Recording - July 2013 - 26

sound”—a happy player with an okay sound is
still probably preferable to a killer tone in the
hands of a disgruntled artiste.
Pump it up—choosing the amp
On stage, the choice of amp can have as much
to do with volume as with tone—an amp that provides the appropriate level allows the player to dial
up the degree of distortion and sustain required for
his/her playing style and musical genre, without
being out of balance with the rest of the players.
This is especially true when performing in clubs,
where the sound from the stage goes out directly to
the audience, as opposed to being pumped
through a PA system as in larger venues. But in the
studio, sheer volume is less important, as the guitar
tracks can be re-balanced later in the mix, and tone
becomes the primary consideration. Additionally, if
musicians are recording together in the same room,
then isolation also becomes a key factor.
One popular trick for studio recording, that guitarists and engineers have employed since the
early days of rock & roll, is to use smaller amps
in the studio than would normally be used on
stage. A one-watt amp, cranked up, can sound
just as huge, if recorded and processed properly,
as a 100-watt behemoth, but will put much less
sound out into the room, allowing for more successful isolation and control during tracking.
Famous examples: early Led Zeppelin tracks were
recorded with a tiny Supro practice amp rather
than the Marshall stacks employed in concert;
many of Clapton’s guitar tracks on the classic
album Layla were recorded through a Fender
Champ, another diminutive practice amp.
So in the studio, the focus is on the amp’s tone—
not just eq (the bass-mid-treble-presence controls of
the “tone stack”), but also gain and the amount of
edge or distortion employed. These affect not just
the sound, but also playing feel, and are as important to the performance as to the resultant recording. Again, this is sometimes left to the player (see
the caveats above), but remember that the player,
if he’s out in the room with the amp, may be setting
his tone without hearing what the mics are delivering to the control room/recorder, and some input
from the engineer/producer can help to avoid the
need later on to “fix it in the mix”.
Also, keep in mind that the player may be basing
his preferred tone settings on what he hears standing up at an angle to the amp’s speaker(s). This may
influence the positioning of the mic(s) to a similar
angle, closer to the perspective the player is using,
to determine what constitutes the perfect tone—see
the discussion below about mic placement.
Too many mics, too little time
Miking up an amp would seem to be the most
straightforward thing of all—so many engineers,
if asked what they usually do, say “Just stick a
26

RECORDING July 2013

Shure SM57 an inch in front of the speaker and you’re done!” In fact, this is
exactly what you see in most clubs/on most stages, and even a lot of the time
in the studio as well, and it does work just fine pretty much every time. But if
you’re looking for a more nuanced guitar sound, or just want the absolute best
tone you can get for each specific track, then miking options get a lot more
interesting than just the “old reliable” ’57.
Miking up electric guitar amps involves the following factors: mic choice
(brand, design), mic pattern (unidirectional, bidirectional, or omnidirectional),
mic placement (distance, angle), and mic combination (more than one mic on
the same cab). There’s no space here to get into a deep mic primer, so I’ll just
recap the basics very briefly before going into applications—visit recording
mag.com for several good, detailed articles on mics and microphone technique.

Three close mics plus one distant mic for tonal variety and ambience.

Three different close mics for plenty of tone choices and combinations.
Mics come in several basic varieties:
~ Dynamic (moving coil) mics are rugged, good for miking amps (especially live),
but lack the airy high end of more expensive studio designs—they often have a presence boost (around 5 kHz & up) that accentuates electric guitar tones well in a mix.
~ Ribbon mics can be more delicate, and typically have a warmer sound,
great for smoothing out a harsh or over-jangly guitar tone.
~ Condenser mics are the high-end studio standard: crisp and airy with an
open high end, but also more delicate, perhaps better used at a distance for
amp miking.
Mic patterns, the directional response of the mic, include:
~ Unidirectional (Cardioid, Supercardioid, Hypercardioid): picks up sound
in front of the mic, rejects sound from behind; good for isolation.
~ Bidirectional (Figure-8): picks up sound equally from in front and behind,
rejects sound from either side; also good for isolation in some situations, but
will pick up more “room tone” (ambience).


http://www.recordingmag.com http://www.recordingmag.com

Recording - July 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - July 2013

