Recording - July 2013 - 4

PUBLISHER: Thomas Hawley
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Brent Heintz

EDITORIAL

EDITOR: Lorenz Rychner
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Mike Metlay
EDITOR AT LARGE: Beto Hale
MÚSICO PRO EDITOR: Fernando Curiel

CONTRIBUTORS
Paul Vnuk Jr., Allen Goodman,
Joe Albano, Bill Stunt, John Fishell,
Marty Peters, Eric Ferguson, Wes Dooley

To fret or not to fret
It looks so easy when you watch an experienced recordist mike a guitar cabinet
and hit Record! Nothing to it, right? But if you’ve never done it, you can be excused
for fretting a little. In this age of samples, loops, models and such “un-real” sound
sources, you may have produced a lot of music, but it’s still not a given that you’ve
had to deal with a very real 6-string monster in your studio.
Can you afford to have the player bring an amp and wail away, or is your situation such that this could call for trouble—with family and neighbors and the local constabulary? What if the player wants to set up the full rig, straight from the live stage?
A stack? Is that the only way to get a sound recorded that’s close to what the live
gigs sound like?
Fret not, we’ve got you covered. In this issue of Recording we show you that there
are many ways of doing it. Some of those techniques promise results that can turn
out to be just as good or better than those from miking a screaming rig.
Several of the many ways of doing it rely on techniques, on concepts that must be
thought through and understood, and then put into practice until they become a part
of the routine. Moving a mic to adjust the captured tone before reaching for the eq
knob. Checking for phase anytime two or more mics catch the same source from varying distances. Placing a mic behind the open-backed cabinet to see what it can add
to the overall tone (and—again—being mindful of the polarity). To name but a few.
These solid fundamental techniques with all their modern permutations and options
are laid out in a substantive primer by our Joe Albano who, this month, addresses
the recording of electric guitars, and next month will move on to acoustic guitars.
Then we go beyond the tried-and-true basics with an article by John Fishell who plays
the creative “what-if?” game, not afraid of breaking the rules in looking for new tones
where only the intrepid are willing to go. Do you feel intrepid today? Check out page 42.
We asked engineer/producer Mick Conley of Nashville how he records Marty
Stuart’s guitars, and we thank him for sharing his tips that include the use of ADK’s
3 Zigma mics—see page 50.
Other solutions we suggest in this issue come from specialized gear that we’re
reviewing. On page 14 you’ll read a review of the Sontronics Halo, a mic that is
dedicated to the recording of guitar cabinets. A big niche, to be sure, but still—when
have you ever seen a mic designed exclusively for this job?
DI boxes don’t just come in two flavors any longer—active or passive. We’re
reviewing one, the SE-DI3 from Sage Electronics (page 36), that has a 1/4" plug sticking out of its little body, meant to be plugged straight into your guitar where normally
your guitar cord would go. It impressed our reviewer mightily, rendering his favorite
instruments with the tones he had been missing.
We’re reviewing another DI box, the 2DI4 from Sonic Farm (page 40), that offers
tube sound, in user-selectable Triode or Pentone modes, and other sonic tweaks like
“LO and HI Boost”. Radial Engineering, a DI box veteran, also has two nifty new DI
boxes priced for even the guitarist or engineer that’s just starting out—the StageBug
SB-1 and SB-2, that you’ll need to read about (page 16).
More guitar-oriented gear includes a Phase Shifter by Heptode that emulates the
venerable Maestro PS-1A, a new Zoom multieffects stomp pedal, intriguing gear from
Roland, and a virtual spring reverb from PSP Audioware. A new Millennia preamp,
a set of KEF monitors, and innovative iOS MIDI and audio apps round out the gear
we bring you this month.
So even if you’ve miked your fair share of guitar cabs, we trust that you’ll still find
inspiration in this issue for new ways of doing it.
Happy Recording!

SOCIAL MEDIA
Brent Heintz, Paul Vnuk Jr.
ART & PRODUCTION

ART DIRECTOR: Scott Simmonds
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Colin Courtney
WEB GOALIE: Colin Courtney

PLAYBACK PLATINUM SERIES
Lorenz Rychner

EDITOR/PRODUCER:

CIRCULATION
Tiffany Sepe

CIRCULATION MANAGER:

ADVERTISING SALES AND MARKETING
DIRECTOR: Brent Heintz
CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER: Colin Courtney
ADMINISTRATION
Thomas Hawley

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RECORDING MAGAZINE
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RECORDING July 2013

Recording - July 2013

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