Recording with how many mics?

[newjacksm]

When you record a distorted guitar threw an amp how many mics should you use? 1 or 2? for some reason some one said it would sound better with 2? also where should I plug in the mic into the sound card or into my mixer?

the soundcard im going to get is M-AUDIO DELTA 1010LT and mixer is YAMAHA MG 12/4

 

[Steal Sessions]

That sound pretty much the same as what we've done a short while ago: we used 3 mics to record the guitar-amp. We placed a SM58 without the head (should be like the 57) close to the speaker cabinet (find the 'best sounding speaker') and one at the side of the cabinet (close to the handgrip, for the lows) and one condensor mic 6 feet away, aiming at the cabinet. These 3 tracks than can be mixed togeter thus forming a sort of eq without using eq ;-). Works neat. I did it far from good, but it gives me a lot of playing romm afterwards.

If you want to use the internal mic amps of the DELT 1010LT you can connect directly, but since the inputs are rather 'hot' you might have problems and have to set the jumpers to a different setting. Better is to use the direct outputs (inserts, signal direct from mic preamp of mixer available on the tip of the jack) and connect them to the 6 rca line inputs of the DELTA 1010LT. You cannot use the eq on the mixer in that case and also you cut the signal chain this way. Of course you can use the monitor function of the DELTA 1010 to feed the incoming signal direct back to the insert (middle connection of the Jack) and therfore be able to make a nice headphonemix while playing.

 

[xstatic]

Multiple micing can be good, but be very careful of phasing. Don't be afraid to record with a few mics but scale back to just one during mixdown. I can't tell you how many times I ended up liking the sound of a single mic instead during mixdown. Over tracking though gives you options at mixdown. I even find myself doing things like using one mic for verses, and the other for choruses. It all depends on the mic, the placement, the playing and tones, the preamps, and even my mood during mixdown

 

[Fletcher]

I used 16 once... one for each speaker of 4x 4-12" cabinets... it was during the 80's when Cocaine wasn't addictive and sex couldn't kill you... what a glorious time that was.

The guitar sound ended up sounding like shit... but that was mostly because everyone on the session was so gakked out of their minds we couldn't have been able to differentiate good from bad with a Geiger counter... but it was still a glorious time.

 

[Bulls Hit]

I used to use 2 mics. On my last project I went back to one. Mixing was much simpler and I think I ended up with a better sound

 

[cpl_crud]

Multiple micing can be good, but be very careful of phasing.

You'll also have some degree of delay trouble with mics at various distances.
at 6 feet of distance, you've got about 5-6 milliseconds of delay. Whilst that doesn't sound like that much, it can make a lot of difference. A group of people doing something in time to music will generally be within 10 milliseconds of each other (ie marching, dancing, etc).

Then again, you might like that sound. I'm just an arsehole when it comes to delays. Phasing will probably cause you more trouble, but that's what the phase reverse button and phase testers were made for.

 

[mattamatta]

That's a beautiful story, Fletcher. Sounds like fun times in the studio.

One time we wore a bunch of straw hats, but I dont think that can compete with your story =D

 

[SureShotStudio]

i just recorded a really loud Speed-rock band. The guitar player played a Koch 4x12 tube amp and i splitted the guitar signal and put it through my own Crate Vintage club 2x12 tube amp. i miced both amps up close with a dynamic and a condenser. resp the koch with a sm57 and a at4033 and the crate with a beyer m201 and a mxl v67g. when setting up i recorded some test runs and phase aligned all of the mics. The end result sounded very nice, very nice indeed!

even if i soloed any one of the mics and compensated for the volume drop none of them would sound as loud (at the same volume) as all of the mics together.

the key to all of this is to phase align everything. one tip to get everything aligned, is to flip the phase of one mic and then adjust the other to get maximum cancellation. then flip it back and you're in business.

 

[Rokket]

i just recorded a really loud Speed-rock band. The guitar player played a Koch 4x12 tube amp and i splitted the guitar signal and put it through my own Crate Vintage club 2x12 tube amp. i miced both amps up close with a dynamic and a condenser. resp the koch with a sm57 and a at4033 and the crate with a beyer m201 and a mxl v67g. when setting up i recorded some test runs and phase aligned all of the mics. The end result sounded very nice, very nice indeed!

even if i soloed any one of the mics and compensated for the volume drop none of them would sound as loud (at the same volume) as all of the mics together.

the key to all of this is to phase align everything. one tip to get everything aligned, is to flip the phase of one mic and then adjust the other to get maximum cancellation. then flip it back and you're in business.

Would a techinique like this work with re-amping? Or should I just set it up like this and forgo the DI altogether? I tried reamping with some success, but I never tried it with more than two mics and I only used one cab...

 

[SureShotStudio]

if you're going to use a d.i. and a mic, at least try to flip the phase of one of the tracks to see if it sounds better , because the d.i.'s signal will arrive a lot sooner at your recorder than your mic's.

I find that if i record something with more than one mic or a d.i. and a mic(or two) , that at least something needs to be flipped in phase.

If i'm in a rush to record something and i feel the need to use more than one mic, i usually align the tracks afterwards in my DAW.

 

[SureShotStudio]

Sorry rokket,

i read too quickly..... Re-amping something afterwards with more than one mic isn't any different than doing it right away....... i personally never re-amp. That's because i don't own a re-amp . I like sorting things out at the source. I find this saves a lot of time and the musicians will react to the sound that's being recorded ,which results in more musically satisfying tracks.

Thomas

 

[dmbpettit]

can you flip the phase in Sonar 3?