Micing Techniques

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fivesixonesk8er

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I wanted to start a thread on Micing Guitar Cabinets. I thought it would be a great thread to share everyone's micing techniques and what they use and do to get GREAT sounding tones. Describe what mic you like using and what Effects you add (EQ, Compression, ect.) Mabe, if available, Give a sample......


To Start the Thread off,

I use an SM57, put on headphones, and while listening to the mic through the headphones, I find the "sweet spot" of the speaker. Once I have that down, I'll adjust the head accordingly (EQ, Presence). After doing 2 tracks of guitars I pan them Left and Right and add light compression and Noise Gate if necessary.
 
MXL 990 with the capsule placed about an inch from the center of the cone (amp on lower volumes, of course)...with really no added EQ..all natural, and get pretty damn good results..very full sounding...I use some various stereo expander, and a graphic equilizer in my recording program(adobe audition 2).
 
I tend to use primarily a sennheiser e906 as my main guitar mic, going straight into the digi 002. Depending on what I am recording I vary the distance of the mic from being very close to on the grill, to allowing up to a foot of distance.. as for post effects.. I really haven't found any I am really happy with all aspects (not just sound but GUI etc as well) but want to try the sonnox plugs...

I will also be trying a ribbon mic when it turns up as I dont record at excessive volumes so I am very interested in hearing the sounds from that....
 
I sometimes use 1-3 mics at a time in seperate channels, and distances/placings on cab. I have a Blueball that I like alot for studio, and also I5, but my main mic I use live and most is the SM58, I have the SM57 but the 58 gets a little more bass response for the type music I play. Mic placement is pretty standard at edge of speaker(s) or open back cab will put a second one in middle, room ambience (K2) is also good for depth preception...I never run a DI I like the cab response...thats about it.
 
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Sennheiser e609 on the grill, facing straight in at one of the cones, somewhere between the dustcap and the edge.

Rode K2 about a foot back to get anything the e609 might miss.

I'd put it back further, but the room is kind of crap, so I usually end up recording the amp with lots of material piled around it, facing a mattress propped on-end. Very good sound with no bleed or shitty room reflections (I'm in a shitty room - if it were a good one for recording guitar amps, I would of course move the mics out :))
 
I use an SM57 about an inch or 2 from the edge of the speaker, angled slightly away from the center of the speaker. If it's a quieter part, the mic will be about 1-2 inches from the grill clothe. If it's louder, I might back the mic off about 6-8 inches. Not particularly exciting or innovative stuff.
 
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Yea... guitar amps aren't exactly a mic'ing mad scientist's dream. Mic goes in front of grill. Move around to taste. Maybe put a second mic farther back to catch room reflections.

Sure there are other ways, but most of the responses here are pretty much the same :)
 
cusebassman said:
Yea... guitar amps aren't exactly a mic'ing mad scientist's dream.
Click to expand...

But when one of them mad scientist types does get ahold of a guitar amp it goes something like this...

This is a true account of how I recently recorded the guitarist in a blues/rock type band.

Two Amps: Dr. Z 2x10 & Mesa 1x12
Dr. Z - 609 about 2 inches away from the grill, about half way from the center of the cone.
Mesa 1x12 - Audix I5 a little closer to the edge of the cone than the 609.

Then we added a mid/side setup with a Studio Projects C3 for the figure 8 and a Rode NT5 for the center. This was setup about 5 feet back pointed direclty at the center of the two amp setup.

We used a 2'x2'x2" 703 absorber between the two amps to somewhat eliminate the bleed between the two close up mics.

When it was all said and done, we had 5 tracks for each guitar take...

Glad it was a digital project.
 
Nate74 said:
But when one of them mad scientist types does get ahold of a guitar amp it goes something like this...

This is a true account of how I recently recorded the guitarist in a blues/rock type band.

Two Amps: Dr. Z 2x10 & Mesa 1x12
Dr. Z - 609 about 2 inches away from the grill, about half way from the center of the cone.
Mesa 1x12 - Audix I5 a little closer to the edge of the cone than the 609.

Then we added a mid/side setup with a Studio Projects C3 for the figure 8 and a Rode NT5 for the center. This was setup about 5 feet back pointed direclty at the center of the two amp setup.

We used a 2'x2'x2" 703 absorber between the two amps to somewhat eliminate the bleed between the two close up mics.

When it was all said and done, we had 5 tracks for each guitar take...

Glad it was a digital project.
Click to expand...

:eek::eek::eek:

You should've also recorded "natural delay": put the amp in an airline hangar, set the amp up at one end, with the usual close-micing technique, and then place cheap mics back every 10 feet over a distance of maybe... half a mile.

Sure, that's 264 tracks. Fine - every 20 feet. 132 mics. Its all digital, right - virtually unlimited tracks for a reason!

Reverb would simply entail hanging an omni from the ceiling of the hangar :)
 
It would be damn cool to be left alone in an empty airplane hangar with the doors closed, and all the guitar amp you could handle :D

The closest I came to that was when I was practicing with the Sour Sitrus Society (the Syracuse University basketball pep band) - before one of the practices, I showed up an hour beforehand, and the entire place was empty. 50,000 seat domed arena - plugged my Heritage 575 into my Fender Blues DeVille, cranked it on clean up to about 8 out of 12, and let it rip.

The sound was unbelievable - and I was honestly surprised at how much there was, considering its a combo amp (sure, its 80 watt all-tube, w/ 4 10" speakers, but still).

I also know the sound would be much more absorbed if there were people in all of those seats, but I had 4 more to go on volume for that situation :D

Not bragging about equipment - it wasa just a really cool experience :p
 
I vary between using a single SM57 right in front of the speaker and sometimes 2 SM57s also right in front of the speaker with one of them very much off-axis.
I use the 2 mics when I want a rounded off or fatter sound, and I use one mic when I want a clear articulation in the tone.
Whichever way I do it I usually like to record 4 performances, panned anywhere from 75% to 100% L/R.

Granted, these are just rehashed techniques that I've picked up online along the way...but they work.

Sometimes I like to use a condenser for certain lead tones or clean sounds. The above description was pretty much just for heavy, distorted tones.
 
We joke about aircraft hangers but I have heard some pretty cool results of people setting up say a drum set or a guitar amp in their living room, then running one extra mic into an adjacent kitchen or bathroom. Sort of the natural delay idea...
 
Nate74 said:
We joke about aircraft hangers but I have heard some pretty cool results of people setting up say a drum set or a guitar amp in their living room, then running one extra mic into an adjacent kitchen or bathroom. Sort of the natural delay idea...
Click to expand...

Didn't Pink Floyd once use the interior of one of the Egyptian pyramids as a reverb tank for a concert?
 
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