Advice on recording guitar- mic amp or...

Paul R Johnson · March 15th, 2016, 11:28 AM

There are far too many 'rules' in audio. Things that we do because everyone does it and everyone tells everyone they do it - so before long, the rules get hard and rigid - unbendable, which is just stupid. Every instrument is different, every player too. Add in in amps and effects and rules really should be guidelines.

I've noticed that having a well stocked mic box is rarely that 'evolutionary'. I make the same soft choices every time. I grab the 57 for this, the 414 for something else, and always the same set of drum mics. Sometimes, events work against me and I open the van and discover my main mic box is missing - sitting on the shelf in the store. I cobble together all the remaining mics and very rarely does it not work. You look at each one you have and makes decisions, and sometimes the results are actually great. AKG 112 - my favourite kick mic doing backing vocals, a small condenser with no wind shield for vocals, doing really well on the guitar cab, and a random boundary mic inside the kick. It distorted on every kick hit, but with eq, it was quite clicky and not unpleasant. I'd never have thought to use a 112 on a voice, but it was mellow and rather retro in sound.

Sometimes we just don't have the courage to try them.

I also discovered a tip from a classical pianist - I went to mic the piano - as he was playing in an on-stage band for a well known singer. The piano was a Yamaha C3, and he asked me NOT to mic from above, but to trust him and give him a hypercardioid. I had one - a dynamic D201, and he threaded the mic cable up from underneath, over the main strut, then down. He attached the mic, then turned it upwards and taped the cables together. Pointing up at the soundboard. I was very doubtful, but it worked amazingly well - a really nice sound before an eq. He explained it ONLY worked on C3 models.

March 15th, 2016, 11:28 AM	#16
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,016	Re: Advice on recording guitar- mic amp or... There are far too many 'rules' in audio. Things that we do because everyone does it and everyone tells everyone they do it - so before long, the rules get hard and rigid - unbendable, which is just stupid. Every instrument is different, every player too. Add in in amps and effects and rules really should be guidelines. I've noticed that having a well stocked mic box is rarely that 'evolutionary'. I make the same soft choices every time. I grab the 57 for this, the 414 for something else, and always the same set of drum mics. Sometimes, events work against me and I open the van and discover my main mic box is missing - sitting on the shelf in the store. I cobble together all the remaining mics and very rarely does it not work. You look at each one you have and makes decisions, and sometimes the results are actually great. AKG 112 - my favourite kick mic doing backing vocals, a small condenser with no wind shield for vocals, doing really well on the guitar cab, and a random boundary mic inside the kick. It distorted on every kick hit, but with eq, it was quite clicky and not unpleasant. I'd never have thought to use a 112 on a voice, but it was mellow and rather retro in sound. Sometimes we just don't have the courage to try them. I also discovered a tip from a classical pianist - I went to mic the piano - as he was playing in an on-stage band for a well known singer. The piano was a Yamaha C3, and he asked me NOT to mic from above, but to trust him and give him a hypercardioid. I had one - a dynamic D201, and he threaded the mic cable up from underneath, over the main strut, then down. He attached the mic, then turned it upwards and taped the cables together. Pointing up at the soundboard. I was very doubtful, but it worked amazingly well - a really nice sound before an eq. He explained it ONLY worked on C3 models.