What would be the goal in recording guitar this way?

[Recycled_Brains]

i usually use at least 3 mics when doing guitar tracks. my favorite mic for heavily distorted guitars has always been the 421. i recently picked up an e609 to use as a live mic when i play out rather than the usual 57, and i've been using that for recording as well. i find that the blend between the 421 and the 609 has worked quite well. i really like the 441 as well, but have found that i need to dial back some of the low end when using those.

i've also been placing a Studio Projects B3 condenser in either a cardioid or omnidirectional pattern (depending on room size) at around 4 feet back to add some body and ambience to the sound. i usually mix this mic relatively low in comparison to the others.

the last session i did, i bridged a marshall DSL100 half-stack with an Ampeg VT-40 (in separate rooms).... for the Marshall i close-miced with a 441, and a 421, and a B3 about 4 feet back on cardioid. For the Ampeg i used a 57 with a neumann u89 set to omni about 5 feet back.

the blend is awesome. the really thick marshall distortion is well complimented by the VT-40. i'm mixing the Ampeg a bit lower than the marshall to add some clarity to the mid range. the music is interesting in the sense that there is melody buried behind a wall of sound, so the ampeg helps bring out the notes that need to be heard.

[I'm Painting Again]

is it possible on that session they layed everything down direct and reamped all the guitars through those rigs, recorded them all to tracks and picked and choos-ed the best ones?

That is kind of a cool advantage, i.e., diversity of tone, for doing guitars with many rigs lioke that..

[Brett Siler]

i usually use at least 3 mics when doing guitar tracks.

I have been using a simialr technique lately. My favorite mic set up lately has been a sm57 and a oktava ml-52 up close and an Avenson STO for ambience.

The Avenson at a distance blended in with the close mics really adds to the amp sound it really makes it sound like the full cab.


With this set up there as been no need for an EQ, it already sounds amazing.

[joeysimms]

What kind of music are you 3-mics-on-a-cab guys recording?

I just put up any one mic around 8-10" away, and off-axis, and it sounds super.

[vvv]

Not being a pro, and really not having to please anyone but the me I'm usually recording, I often find myself throwing a ball-less '58 ,or less often a C1000S, on the grill somewhere to the center for more treble, or not for less, and then working the amp and/or guitar and/or hands to get the right sound, as opposed to using different mic's and moving them around.

In my latest recording space, the house I got a couple of months ago, the thick-carpeted long hallway is cool for this, and I can crank the amp or not.

I do confess that I often change guitars and or amps between tracks; but I guess what I'm actually doing is just regular close mic'ing in that I tend to use plug-ins for ambience.

Does that make me a lazy shite?

[Brett Siler]

What kind of music are you 3-mics-on-a-cab guys recording?

I just put up any one mic around 8-10" away, and off-axis, and it sounds super.

Mostly loud rock based stuff, like hardcore, punk, metal, indie rock. It's not always that I record that way, but I have been doing it that way frequently and I have been getting a sound that I like more than I used to before I started doing it this way.

I have definiatly gotten sounds that were apporpriate for the songs with just a 57, so you know how it goes.

[joeysimms]

What kind of music are you 3-mics-on-a-cab guys recording?

I just put up any one mic around 8-10" away, and off-axis, and it sounds super.

Mostly loud rock based stuff, like hardcore, punk, metal, indie rock. It's not always that I record that way, but I have been doing it that way frequently and I have been getting a sound that I like more than I used to before I started doing it this way.

I have definiatly gotten sounds that were apporpriate for the songs with just a 57, so you know how it goes.

I hear ya - I guess, since I am usually recording myself, that I'm 3 times as likely to just change the amp sound or pickup settings, rather than set up 3 mics. Plus, I'm on 1/2" 8 track, so it's rare I can print 3 to begin with..

[Professor]

Yeah, see I don't record electric guitar too often, though when I do it is for all sorts of different groups, and for clients. I have what seems like a limitless track count in ProTools considerinng that I can send 64 simultaneous inputs to the machine so I don't need to worry about conserving track space if I don't want to.
The main thing I like about throwing on multiple microphones is that I'm not limited to only one particular mic sound in the mixdown, and I don't have to spend lots of time changing mics for different tones during tracking when the bands are antsy already. Also it's not that uncommon for a guitarist to stomp on a pedal that significantly changes his tone, but for which he never warned me ahead of the take. So while I could certainly just fight with equalizers and other processors trying to make that single SM-57 work for every sound in every part of the song, it's certainly nice to be able to simply bounce back and forth between different mics after the fact. The multiple mics aren't usually there with the intent of mixing them all together (though that's an option) as much as they are there to allow me to choose the right sound for various guitar tones at various points in the song.

-Jeremy

[Brett Siler]

I hear ya - I guess, since I am usually recording myself, that I'm 3 times as likely to just change the amp sound or pickup settings, rather than set up 3 mics. Plus, I'm on 1/2" 8 track, so it's rare I can print 3 to begin with..

I am sure the 1/2 tape beefs up the guitar sound. I am using an Digi 001 so I don't have to worry about tracks that much, unless it is a big epic project. If I start running out of tracks i just will bounce some of the track together (like if I use 3 mics on a cab).

I just like to experiment, lately I have been experimenting with more minimal techniques, and some of those have turned out amazing. I did a bluegrass band live to one mic (they stood in a circle around an Oktava ML-52), and then overdubbed a few extra things and it sounded amazing.

[aeijtzsche]

is it possible on that session they layed everything down direct and reamped all the guitars through those rigs, recorded them all to tracks and picked and choos-ed the best ones?

That is kind of a cool advantage, i.e., diversity of tone, for doing guitars with many rigs lioke that..

They were going to 24-track on those sessions, so I kind of doubt they could play around much with that, because there are a lot of guitars anyway. Their next record they did to Protools.