Two Miking Questions: Multiple Mics & Miking Speakers Vs. Line Outs From Amps

[Mike Freze]

Hi! Just a few questions concerning home recording with microphones.

1. I've heard of stereo recording/miking where you use two mics at the same time and send each one left or right in the stereo field for a richer, fuller sound.

Why can't you achieve the same thing by just using one mic, record your track, then duplicate that same track, then pan the original one side and the duplicated tgrack to the other. You could even control the effects for both tracks this way separately if you want. Am I missing something or will this give you the same end result as using two mics separately when recording a one track in your project?

2. What's the end result difference in miking a guitar amp to cature your sound vs. using no mic and just using your line out on the back of your amp into your interface and then to your recording software? Either way, you can monitor what you're playing in real time by hearing your guitar while you play through your speakers. Will either method produce pretty much the same sound for recording? If so, I guess you should always go line out to avoid mic bleeding from room ambience, other instruments. etc.

Thanls for your time!

Mike Freze

 

[Chibi Nappa]

1. A copy of a track panned hard left and right will sound exactly the same as the single track panned center and boosted a bit in volume. We determine left/right relationships through differences in phase, amplitude, etc. There are no differences in an exact copy, so we will hear one sound coming from the center.

2. The instrument is not simply the guitar, or the guitar and amp. The instrument is the guitar, amp, speaker, and cabinet. If you capture the sound before it hits the entire instrument, you won't have the sound of the entire instrument. The speaker and cabinet alter the sound coming out of the amp greatly. Think of a piano. You wouldn't strip off the entire wooden body and try to record the sound of the keyboard and strings. It wouldn't be complete without that final step to produce the resonance.

 

[Uhdinator]

Yep.....what he said

Even though an amp may have 1,2, or 4 speakers it is still mono,
but standing in a room playing through it you hear in stereo.
The room reflections reach your (2) ears at different times and the reflected
sounds freqs are altered also.....and mixed in with the direct sound you hear from the amp. (thats why most close mic'd amps with one mic don't sound as good as you think I did when you where tracking it.)

So to achieve a stereo sound you need two mics that are not hearing exactly the same thing. To simulate it you could copy one track to a second track and EQ it differently and add a few to several Milliseconds of delay and experiment with the amount (1%-100 on the copy track but its not the same as recording it stereo in a room that has some reflections.