Recording Guitar

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musicsdarkangel

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I know there probably have been several posts similar to this, but I'm not very good at navigating through these topics.

When I record my Ibanez through my Line 6 ax2, I usually put the mic (Shure SM57) 3 inches away, aimed towards the center of the grill, slanted downwards.

No matter what I do, the sound in playback always sounds more muddy, and less singing, like the highs have been taken away, and there is no soul at all.

I am just an 18 year old who records in his room (carpeted floor, no wood at all).

When I directly hook up my amp to the Omnistudio soundcard (delta 66) I have, the results are slightly better, but not satisfactory.

This is really starting to frustrate me, so any help would be highly appreciated.
 
answer

i'll pass on what a AE once told me .
a lot of the great guitar songs were not done with what you might think. there were no guitar amp simulation devices
around when duane eddy did his thing.
it was all experimentation with different mic positions, different settings on amps, different rooms etc.
so will have to experiment a lot. this is the whole raison d'etre of
audio engineering. you might start by telling what sound card you use ?
 
I do a lot of tracking with the same amp and I'm happy with the results. I can only echo the above comments. Experiment with the mic, where the amp is in the room, etc. If it's muddy, try getting the amp up off the ground by setting it on a road case or a chair or something to decouple it acousticly from the floor (which can act like a giant low freq horn). Where you point the mic can have a big impact too; more towards the center of thge speaker cone, more bright/shrill, more towards the speaker surround, the more rolled off the sound. With the mic (a dynamic) closer to the source, more proximity effect so more bass and "woof". Remember too that when you're listening to your amp in a room while playing is not how the mic is picking up (you don't have your ear 2" from the speaker) do a lot of experimenting with everything. It's worth a couple of days to get yourself dialed in.
 
Yo Winged DarkMusician:

Just maybe, just maybe....a good mic pre might get you some clean cuts?

You don't need a BIG bucks pre; however, a good one is an asset to your collection of gear.

Green Hornet
Happy New Year:D ;) :cool: :D
 
How much could I get a descent one for? You don't think the Omnistudio's is descent?


Thanks for the advice, and I welcome any more suggestions.


How should I go about experimenting? I don't even have studio monitors.

Should I just record it over and over, or put some sort of headphones on connected to my Delta 66 soundcard? Or listen through speakers?
 
Yo Shaded-Angel:

Yikes! Without monitors is a tough situation. It's very tough to mix via cans as cans always sound "wonderful." That is, until you listen to the mix and say, "HUH."

You can get a moderate priced pre; but, if I were you, I'd save and get a good one. If I mention what I use, I might get flamed.

But, what the hell, it's Christmas. I have two. An Art dual channel, medium priced. A Grace Design 101, a bit more but worth it.

So, shop around and have a great New Year.

Green Hornet:D :p :D
 
Yo Angel of Illinois:

My home town was Chicago. Great place for beef and sausage sandwiches from those corner stands.....

First? Get some monitors -- later, a good pre. One step at a time.

Cheers for Italian Beef Sandwiches.

Green Hornet:p :p :D
 
this might be too specific, but i always get good results putting the sm57 right up against the cloth, so that it's about an inch away from the center of the speaker. angle it directly at the center, or very slightly off-axis. also, it is very important to turn the gain wayyy down. it will sound weird at first, but it's something you have to get used to. SM57's have a tendency to accentuate the gain when micing dist guitar.

justin
 
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