How Do I Mic This?

[Drone]

Given I have no fancy mics, just a bunch of dynamics and a PZM. I'd like to use no more than two, or at the most three mics on it.



It's being used for guitar, and does give some of the most evil Sleep-style tones I've heard. The grille is easily removed, if I need to get at the cones.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I'd try one mic in close on the speaker and another a few feet back to get the full effect of the ports, folded horn thing-y etc.

[Drone]

So grille off, get one just off the cone, and another a feet back on axis with the apex of that centre part?

[Gregg Juke]

Could do, but you could also leave the grille on, or try it both ways (unless the grille is rattling; been there before).

As ADM said, I'd experiment with different placements for the room mike (and maybe some compression on it?)...

GJ

[boid]

i think the appropriate thing to ask here would be
why does roland build such a thing?


i imagine a close mike with wide pickup pattern could turn out pretty weird because of the phasing issues from the angled speakers.
maybe it'll sound interesting you never know.

But if you like the sound when playing it like you said
i'd put a mic where you're sitting/standing when playing. even if that's 10 feet away
and pointed away from the speakers. plus one closer and on axis for a different taste.
That's probably the best way to get the sound you're hearing.

[Injured Ear]

it couldn't hurt to do the close + far approach, but my go-to approach with something I've never worked with before is to stick my head all around the amp/instrument and listen to what's going on. Find a sweet spot and put a mic right there.

Another approach I learned from someone I worked with years ago when capturing guitar tones that maybe he wasn't all that well versed in capturing: Find the flattest response mic you have and put it halfway between the guitarist's ears and the amp when they set their tone, or where they're sitting/standing. That way you are picking up pretty much what the guitarist is hearing out in the studio.

[drumsound]

YOu might also try figure 8 pattern, so you could put one of the speakers in the null, if the folded thing is doing weird phase shit.

[Darlington Pair]

I have a Sunn Beta cab that is basically the same cab except horizontal, Fender also made a 4x15 and a 4x12 that are the same deal except an inverted pyramid and are some of the hugest sounding cabs I've played through. The reason they build the cab like that is because it puts the centers of the speakers closer together and reduces comb filtering. Classic 60's Janszen Electrostatic speakers also do it with the panels because panels are beamy and loading them that way increased dispersion at a trade off of internal cabinet volume, that's why the Fender versions have to be so huge.

I've done a few things to mic mine, if I remember correctly my favorite was a Mid/Side pair aimed at the center of the baffle about a foot back. It's been a while, but I also remember getting good tones with an EV dynamic omni dead center pretty much against the grill. Any removing the grill and close micing a single speaker ended up sounding weird to me and kinda defeated the unique sound of the cab. It's a really hard cab if you want to do the shoved up against the speaker proximity effect thing and I ultimately stopped using it because I like to record with a band in the room and even though I embrace bleed, it was a little too much.

[vvv]

Me, I'd try a DI with some kinda mebbe room mic.

[Scodiddly]

The nice thing about weird angles is that it breaks up the beaming effect of multiple drivers. I don't think there's a huge amount to worry about with respect to phase, either. Maybe point a mic directly at one of the cones, and try something further back as well. Spend a little time test-recording different mics if you can.

[johnny1000]

How does the room sound? If it sounds okay, I'd start with a mic about a foot, foot and a half out, pointed just under the port to blend the subs with the sounds coming out of the cabinet. Once that's sorted, I'd see what I'm missing (if anything) and then start adding.

[JWL]

Angling the speakers like that couples them together and gives a 3dB (IIRC) increase in the output volume.

If it were my I'd put a mic 2-3x the diameter of the drivers away (ie, 2-3 feet for a 12" driver), of course moving the mic around until it sounds right.

[cgarges]

I'd mic it from farther away than you'd think. That cabinet is built as a concept, not as a collection of speakers.

Part of the success of the Ampeg SVT can be at least partially attributed to similar stuff. Those giant folded cabinet things like the Acoustic 360, Fender 400PS, or the Coral Kilowatt (with EIGHT 12" speakers) sounded really great in arenas and stuff, where the sound was meant to develop at a good distance. But the SVT's "infinite baffle" design actually meant that they sounded good for the person standing right next to them-- in the music store, for example.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[Drone]

Yeah this sounds good about 8 - 12 feet out, up close it's rather harsh, I was thinking either a 57 or a kick mic about that distance out and maybe not quite as high as the players head or point it at a wall with a PZM on it. Just fixed the PZM today.

I'm not sure what would describe this cab, there's no folds or anything behind the driver it's just two ported boxes firing at an angle to each other. Bit like EV's manifold stuff.

Just saw JWL's post, they're 15's so 2.5 to 4 feet out.

Chris I used to have the Sunn 612, 2 banks of 3 12"s in a V, never recorded it, sold it to a Canadian when Sunn badges became popular.