Recording - July 2018 - 22

MIKING ELECTRIC GUITAR
as the number of spaces you can use in your particular recording environment, even in a home studio: closets, bathrooms, dog
house, attic-there is no limit! All you need are long cables and
an imagination. (Very tolerant spouses are always a plus as well.)

Setup 2

Shure SM57 close + matched stereo pair of AKG C414 XLII
for stereo live room
To achieve a more spacious
4
sound, I placed a matched pair of
414s more or less in the middle of
the live room, on either end of it
(Fig. 4). This way, I could capture
a wide stereo image. I pointed the
mics slightly inward. The amp was
placed off-center on one end of the
room, with the SM57 as the close
5
mic (Fig. 5). The 414s were set
without any pad reduction or bass
rolloff, using Omni mode again.
The result is a very warm sound; the
attack and the cutting effect of the
close mic is balanced with the wide
and smooth sound of the stereo pair.
Again, you can play with the balance to get the sound you want.
When bringing the level of the pair closer to that of the close
mic, the result is a "chorus" sound. When the close mic is much
more present in the mix, and the pair is considerably lower in
volume, you get a nice "rounding-off" of the direct sound.
Playing with different placements of the stereo pair will of
course yield different results; experiment freely with this, as
well as with different patterns and pad/rolloff settings.
Even if your main recording room is on the small side, placing a
stereo pair in a similar way will give you some very interesting results.

Setup 3

Audix i5 and Royer R-122 close + Audio-Technica AT4050
as mid-distance room mic
The Audix and the Royer (two very different beasts) were placed
a couple of inches from the cabinet (Figs. 6A, 6B). Here, the idea is
6a

6b

22

RECORDING July 2018

7

to have the option of thickening/thinning the sound by how much
of each of the mics you use in your balance. One option I really
liked was panning the close mics to around "10 and 2 o'clock"
and leaving the room mic track in the center. This gave me a nice
wide sound with some smooth space to it. Again, the sky's the limit
in terms of how you want to combine these three mics.
The AT4050 (set with no rolloff or pad reductions, and in
cardioid mode-see Fig. 7 for placement) provided a nice
amount of air, while the close mics have that in-your-face "grit"
that you can only get up close. The audio example was recorded
with a baritone guitar-a magnificent beast in its own right.

Setup 4

Dual close mics: Shure SM-57 in front + Shure SM58 in back
This is a somewhat common
idea using what are, perhaps, two 8
of the most popular workhorses in
our industry. Still, I wanted to share
it because it can lead to some interesting tonal results as well. Make
sure you listen carefully to the track 9
you capture with the rear mic; if
it sounds kind of "hollow" you
might want to reverse the phase,
since you are capturing the sound
of the speaker as it moves in the
opposite direction from how the 10
front mic hears it.
The rear sound I obtained is, not
surprisingly, quite a bit darker, but
when mixed with the front-facing
sound captured by the SM57, it is
quite pleasing. Play around with the panning; you can have both
tracks dead-center, wide left and right, "10 and 2"-whatever
pleases you, and is most appropriate in the context of your song.

Conclusions

There are endless possibilities when recording electric guitar.
These are only a handful of examples of techniques that I have
found fun, useful, and great-sounding. Combining room types
and sizes with different kinds of mics is the key here.
If you find a combination you like, make sure you document
it. Think of this as discovering an amazing recipe; you don't
want to forget the spices you used for that delicious gumbo
you cooked for the family... it will surely come in handy next
time the gang shows up at your place, unannounced!
I hope you use my ideas as starting points in your quest to
achieve the best tone possible!
Beto Hale (beto@recordingmag.com) is a producer, songwriter,
singer and multi-instrumentalist living and working in Los Angeles,
and Recording's Editor At Large. He is the owner of Los Olivos
Recording Studios. His most recent album, the critically acclaimed
Orbs of Light, is available on iTunes, Spotify, and CD Baby.
Learn more at betohale.com.


http://www.betohale.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - July 2018

Contents
Recording - July 2018 - Intro
Recording - July 2018 - Cover1
Recording - July 2018 - Cover2
Recording - July 2018 - 1
Recording - July 2018 - 2
Recording - July 2018 - 3
Recording - July 2018 - 4
Recording - July 2018 - 5
Recording - July 2018 - Contents
Recording - July 2018 - 7
Recording - July 2018 - 8
Recording - July 2018 - 9
Recording - July 2018 - 10
Recording - July 2018 - 11
Recording - July 2018 - 12
Recording - July 2018 - 13
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Recording - July 2018 - 15
Recording - July 2018 - 16
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Recording - July 2018 - 18
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Recording - July 2018 - 20
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Recording - July 2018 - Cover3
Recording - July 2018 - Cover4
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