Who doesn’t love mic-ing up guitar cabinets to capture the true sound of amp?
Someone? Anyone?
:: tap, tap, tap ::
Is this thing on…?
In our latest video Colin Liebich (Founder, Plastic Dog Recording) and Barry Pointer (Mixer/Engineer/Producer – John 5, Marylin Manson, Ozzy Osbourne) test out some different mic-ing combinations, utilizing both traditional mic combinations and some (dare we say) less-than-conventional combos, that yield some pretty spectacular results.
But before you watch that [link], here’s a little pontification on the subject:
We so often get so hyper-focused on manipulating our captured audio (once it’s been tracked) that it’s easy to forget that the subtle tone and character of a truly great electric guitar sound can be entirely shaped right at the beginning. This is an art-form unto itself and this video is a great example of the ethos, “Let the mic do the work.”
Colin Liebich definitely understands this.
Let’s also consider what many of us often do when tracking: grab a SM57 and/or a Sennheiser 421; stick them in our personally preferred spot and done.
Why? Because, 9 times out of 10 this works to great effect, however, if we all do that doesn’t that also inherently make a lot of our guitar sonics feel the same?
What about condenser mics? Usually too hot. Ribbons – too fragile?
But what if we combine the “usual suspect” microphones with ones that are traditionally used for capturing Grammy-level vocals with a wide range of frequency depth and clarity.
“Isn’t that complete overkill?” You may ask.
Perhaps, but there’s a reason they typically work for a wide range of voices and so then we ask, “Why not use them for amplified guitars?”
- This is also a philosophy that Colin seems to share which, to summarize a key takeaway from the demo, would be:
- Get the truest amp tone, up front, so that – before you apply anything to the recorded source – the listener feels as though it’s in the room with them.
- Set it up so that you’re not compelled to have to manipulate it right at the start of the mix.
- Select each mic based on its own strength but match it to the amp AND the guitar being used.
And building off that last point we see exactly that in this video – different amp and guitar combination benefit greatly from not using the same 1 or 2 mics for each tracking purpose.
So, If you’ve been looking for a sophisticated “back to basics” mic comparison on a guitar cab – using some mics that are traditionally considered “vocal-first” (Neumann, Mojave, Royer) – this is the video for you.
Watch the video now!
Mics used: