Amp Modelling v. Miking
Amp modelling effects such as the line 6 PODs, Boss GT series of multieffects or Native Instruments Guitar Rig software can offer a quick and easy way to record an electric guitar with decent tone and offer a range of amp tones to choose from. However many players are more comfortable with a real amplifier and will give their best performance when using one.
First & Foremost
The single most important detail in getting great electric guitar sounds is that the sound coming out of the amp should be great. This is determined by the guitar, amp, speakers and the person playing it. So make sure the guitar is free from buzzes and rattles, the strings are relatively new and the intonation is set properly.
If needed, take it for a professional setup before recording. Similarly, the amplifier (particularly valve amps) need to be in a good state of repair and any problems should be sorted out before you go into the studio.
Miking
Open backed guitar cabinets emit sound from both the front and the rear of the cabinet, and you must often capture both to reproduce the real and best tones of the amp. Usually a guitar amp is miked close up with the mic up against the grille of the amp to capture a dry isolated sound. It also pays to add in an ambient mic a short distance away from the amp as well as a room mic a few metres away. This gives you a range of sounds to play with.
In smaller home studios, or those with an unflattering room sound, you may want to omit using the room mic. If you are going to use a room mic, take time to find a spot in the room where the amp sounds good and a spot distant from the amp which sounds good. Use your ears and walk around the room listening for “sweet spots” where the amp sounds good – you’ll know them when you find them.
Try different mics at different distances, positions and angles. Move the amp around the room: try putting the amp in a corner, on a concrete floor, on a wood floor, on carpeting – basically just try everything you can think of!
Close mic
The close mic gives a dry, punchy, detailed sound. Usually dynamic mics such as the Shure SM57 or Sennheiser MD421 are used for close mic as dynamic mics can easily handle the extreme volume levels from electric guitar amplifiers. Set up the mic right against the amp’s grill cloth, pointing it straight at the amp will give a clearer, more detailed sound, but with more highs and a harsher edge. Angling the mic slightly will soften the tone at the expense of a little detail and highs, and moving the mic towards the edge of the speaker will result in a mellower sound, as will moving the mic away from the cloth slightly.
Speakers vary a little, so if the amp has a multi-speaker guitar cabinet, there is usually nothing to gain by miking more than one speaker. So listen to each to see which sounds better and mic that speaker.
Ambient mic
A mic placed a few inches to a few feet back can fill out the sound and create interesting tonalities. Just be careful of the delay which causes phasing – cancelling certain frequencies when mixed with another mic, which can be pleasing or horrible, depending on the frequencies cancelled. So experimenting with distances is very important. If you are recording to a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), it is possible to sidestep any phasing issues while keeping the ambient mic’s tonality by dragging a mic track into time alignment with the other mic tracks.
Room Mic
For the room mic, place a condenser mic anywhere from half a metre to two metres in front of the amp (at the same height as the amp) and point the mic at one of the speakers. The further the mic is from the amp, the more bass and less midrange it will have and the more the room sound will be captured. If you have enough tracks on your recorder, print each mic to a separate track (if possible) to be able to decide the balance between them later, otherwise if recording to one single track, be very careful not too add in too much room mic.
Written By : Alan Ratcliffe
Connect with Muse