Recording - July 2013 - 29

Choosing a mic is only the beginning—
mic placement is also critical to getting
the best sound, and is quite literally a
game of inches. Mic positioning is
always measured relative to the speaker,
which consists of a central cone, and a
larger vibrating area within an encircling
“surround” (see EG video Part 1, at the
very beginning). If you put your ear to the
speaker (carefully!), you’d notice that the
sound is brightest directly in front of the
central cone, and gets progressively mellower as you move toward the edge (the
surround). The sound also gets smoother
if you listen at an angle to the speaker,
what the player might hear if he/she is
standing and the speaker is on the floor
or on a chair well below ear level, with
the speaker pointing straight at the player’s knees or torso (“off-axis”), rather than
angled up at his/her ears (“on-axis”).
When positioning a mic, varying the
factors of distance, position, and angle
will yield distinctly different tonalities—
sometimes this can be subtle, and at other
times quite obvious. Starting with distance, a common approach is to closemike the speaker from an inch or so, anything from right up against the grillecloth
to several inches away—this will provide
good isolation, especially with a unidirectional mic. Closer positionings will
also usually provide more low-end

response, especially with directional mic
patterns, due to the well-known microphone “proximity effect”.
To determine exactly where the best
sound is to be had in a particular case, I’d
start by positioning the mic pointing
straight in, dead center in front of the
speaker cone, have the player play, and
then try gradually repositioning the mic further and further off-center up to the edge of
the speaker surround. Typically the sound
will be brightest and most focused at center, but possibly a bit harsh and peaky,
becoming gradually smoother but mellower (duller but also possibly more well-balanced) as you move the mic toward the
edge of the speaker. Depending on the
tone the player has dialed up (and whatever magic is coming off his/her fingers!),
one of these positions will probably yield
the best tone for that particular song/part.
If I had several mics available, I might
try this with a few, even at the same time,
to see what combination of mic and position is best suited for the guitar part going
down that day (again, see EG video Part
1). And yes, every engineer has their
favorites, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised if you step out of your comfort
zone and change it up now and again.
I also might play around with the angle of
the mic(s), varying from straight-in to up to a
45-degree angle relative to the speaker/

grillecloth. This should also subtly change the
tonal balance a little. For example, with a
bright, peaky guitar/amp tone, I often position a mic at the edge of the speaker surround at a 45° angle, which smooths out the
peaks. If the player has dialed up his “perfect sound” while standing at an angle to the
speaker, then a similarly placed mic, angled
off-axis, will likely capture a tone truer to
what he’s going for—what the amp is sounding like to him in the room.
Off the beaten path
The close-miking positions discussed
above are not the only options, of course.
Sometimes, a mic may be placed 1–3 feet
from the cabinet, rather than a few inches
away. This positioning will offer less low-end
response—at those distances there won’t be
any of the bass boost from “proximity” that
you get with close-miking, but there will be
more ambience, or room tone, especially
from reflections off the floor in front of the
amp cabinet. This can impart a nice sense
of “air” to the recording, as well as smoothing out excessive peaks in the frequency
response that may have been emphasized
by close-mic placement (see Electric Guitar
video Part 3). Although any mic will do for
this distant placement, here’s where I’d often
go for a condenser mic—the condenser’s
extra air and detail will bring out the ambience and smoother tonality.

http://www.frontendaudio.com http://www.frontendaudio.com

Recording - July 2013

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