Recording big amps in small rooms?

  • Thread starter Thread starter twangbuck
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twangbuck

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Has anyone had much success recording big amps in small rooms? I've read statements from folks that make it sound like a small amp can be made to sound big in a small room, but recording a big amp in a small room won't yield the same success. Any thoughts?
 
I dunno. People record big amp cabs in small ISO rooms all the time.
Look up on youtube Tim Pierce and Pete Thorn. Both show the ISO booth setups they have

They do quite a lot of session work on known artist's records. So its not like these guys are home hobbyist recorders.
 
To a dynamic mic right up against the grille cloth of a raging loud amp, room acoustics aren't going to play a huge role. It might get tubby or overbearing in the bass, but you can filter that out pretty well with eq. Now you'll probably never have any luck with a room mic in a small room, but close mics won't pose a big problem. Unless you're talking about a very loud amp in a very small space, then the problems might become insurmountable. At least from my limited experience.
 
Even with smaller amps, you need to close mic to keep the room's contribution to a minimum--unless you are in a great-sounding space. The biggest amps I record are 40 watts. They're plenty capable of filling a bedroom with noise that you don't want to record. It's manageable by placing the amp in the right spot in the room and the mic close to the speaker. A mic with good off-axis rejection helps. What amps are you recording?
 
Robus said:
Even with smaller amps, you need to close mic to keep the room's contribution to a minimum--unless you are in a great-sounding space. The biggest amps I record are 40 watts. They're plenty capable of filling a bedroom with noise that you don't want to record. It's manageable by placing the amp in the right spot in the room and the mic close to the speaker. A mic with good off-axis rejection helps. What amps are you recording?
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Fender bassman LTD. The problem is I like the recorded sound of the bassman better when I get at least some room sound in there. Hence the question about recording in a small room. But yeah, filling the room with noise is the problem I was trying to avoid.
 
You're going to have to do without the room sound, I think. That amp ought to sound pretty fantastic close miked. The amps I use are a pair of 40 watters, a 22 watt Fender Deluxe, and some small amps in the 5 to 15 watt range. Larger or smaller, the room issues are the same with all of them. Closing miking is the solution in all cases.
 
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