Recording electric guitar

[Immortal]

Hi!

I always wanted to record my guitar flawlessly through microphone, but it always came that it was either too loud or too quiet.

I never figured out if I have to set the master volume of the amp to playing position (when it starts to breathe a bit) or do I set it as low as possible. This is not about supplying the combo/cab at gigs, but supplying it like the guys in studio would do. I was thinking about that, because my distortion kind of becomes more increased at gain level when playing the recorded track but I want to make it crispier, so I was thinking about getting gain a little lower, but without increasing the master volume to get the right sound I can play just overdriven sounds...

Also, I have a vocal microphone, which is good for my acoustic but I think it's bad for amp because it has simply reachable upper limit (it overloads like a snap). What do you prefer for microphone as for supplying your combo or cabinet?

Thanks!

[Newc]

Re: Recording electric guitar

I like the Sennheiser e604 drum mic for cabinet miking more than the Shure SM-57 (which most here will recommend), but then, I run a lot of bass in my guitar tone, which the SM just doesn't seem to pick up like a drum mic can [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

You can also get a good sound from a Shure Beta Green model (BG 2.0 vocal mic, which is a lot like the SM-58, but better response, and I forget which Beta Green model is closer to the SM-57)

As for gain, set it below 10 (7 or 8 should be high enough) and your Master Volume very high (5 or 6) to get the speakers moving.

You should also see about getting an Alesis 3630 Compressor/Limiter, and set it for Peak Limiting. This will prevent your mic from overloading your recording input. Your recorder input should be fairly high as well, and use the 3630's Output knob to determine how much signal goes into the recorder.

Newc

[Immortal]

Re: Recording electric guitar

Thanks for the advice. I'm using Behringer XM2000s cardioid vocal microphone.

Aren't SMs for live performances only? There is some real pro stuff at Shure, a KSM27 that meets my requirements, but it is out of my money reach. And yes, also the SM94 could be a great mic, right?

I have my gain set to 6-7 on Boss unit, but the recorded sound is still like a flight of a bee. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Damn.

So you're saying that new decent microphone would be great?

[Black Mariah]

Re: Recording electric guitar

SM-57's are the workhorse of 95% of the studios in the WORLD. 57's are cheap and just do not break, and also sound good on damn near everything. Personally I don't like them, they're the only mic that I can tell by sound and that's not a good thing. Anyway, they've been used on most every record ever made. They're not the best selling mic for no reason at all.

The first thing you need to learn is proper mic placement. You can't just throw a mic in front of an amp without knowing what you're doing and make it sound good. Put the mic somewhere and record a little bit. Move it to someplace completely different and record again. You will get a totally different tone. Angle the mic and you'll get yet another tone. It's all in knowing what sound you want and what general placement will get you that tone. If you want a thick and chunky tone then place the mic at about a 45 degree angle to the center of the speaker cone. If you're going for a good meedley tone, point it right at the center of the speaker.

You have to learn a bit of what's called gain staging. This is making sure that no one part of the signal chain is responsible for too much of the volume. Cranking the ouput on your board and overdriving the input on the computer is stupid if you can crank up the input on the board while turning down the output and having the same level but with a cleaner sound.

The buzz is your tone, believe it or not. That is what your sound is like stripped down to its (esentially) uncolored naked sould. Total ass, isn't it? [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] That's what I thought the first time I recorded my stuff. Work on the amp and the microphone choice is all academic.

As for what mics are good, the 57 is probably the first one you should grab. It's not correct to say they're for live work. That's like saying a guitar is only good for live work. It's an instrument, it's a tool, it's not a holy object that can only be touched on certain occasions with great reverence. [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] You might also want to pick up another low-cost mic while you're shopping. MXL makes some condensers that are supposed to be prety good. I'll proably be getting one soon. [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

If you have any more questions like this, check out the TapeOp forums at http://messageboard.tapeop.com TapeOp is a recording magazine that has free subcriptions and some of the most useful articles you'll come across. Check 'em out, they're great.

[Newc]

Re: Recording electric guitar

I'll second BM's advice on experimenting with mic placement - you'll notice the amp sound different to your ears as you move around the room (and go from standing above the cabinet to sitting on an even line with the speakers) - the same is true for a microphone.
Move it around in front of the cabinet to get the recorded tone you want, but be aware that microphones still cannot replicate what our ears perceive (maybe if you coat the tip of the mic with earwax? [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] )

Newc