stereo amp micing?

  • Thread starter Thread starter LTG
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LTG

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When I mic my guitar amp with an SM-57 and record one track panned left, and then record another track panned right it sounds much fuller. I don't like having to record the same part twice though because some of the people I record can't play the same part of the song with the prerecorded track. I tried using two mics, one panned left and one panned right, but it still didn't come out as full as when i did the tracks seperately. How can I achieve this fullness without having to record left and right seperate?
 
There are a couple of reasons your tone sounds fuller when you record two separate trx. The first is Phase Modulation which is when two similar tones are just a few miliseconds out of time with each other. The other is that while one recording may have captured many harmonic qualities of the instrument, the second will capture a totally different set which when combined yields a really full sound. If you've got two cabs you could delay one side by
@ 25 milliseconds or add a small amount of
chorus to just one side. If you don't have a stereo rig, try effecting one of the two channels you are recording on as you record it. Hope this helps
 
Thanks for the great info. I don't have a stereo rig, so could I just put effects through on the mic on that channel? Would that work?
 
Yes.

But, also, what are you recording onto?

If it's possible you can apply the effect after recording, which means you don't have to worry about spoiling the take with an effect, also you can try several delays (or whatever) non-destructively.

You might also want to try applying a small pitch shift (a few cents) to one of the tracks, this can also fill out the guitar sound nicely.

G'luck,

matt
 
I agree totally with you Cakey. That's one of my favorite techniques.
 
If you have a rack fx unit, the technique the others are suggesting is called doubling or artificial tape doubling. So check your presets to see if it has such a thing. If not, go to a short tapped delay setting (one repeat). It should be between 15-35 milliseconds. Add chorus or the above mentioned pitchshift. If you are using a digital recorder or computer, it is likely you could do a track copy and offset the track by 15-35 milliseconds. Hope that is helpful info.

Peace, Jim
 
Thanks for all the great suggestions. Adding a delay or a change in pitch will make that big a difference? And, I record the two takes as right and left channel, will it be noticeable that one channel is a little different then the other?
 
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