can get some lows from the outer wich it will be closer to and be shot-gunning the inner. Maybe bring some cool balance.

Thanks guys!

ps. been a member since jan '04. Just now started using the account. don't ask. Heh.

 

[nkjanssen]

Some good advice there. And what a relief too! I was beginning to think that everyone here used digital modellers for everything. Nice to know at least a few are still micing a real amp.

 

[ChaoticDrummr24]

good luck ozzy and please provide us all with a sound clip of what you got, once you get it finished and working