Tips on recording a 410 amp?

[the velour fog]

Just wondering how you would go about recording a 4 10 amp?

[hurricaneE]

D'you mean a 4x10 cab? For my bass player, I put up a Beyer 160 about 2+ feet from the cab, pointed at the horn (which sits in the center of the 4x10 array) and run it through the Speck 5.0. For guitar, I typically record a 6 10 cab with a U87 in fig. 8 2 feet off a middle speaker and a Royer 122 2 feet off a top speaker into my John Hardy M-1.

But that's me. I have no idea what kind of instruments you're using, what amps, at what volume, for what effect. -E

[Kyle]

If it's a guitar cab. Put the mic in the center of the four speakers and about 2 to 2.5 feet out, move it to and fro until you find the sweet spot. This technique will sum all of the speakers and you will get a full bodied sound, depending on the amp of course. This is a technique the Jack Endino shared in a recording class that I was in. I use it a lot and it sounds great.

[the velour fog]

a mexican made tele - some effects - music man 4 10" cab.

I guess my question is, do you use the same sorts of rules as a one speaker amp...just micing off one of the four...or are their more "rules" to follow recording a multi-speakered amp??

[Randy]

The only thing different that I have found is you need to get further away from a 4-10 cabinet to pick up how it sounds as a whole. Whenever I get close in on a cabinet, (no matter how many speakers) I have found that it is hard to have any rules except keep moving the mic around and put it where it sounds best. Every cabinet is different to me.

One trick I heard about (I think it was from this board) is that you turn the amp way up and let the buzz and hum get loud, then move the mic around till the hum sounds really good.

[soundguy]

gunshy-

the rule for a 4x10 is the same rule for every other source. When you stick the mic infront of it, after you've moved it around and plugged it into this that and the other thing, once you get the sound you want to hear, then you hit record. Pretty simple.

In the end, it all comes down to the succint compromise between the idea you have in your head about what it should sound like and the tools that you have at your disposal to make it sound like something.

dave

[the velour fog]

so the magic word is...experiment...experiment...experiment.

[monkeyboy]

Two basic ways of looking at it:

If you close mic the amp, you'll get a tighter more focused sound.
If you back the mic off a couple of feet as some have suggested, you'll get an airy more open sound.

These two methods can be used on any kind of amp regardless of speaker size. Finding the sweet spot is paramount though, what sounds good to you. Either method could be preferable depending on what your going for. Personally, I'll do a track with a close in dynamic, and then have condenser a couple of feet back and mix and match the sounds. This especially works great for double tracking rythm tracks in some situations.