Which mic for the heaviest metal sound

[VesuviusJay]

I'm currently using a sure beta sm57 to record my rythm guitar tracks. I noticed the product seems to be a little light on the low end frequencies. Is this a microphone issue or am I barking up the wrong tree?

 

[VesuviusJay]

Or maybe someone can give me a bit of background or maybe a thread link that discusses placement and and angle reference, or mic configuration diagrams or something :|

 

[mkeene]

Have you read the big thread at the top of the Microphone Forum by Harvey Gerst? It's a wealth of information about mirophones and miking techniques.

 

[gbondo9]

Im using 57's, and whats really helped fatten my sound was micing the back of my cab (its open).

Todd

 

[Beezoboy]

Don't forget you can use a D112, 421, or M88 to fatten your sound. Use anything that works well on a bass drum!! Don't forget ribbon mics like the beyer m160, m260, royer 121 etc.!!

Beez

 

[Stefan Elmblad]

Move the mic closer, put the cabinet upp against the wall or lay it on the floor, back-down.

 

[VesuviusJay]

Well I attempted mic'ing the back of the amp with a stageworks kick drum condensor mic and it sound fabulous. Ill share a link once I replace some guitar tracks.

 

[Speeddemon]

The Sennheiser MD421 will get you more into "metal-ballpark" than the SM57. Or use both and pan... But usually double-tracking does the trick for getting wide and heavy guitar-sounds.

 

[tubedude]

All those lows make for a muddy mix, they will need to be rolled off anyway... so why bother? That, or mute the bass line, which will be useless otherwise. What you are probably after is the meat below 200hz, most of which should be rolled off anyway.
A thinner sound sounds huge with a fat bass track behind it.
Put your bass where it belongs.

 

[Beezoboy]

Well tubedude, I kind of agree, but disagree too. If it is a guitar tuned in Drop C, a bass drum mic would do very well. Also you wouldn't neccesarily roll off the bass so soon (well below 200 then). Many Nu-Metal bands compensate by having bass players play in a higher range or with a sound that has more highs than normal. Of course he didn't specify though.

Beez

 

[hrn]

Try another mic. There are many mics doing better on guitar than a Shure. Why not an Electro Voice dynamic to start with...Audio Technica...Beyer...AKG...CAD....Audix...and many others. I would not say they're better than a Shure to you, but get some mics from your store and A-B test them.

Hans,
www.hagen.nu

 

[Poddy]

Its a combination of a number of things.
There are however some good suggestions in this thread. I particularly agree with micing the back of your cabinet (only after the phase is inverted though). Using a mic like the 421 or D112 is another good suggestion, and having a fat bass sound really hitting through on the roots of the chords helps immensley. Get all those down and your away.

 

[VesuviusJay]

The results of the test with mic'ing the back of the cab worked phenomenally well. Before, like one of the earlier posts said, there was now low end crunch. As far as bass goes, in the genre Im messing arround with, the guitar and bass are often blended a little more. Although, now I have mad crunch. And amazingly, very bright sting at higher frets. With some of the intricate pick rythms I write, sometimes you couldnt hear the picking rythm behind the usual drum assault. Also, ironically, once I shifted the rythm guitar in frequency all the other instruments seemed to fall nicely in place within the spectrum and I am getting very close to full separation.

 

[VesuviusJay]

All those lows make for a muddy mix, they will need to be rolled off anyway... so why bother? That, or mute the bass line, which will be useless otherwise. What you are probably after is the meat below 200hz, most of which should be rolled off anyway.
A thinner sound sounds huge with a fat bass track behind it.
Put your bass where it belongs.

Also, Im confused by "roll off". Anyone can explain what this nomenclature refers to? Thanks!

 

[VesuviusJay]

Heaviest Metal Mic's revisited...

OK guys, I have a sample of the tone I am getting from the mic configuration in the above post. Not very muddy, and much more chunky beef then the single mic.

http://www.vesuviusdeath.com/captivity.zip

 

[hrn]

From what I hear I would try adjusting the sound of the amp itself including pedals used and the position of the mic. A great way to do it is to sit in the control room and ask a friend to make the adjustments.

Try to put the mic very close to the baffle at a speaker element you know sounds nice. One way to try this is to put a pair headphones on (to protect your ears) and just listen in front of every speaker element. I know different elements can sound different on experience.

Are you sure your mic is in great shape, or your cables?

Hans,
www.hagen.nu

 

[eeldip]

whoa,

you have to mic your cab with an EV 666 mic.

the devil designed these mics for electro voice during the short period he worked there in the 60's. they are nice beefy mics for bass drums (at the time drums were more closely associated with satanism) but would suit your purpose well.

 

[caleb2438]

hahahaahahaah. haha, hah. All jokes aside though, sounds pretty awesome!