Recording - July 2013
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
Sontronics Halo Guitar Cabinet Microphone
Radial Engineering StageBug SB-1 and SB-2 Direct Boxes
Zoom MS-100BT MultiStomp Guitar Pedal
Heptode Virtuoso Phase Shifter
Roland GC-1 GK-Ready Stratocaster and GR-S and GR-D V-Guitar Pedals
A Guitar Recording Primer. Part 1: Electric Guitars
Sage Electronics SE-DI3 Mighty G Active Direct Box
Sonic Farm 2DI4 Pentode Direct Box
Nine Guitar Recording Ideas
KEF LS50 Monitor 50th Anniversary Model
Millennia HV-37 Microphone and Instrument Preamplifier
Marty Stuart’s Grammy®-Winning Guitar Sounds
Readers’ Tapes
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 19: Headphones—Part 2
iOS Music Tools: MIDI Designer
iOS Music Tools: A Tasty Pixel/Audanika Audiobus
Plug-in Outlet: PSP Audioware PSP SpringBox
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - July 2013 - Intro
Recording - July 2013 - Recording - July 2013
Recording - July 2013 - Cover2
Recording - July 2013 - 1
Recording - July 2013 - 2
Recording - July 2013 - 3
Recording - July 2013 - Fade In
Recording - July 2013 - Contents
Recording - July 2013 - 6
Recording - July 2013 - 7
Recording - July 2013 - Talkback
Recording - July 2013 - 9
Recording - July 2013 - 10
Recording - July 2013 - 11
Recording - July 2013 - Fast Forward
Recording - July 2013 - 13
Recording - July 2013 - Sontronics Halo Guitar Cabinet Microphone
Recording - July 2013 - 15
Recording - July 2013 - Radial Engineering StageBug SB-1 and SB-2 Direct Boxes
Recording - July 2013 - 17
Recording - July 2013 - Zoom MS-100BT MultiStomp Guitar Pedal
Recording - July 2013 - 19
Recording - July 2013 - Heptode Virtuoso Phase Shifter
Recording - July 2013 - 21
Recording - July 2013 - Roland GC-1 GK-Ready Stratocaster and GR-S and GR-D V-Guitar Pedals
Recording - July 2013 - 23
Recording - July 2013 - A Guitar Recording Primer. Part 1: Electric Guitars
Recording - July 2013 - 25
Recording - July 2013 - 26
Recording - July 2013 - 27
Recording - July 2013 - 28
Recording - July 2013 - 29
Recording - July 2013 - 30
Recording - July 2013 - 31
Recording - July 2013 - 32
Recording - July 2013 - 33
Recording - July 2013 - 34
Recording - July 2013 - 35
Recording - July 2013 - Sage Electronics SE-DI3 Mighty G Active Direct Box
Recording - July 2013 - 37
Recording - July 2013 - 38
Recording - July 2013 - 39
Recording - July 2013 - Sonic Farm 2DI4 Pentode Direct Box
Recording - July 2013 - 41
Recording - July 2013 - Nine Guitar Recording Ideas
Recording - July 2013 - 43
Recording - July 2013 - 44
Recording - July 2013 - 45
Recording - July 2013 - KEF LS50 Monitor 50th Anniversary Model
Recording - July 2013 - 47
Recording - July 2013 - Millennia HV-37 Microphone and Instrument Preamplifier
Recording - July 2013 - 49
Recording - July 2013 - Marty Stuart’s Grammy®-Winning Guitar Sounds
Recording - July 2013 - 51
Recording - July 2013 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - July 2013 - 53
Recording - July 2013 - 54
Recording - July 2013 - 55
Recording - July 2013 - 56
Recording - July 2013 - 57
Recording - July 2013 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 19: Headphones—Part 2
Recording - July 2013 - 59
Recording - July 2013 - iOS Music Tools: MIDI Designer
Recording - July 2013 - 61
Recording - July 2013 - iOS Music Tools: A Tasty Pixel/Audanika Audiobus
Recording - July 2013 - 63
Recording - July 2013 - Plug-in Outlet: PSP Audioware PSP SpringBox
Recording - July 2013 - Advertiser Index
Recording - July 2013 - 66
Recording - July 2013 - 67
Recording - July 2013 - 68
Recording - July 2013 - 69
Recording - July 2013 - 70
Recording - July 2013 - 71
Recording - July 2013 - Fade Out
Recording - July 2013 - Cover3
Recording - July 2013 - Cover4
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